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http://www.austin360.com/music/dan-bee-spears-willie-nelsons-bassist-dies-2023463.html
Dan 'Bee' Spears, Willie Nelson's bassist, dies
Longtime player, friend gave band its heart
December 9, 2011

(http://www.austin360.com/multimedia/dynamic/01232/1210spearsobit_1232373k.jpg)
jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Dan "Bee" Spears

Dan "Bee" Spears, who was the beating heart of Willie Nelson's music for more than 40 years as bassist for Nelson's Family Band, died Thursday after an accident at his home near Nashville, Tenn.

Spears, who was 62, reportedly fell outside his home and died from exposure.

Nelson expressed "sadness and shock" in a Twitter message Friday afternoon. On Nelson's website the home page was replaced with a burning candle with the words, "In loving memory of Dan 'Bee' Spears, longtime friend and bassist."
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"He was just a sweetheart; he always had a hug for everybody," said Austin author and filmmaker Turk Pipkin, a friend of both Spears and Nelson. "They talk about the Family Band, and I think Bee really personified that."

Spears is survived by a son, Cyrus.

There is no word yet on funeral arrangements.

The "Willie Nelson and Friends Family New Year" shows are still scheduled for Dec. 30 and 31 at ACL Live.

http://www.kutnews.org/post/willie-nelson%E2%80%99s-bassist-dan-%E2%80%9Cbee%E2%80%9D-spears-dies
Willie Nelson’s Bassist Dan “Bee” Spears Dies
By Nathan Bernier, KUT News
December 9, 2011

Dan “Bee” Spears, Willie Nelson’s bass player for more than four decades, has died at the age of 62. Spears’ girlfriend Dee Pearce said Spears slipped and fell while exiting his motor home near Nashville on Thursday night and died from exposure to the elements, KXAN reported.

Spears was born in San Antonio on August 11, 1949. He started playing bass for Willie Nelson at age 19, according to this birthday note on Nelson’s website.

We called Ray Benson, frontman of Asleep at the Wheel and a close friend of Spears for 38 years, to get his reaction.

“I’m just shocked. It’s not something you expect at all,” Benson told us. “But to paraphrase an old friend, Warren Zevon, ‘Enjoy every taco,’ because you just don’t know.”

“Bee was, no pun intended, the basis of Willie's sound,” Benson said. He said Spears’ traveling bass lines worked perfectly with Nelson’s guitar and said the band "basically grew that sound. It's the most eclectic individual sound you'll ever hear out of a band. You'll never hear another band sound like that."
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