Willie Nelson’s career had a substantial beginning in the unlikely locale of Vancouver, Wa, a Portland suburb. Why? No immediate answers. The Wik says, “In 1956, Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington to begin his formal musical career. His first record, “No Place For Me” included Leon Payne’s “Lumberjack” on the b-side, but was not successful. Nelson continued working as a radio announcer and singing in Vancouver clubs. He sold the song “Family Bible” for US$50 to a guitar instructor, and the song turned into a hit for Claude Gray in 1960. Nelson moved to Nashville in 1960, but no label signed him.”
While the song, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, sounds like it might have been written in Vancouver, Wa because of the rain theme in the title, the song was actually written in Nashville in 1945 by Fred Rose.
