Boxcar Willie was born as Lecil Martin in Texas in
1931. Like many young men born to
country poverty, he joined the military... He went into the Air Force in 1949
where he served as a flight engineer and became a master Sargent. He served during the Korean War... and during
his time in the Air Force he began to write songs. He won a few talent contests and continued
with his military career. After the Korean War, he found himself serving in Germany... and
in 1962 he met his future wife Lloene, with whom he had 4 children.
In the early 1970s, he was in the Texas Air National Guard as
a Flight Engineer. He had written a song called Boxcar Willie and when he
started his musical career he adopted this name... Many earlier country songs
were about trains and the poverty stricken hoboes who “rode the rails” to get
around, spending time in Boxcars.
In 1976, he became a
full time singer and song writer... and started to appear on TV and at the Grand
Old Opry. He became a member of the
Opry and was increasingly successful and popular… His persona was old fashioned but he was a talented
musician. He was especially good at
covering Hank Williams’ songs…
In 1985, he bought a theatre in Branson Missouri
where he performed and he also bought some businesses there. He died in 1999 in
Branson… comparatively young from leukaemia
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