The Willie Nelson Museum, Nashville Tennessee

If you’re planning a trip to Nashville, add this stop to your list of places to visit.

Willie Nelson Museum

Photo: Copyright 2006 T.Bennett

Willie Nelson Museum and General Store

The museum is at the back of a general store that is also fun to browse around. According to the willienelsongeneralstore.com website, it has been family owned and operated for 30 years. I didn’t realize this at the time of my visit (just read it on their website), but the museum and store was opened in 1979 by Jeanie and Frank Oakley, together with Willie Nelson.  ‘Nashville natives’ themselves, it sounds like the Oakleys would have been a resource of interesting stories and anecdotes and I wonder if they were there when I visited in 2005. Sadly it looks as if Mr. Frank Oakley passed away in 2009. He put some of the biggest country stars such as Marty Robbins and Jim Reeves in TV commercials giving them national exposure and was known as ‘Friendly Frank’ to his friends. It also seems like he may have written a book about his experiences but I don’t see it for sale at the website or anywhere else online, so if anyone has any information about where to purchase it I’ll gladly add the link to this article.

The store has a big selection of souvenirs and also (obviously) sells Willie Nelson merchandise.

Online Store – Country Music Merchandise

There is also an online store with lots of enticing options, such as a Tennessee Hometown Cookbook (yum!), a Willie Nelson harmonica or a Waylon Jennings t-shirt. They sell guitars and hoodies, but you can also pick up some cool stuff for under ten dollars – a great way to surprise a Willie Nelson fan in your life – and it makes it even better that it came straight from the Willie Nelson General Store.

The Willie Nelson Museum – Highlights

Patsy Cline’s Watch

The museum is not very big but allows you to get up close to the collection in a more intimate setting compared to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the calibre of many of the collection pieces is just as good. The museum allows you to get a glimpse into Willie Nelson’s life – many of the pieces are his personal property, gifts from other famous people, etc. I loved the small (it’s still very big) scale model of his tour bus and some of the interesting sculptures; however, my favorite items were Patsy Cline’s watch and earrings. The time of 6:20pm on the watch’s face tells the time of the plane crash that ended her life in 1963 – it broke when the plane came down and that is how we know it crashed just 13 minutes after take off (they had stopped to refuel in Dyersburg, Tennessee). I’m a huge fan of Patsy Cline – I love her songs, her style and her character – not to mention her amazing voice- so it was an opportunity to feel close to her.

Location

The Willie Nelson Museum is located at 2613 McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN. Visit their Facebook page for directions.