Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die

By: Willie Nelson, Kinky Friedman

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

In Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, Willie Nelson muses about his greatest influences and the things that are most important to him, and celebrates the family, friends, and colleagues who have blessed his remarkable journey. Willie riffs on everything, from music to poker, Texas to Nashville, and more. He shares the outlaw wisdom he has acquired over the course of eight decades, along with favorite jokes and insights from family, bandmates, and close friends.

A road journal written in Willie Nelson's inimitable, homespun voice and a fitting tribute to America's greatest traveling bard, Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, introduced by another favorite son of Texas, Kinky Friedman, is a deeply personal look into the heart and soul of a unique man and one of the greatest artists of our time, a songwriter and performer whose legacy will endure for generations to come.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2012 Willie Nelson (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

Don't buy...

What disappointed you about Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die?

Do you want to hear Willie talk about what's on TV? Or random sayings like, live in the now? Or do you want to hear twenty other people that you don't know, write about Willie? This isn't an Autobiography or Tales from the road. It is just randomness.... Do you want to hear his lyrics from songs? Or him repeat the same things over again in diff. chapters? Willie needs to fire his editor and stick to music.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Anything but this. I struggled to finish it.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narration is fine, it's the subject matter and writer that were terrible.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die?

I would cut about 90% of it. I would keep his past and tales from the road, this would amount to about two chapters.

Any additional comments?

Don't buy this book... if you are curious, go rent it from the library.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Willie's Ramblings

What would have made Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die better?

It would have been better if it had included stories from Willie's life on the road.

What was most disappointing about Willie Nelson and Kinky Friedman ’s story?

I thought this was going to be a story about Willie's life. Instead it's just a series of ramblings from the last year including jokes and pointless musings on buttermilk to plugs for XM Radio.

How could the performance have been better?

It might have been better if Willie read the story. I had to re-listen to numerous parts because I couldn't figure out who was speaking.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable, However....

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Hell yes. All my friends are Willie fans, or else.

What did you like best about this story?

The stories and the jokes.

What didn’t you like about Tom Stechschulte’s performance?

Difficult to keep track of the speaker. He only has one voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Smoke and mirrors.

Any additional comments?

The producers would have been wise to use multiple voices.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Not Quite What I Expected

I love biographies but sadly, I did not enjoy this one. Don’t get me wrong there were some very interesting facts and I liked hearing about how he wrote a few of his songs. The jokes sprinkled throughout were also pretty good as were many of his rhymes and songs but for the most part, I couldn’t relate too much with this title and wouldn’t recommend it unless you are a die hard fan of either country music or Willie Nelson, which I really am not.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Random thoughts of a stoned old man

What disappointed you about Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die?

I thought there would be some cohesive storyline like the Cash biography, but this is random tidbits that are very seldom amusing, interesting, or deal with what people want to know - the people he worked with and the wild stories from the road. This is more a stoned Willie telling unfunny "Dad" jokes, throwing in foul language for no purpose, and basically telling you how great his kids are for 4 hours. It had neither the biographical hook/narrative that a real writer would have used, nor any good stories or adventures from his life. Huge let down after listening to the Cash bio book.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Bill Bryson or Tim Cahill true travel adventure. They are funny.

Would you be willing to try another one of Tom Stechschulte’s performances?

No - seemed like a slightly lower voiced Casey Kasem, but then again his material was crap, so maybe.. would really depend on subject matter.

What character would you cut from Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die?

Modern day hopelessly high Willie.

Any additional comments?

Big disappointment - my free credit for signing up for the monthly service was wasted this month.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Not what I expected

This was more a self proclaimed advertisement of Willie's liberal agenda and his views of how a talented song writer subliminally feels guilty to have made so much money using his god given gifts. This may sound harsh but to listen to the "rebel" Willie talk about the evils of sex, drugs and rock and roll, just did not sit right with his life time image of anti establishment. The book was entertaining and had some great plugs for Sirius XM and all of Willies kids.

I love your music Mr. Nelson, but I'll pass on your books.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Musings of a Rambling Man

I like Willie Nelson. I find him to be a talented songwriter and country singer. I seems he's had a long and interesting life. However, this is not the best book on his life. This is a rambling saga of thoughts running through Willie Nelson's mind at the time he penned this short book.

I'm at a loss to understand why Willie Nelson did not narrate this book He would have been a better choice to tell his story, rather than the man who was chosen to do it. Tom Stechschulte does a barely adequate job in his narration of Willie's musings. A narrator with an accent closer to Willie's (with a bigger reportoire of voices) might have been a better fit.

I would have liked to hear more about Willie's experiences writing songs, singing, and recording and perhaps more about living on the road. What we get in this books is Willie's thoughts and opinions, with a few stories and jokes thrown in.

Would I recommend this book? Probably not, although there may be some of Willie Nelson's fans who don't want to miss any detail of his life that may find this worth the time and money to buy and read the book. i wouldn't say it was a bad read, just not a lot of new information on the subject or an actual plot to follow.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful