Honeysuckle Rose (1980)
Buck Bonham is a county singer, with a good family, struggling to find national fame. He juggles his music career with his obligations to his long-suffering wife and their son. He has everything going his way until his longtime guitarist retires from the band. His plucky young daughter eagerly accepts the position meant to last several weeks. The road leads to temptation as the young woman admits a longtime crush on him, which leads to his downfall. The only question is will his family and friends stand by him before things come crashing down?
For 20 years he's been singing to the country. But he never figured he'd be living his own love songs.
Buck Bonham: When I was a kid, I used to have to churn butter for my Mom. Now, that was hard work.
Viv Bonham: Your Mama told me you never did a lick of nothin', except hide down by the creek playin' that $5 guitar.
Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, USA
Northcross Mall, Austin, Texas, USA
(Ice skating rink. No longer part of the complex)
Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas, USA
(Shots of the band bus in Austin)
Fischer Dance Hall, Fischer, Texas, USA
(Bonham Family Reunion scenes)
Actresses Amy Irving and Dyan Cannon did their own singing and can be heard on the movie's soundtrack.
Amy Irving and Willie Nelson started a relationship on set (despite his marriage). Irving later left Nelson for director Steven Spielberg.
"Honeysuckle Rose" is the nickname of Willie Nelson's concert tour bus.
The movie was nominated for and won a Golden Raspberry Award, actress Amy Irving winning the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress at the award's inaugural ceremony in 1981.
The song "On the Road Again" sung by Willie Nelson from this film went to No. #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 whilst the "Honeysuckle Rose" album went to No. #11 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart but chart-topped to the No. #1 spot on Billboard's top country albums. The song "On the Road Again" got Oscar nominated and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine scored the song at the No. #471 rank on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time whilst in 2011, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The tune was Nelson's his sixth No. #1 hit as a solo performer and his ninth No. #1 Country & Western hit overall. The track has frequently been used on various soundtracks for films and television series and is considered a music classic.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
In Mexico, Buck gets shot with the 7th shot from Garland's 6-shooter. (Note: the film as shown on TCM April 10, 2021 had Garland firing just 6 times - once to get Buck's attention as Buck walked toward the bus, twice while running through the bus, once after departing the bus chasing Buck, once into the air while the two were struggling, and then the 6th shot which was the final one.)
Character error
At the last concert, Buck appears on stage and grabs his guitar and starts playing. However, his band, thinking he was in Mexico and not coming back, would not have put his guitar out on stage.