Hola fellow Clasic Rockers... my name is Tony Linn and I wrote this Bio of Willie W. Nelson...

I had the privilege of hiring Willie in 1965... I was on a Program that AT&T began to replace the aging mass of Executives who did not comprehend what was coming down the road... that would completely change the way Business was done for the Telecommunications Industry... new potential Executives were put on a Program to supervise workers in every facet of the Business components that were up for transition in the next 10-20 years...

The Program (funded by IBM and AT&T) at the University of Wisconsin was the first to create a new Degree called Electronic Engineer rather than Electrical Engineer (Degree was not canceled)... there were 12 Applicants that were accepted to the School and only 6 graduated in the Fall of 1964... Willie was at the top of the Class!

I pretty much knew that he would not accept an offer from IBM as he was raised on a farm and Nature was in his Blood rather than a desk job writing software... and indeed He did... we offered Him $600/week which was lower than IBM's but he really did not care about Money... he wanted to work with the Bell labs Engineers who were working on the Navy programs for Space Rockets and a new surveillance system spying on the Chinese (they were attempting to build a 1-mile deep Antenna in Northern Wisconsin)...

So, I sent Him up to live in Eau Claire which was North of the Tension Zone for Tourists and where the Navy had a Top-secret office disguised as building the first Cable TV System and I put Him in charge of the design... it would have a 300-foot Antenna to transmit signals heard from the Antenna onto a network send the signals to the CIA office in Milwaukee... needless to say that he was on Cloud Nine!

So, I got transferred after a 6-month stint and soon found out that the project was canceled as a War was coming and their funding was diverted by Congress... well, he had a vision about the future and was sent out to Bell Labs to work on it with the Navy's Space program and I was assigned to mentor him on the Business aspects of all new projects... we opened an office in Milwaukee where he had 6 Bell Labs Scientists working under His Supervision...

Well, this all came about by the early '70s (after He did a stint in Vietnam supervising a Communications network (another Story in His fabulous Career)... in 1975, I brought Him to HQ and he made a presentation to the Board of Directors about the future... after that, they created a new position of Director of New Technology and so he was truly in the "Fast Lane" and went around the World preaching the "Paradime Shift" that was in its infancy...

What does all this have to do with Classic Rock?... well, wherever we traveled together, he was always humming a CR tune and carried a Satchel of Music mags with Him.. many of the Tracks reminded him of when he managed a Band that played on the beach and Frat parties... was he addicted?... most definitely, to say the least!... he soon became my first Friend who was a Classic Rock JunkieI

I totally support His effort to create the nonprofit Classic Rock Turntables.com ... the chief source of funding for the Asheville School of Classic Rock (ASCR) and this Website and Saturday Night Webcasts that are devoted to his Mission ... I hope you consider joining their dynamic Community to ensure that Music Education filling the gap from Public Schools no longer have the budget... please support a private Institution that promoted Creativity and Self-expression of our Youth... the School's main Objective is to develop Student's Skills that will give them a chance to explore the variety of Fields in the Music Industry and broaden their view of a Future... besides, Asheville is a Community whereby Music is part of a cultural diverse Society and is the perfect place for ASCR!

Please consider joining the CRT Community as, if you like Classic Rock Music, you will not find a better place to share that Joy... please give whatever you can to support this Fantastic Journey... thank you in advance

Tony Linn

Rock On!!!