Paul "The Devil" English is longtime drummer for Willie Nelson. He plays alongside his younger brother Billy Nelson.



Paul first jammed with Nelson in the mid-'50s and became his regular drummer a decade later. He's been behind the kit ever since: "I played my first gig with Willie¡ªand I'll play my last one with him."



Playing behind Nelson, who has been known to wander from the regularity of a show's format, requires that performers be able to step outside the safe confines of structure. Says Paul: "The first thing Willie told me when I joined the band was, 'Don¡¯t count ¡ª play with a feel'."



Paul English' parents were devout Christians, but despite all his Sunday learnin¡¯, he ended up becoming the leader of the 'Peroxide Gang' in Ft. Worth, TX, and later an outright pimp. Ft. Worth was the first place Willie Nelson really started playing music professionally, and in the late 50¡äs, it was a rough scene. Downtown was full of brothels and night clubs, and stabbings and shootings were very common. One club Willie played at was Gray¡¯s Bar. They had to rig up chicken wire in front of the stage to protect the band from flying beer bottles and would-be homicidal stage crashers.



Sometimes Willie would not get paid. Willie met Paul, and Paul told Willie he could help him with that. Paul became Willie¡¯s strong man, and eventually Willie¡¯s drummer. If it wasn¡¯t for Paul, Willie would be living under a bridge in Houston. And Paul says, " Had it not been for Willie, I would be dead or in the penitentiary." Recalls the drummer: "I started making the papers in 1956 when the ¡°Fort Worth Press¡± started running a ¡°10 Most Unwanted¡± list. I made it five years in a row. I was involved in three murder trials, but they never led to anything. I was the kind of guy they were always trying to stick charges on... In 1955 I started running girls. This went on for a long time. It was a good business but you had to work hard... I had become really adept at picking locks. We had a contest on how many daytime burglaries we could pull and I think I pulled twelve. I don't think I was ever legitimate until I started playing drums for Willie in 1966."



During Willie Nelson's heyday, Paul English was the highest paid drummer/sideman in music according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Whatever Willie made, Paul got a 20% cut of.



Factoid: for years Paul English wore a cape! Paul: "I had this beard similar to what I have now, and everybody would say, "Anybody ever tell you you look like the Devil?" And I’d say "Well, you’re not going to hurt my feelings because the Devil was the prettiest angel in heaven." I considered it a compliment. We saw this cape in the window and Willie said, "Aw, you got to have this.” I did think I looked like the Devil so I bought the cape. . . when I got off stage that night, there were about fifteen girls waiting for my autograph, and so the cape stayed."