Dan “Bee” Spears, bass player for

Willie Nelson, dies at 62

 Aug. 11, 1949 - Dec. 8, 2011

Dan “Bee” Spears, who spent more than 40 years as a

lynchpin of Willie Nelson’s band, died Thursday night of

exposure to the elements, after slipping and falling outside

his Nashville property.

Mr. Spears, who began performing with Nelson when
he was  19 years old, was 62
He was born Dan Edward Spears in Helotes, Texas,
outside San Antonio. Raised in
a musical family (his father was a fiddler), he joined
Nelson’s band in 1968, at the
recommendation of legendary steel player Jimmy Day.

He remained with Nelson through the Country Music Hall of Famer’s transition from
Nashville-based country music to the heights of the freewheeling “Outlaw Movement”
and into the new century.

Mr. Spears’ steady bass work was a key element in Nelson’s Family Band. When

Nelson would take experimental guitar excursions, Mr. Spears provided steadying

bass lines that kept things from moving out of bounds. At other times during concerts

and on albums, he and Nelson would play melodic figures together, shifting as one.

He played on Nelson’s best-known albums, including Red Headed Strangerand Stardust,

and also recorded with notables including Waylon Jennings, Leon Russell, Guy Clarkand

 Jerry Jeff Walker.

When not on the road with Nelson, Mr. Spears often performed around Nashville in a combo
called Travelin’ Light, with Richie Albright, the longtime drummer for Jennings, and bluesy
singer-songwriter-guitarist Ricky Ray.

In addition to his musical work, Mr. Spears appeared in movies including Honeysuckle Rose
and Songwriter.