The Time Willie Nelson Bailed Dennis Hopper Out of Jail
Today we’re met with the sad news that actor Dennis Hopper has died of cancer. As a star in films like Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now and others, and as a long time friend of Willie Nelson, Dennis could could be seen as an honorary country music Outlaw so to speak. Especially since he was right there when Willie, Kris, and even Waylon occasionally took their country music stardom to the silver screen.
Dennis was a part-time resident of the small northern New Mexico town of Taos. Taos is about as close as you will find to a wild west town these days, and some of the Easy Rider film was shot there and in the surrounding areas. Back in the mid 70’s it was a hangout for country music types and Hollywood misfits like Hopper. It was also the scene of one of the most crazy country music stories I’ve ever seen told that included Dennis, Willie Nelson, and of all people, golf pro Larry Trader. Check it out, told by Dennis in the Willie Nelson Autobiography:
“I hadn’t got a clue how Willie knew I was in jail in Taos. At the time I couldn’t imagine how Willie Nelson even knew who I was.
“In Taos I had gotten real drunk and proceeded to win a lot of acid in a poker game, so I swallowed the acid and saw weird dangerous shit going on, and I pulled my pistol out of my boot and shot up the plaza. I was ranting and raving in the jail, people were out to get me, man, and here came the sheriff saying Willie Nelson had come and paid my bill and was waiting outside. I was free to go with him.
“I freaked fucking out. Willie Nelson? Come on, man, who do you think you’re kidding? You’re gonna lure me out and yell jailbreak and blow my ass away! But I thought, hey, be cool, you are after all hallucinating all this. So I walked out of jail and got into Willie’s Mercedes with him and his wife Connie and his golf pro Larry Trader. We drove across the desert towards Las Vegas.
“Willie and Trader and I nearly drove Connie crazy with our laughing and shouting. Connie is an angel, but we were too much. At one point Connie said, “I’m going to stop the car. Either you guys get out, or I’ll get out. Who do you think has the best chance of hitching a ride in the middle of the desert?””
RIP Dennis.
May 29, 2010 @ 12:30 pm
R.I.P
May 29, 2010 @ 12:38 pm
WOW! BIG BUMMER! I knew Dennis was sick, but I guess you never expect your heroes to kick. Well put together, I’ve never caught that video before either. Thanks!
May 29, 2010 @ 12:59 pm
RIP. indeed. one of my favorite actors.
May 29, 2010 @ 1:21 pm
Ya know it’s been a while since I’ve watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, maybe today is the day.
May 29, 2010 @ 1:39 pm
Easy Rider will playing on a constant loop today…only pausing to listen to Shotgun Willie.
May 29, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
One of the screen outlaws that lived it. Dennis was the real deal and admired and honored the real outlaws of country. I was proud of the fact that he rode my dream bike (an Indian) in that Tarantino flick a while back. Easy Rider was one of the best movies of that time and I discovered and was influenced by it when I went into high school. I could relate to the persecution from that certain strain of southern hicks depicted in the film.It also has some of Nicholson’s best screen moments shared with Hopper.. Hell the skill of their craft was evident from their ability to do it as stoned as they were.
May 29, 2010 @ 4:02 pm
Nice story Triggerman! Rest In Peace DH.
May 29, 2010 @ 9:10 pm
Dennis Hooper was an actor from way back. A true western charater on the big as well as the small screen. I would be glued to the screen on a saturday night to watch him in big ben. A story of a man, his son and a bear called ben,living in the everglades of Florida. Best programme ever made. From that time on Dennis was an idol. I tried to see everything he acted in. Dennis you will truely be missed R.I.P
May 30, 2010 @ 6:56 am
Awesome story, never heard of it! Dennis Hopper was one of the good ones. May he rest in peace.
June 2, 2010 @ 7:57 am
There was often a disturbing element to movies that Dennis Hopper was in,and even though I probably have not seen all of his movies, everyone I have I recall his character being full of torment and infested with demons and turmoil.
The last of a hardcore breed.
January 13, 2015 @ 1:35 pm
I was in Taos, NM for three days this week skiing and enjoying this great gem of a town that I have visited many times in the past. I was talking with a sweet little lady that worked in a gift shop in the original 1930’s County Court House Building. She gave me a tour of the building that housed the cell that Dennis Hopper was in for a few hours before Willie Nelson bailed him out. She graciously took two photos of me behind the steel bars. Fortunately she did not lock the cell door. Taos is a fun place with lots of history.
March 9, 2022 @ 7:41 am
Spent some time at the Mable Dodge with him. Named a Bar after him, The Last Picture House. Roger Miller and Mary was Willie and Waylon’s reason to be in Taos. Dennis was my kind of crazy. He loved Taos, The hot tubs in Easy Rider, were The Stage Coach, in Taos. I still go there. Miss you bro. RIP.