“Night Life” Returns: Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp Light Up ‘Colbert’ With a Timeless Duet.ML
See Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp Resurrect ‘Night Life’ on ‘Colbert’
It takes a rare, special occasion for Willie Nelson to get dressed up in a blazer, but he did just that Wednesday night — counterbalanced by a Willie’s Reserve ballcap — in honor of Stephen Colbert‘s second week as host of The Late Show and this weekend’s 30th anniversary of Farm Aid.
The Red Headed Stranger was joined by fellow music icon and Farm Aid co-founder John Mellencamp for a laid-back version of “Night Life,” a tune Nelson penned in the late Fifties that has been covered by the likes of Ray Price, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and B.B. King, among many others. The country legend’s honeyed vocals and Mellencamp’s signature grit on the tune — along with Mickey Raphael on harmonica and a backing band of drums, horn and piano — combined to give it a jazz club feel for The Late Show.
Nelson and Mellencamp, joined by fellow Farm Aid board members Neil Young and Dave Matthews, will unite for their shared cause this Saturday, September 19th in Chicago. Other artists on the day-long Farm Aid 30 bill include Jack Johnson, Imagine Dragons, Kacey Musgraves, Old Crow Medicine Show, Mavis Staples, Holly Williams, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Insects vs. Robots and Blackwood Quartet.
