About this episode
Ali Siddiq discusses Willie Nelson's cover of 'Midnight Rider' and its cultural implications.
Comedian Ali Siddiq zooms in on Willie Nelson’s 1979 cover of the Allman Brother’s tale of a desperate outlaw’s life on the lamb, “Midnight Rider.” It’s a song Ali used to blast in his Monte Carlo during his days as what he calls “street pharmaceutical rep” in Houston’s Third Ward, as detailed in his groundbreaking 4-part comedy special Domino Effect , and it gets him thinking aloud on American culture’s enduring fascination with gangsters and outlaws…plus such Willie-adjacent lessons as the significance of working every angle to control your destiny, and the importance of taking the gifts that save you--like comedy and music--and paying them forward to save others. With cameo appearances by Aretha Franklin, Martin Lawrence, and Willie’s old drummer Paul English—who Ali can tell, just from looking at one photo, was an actual outlaw.
People in this episode
Host: John Spong
Guest: Ali Siddiq
Topics covered
- music
- comedy
- American culture
- gangsters
- outlaws
- destiny
- paying it forward
Keywords
- Ali Siddiq
- Willie Nelson
- Midnight Rider
- Allman Brothers
- comedy
- gangsters
- outlaws
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Allman Brothers
Books & works: Domino Effect, Midnight Rider
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