 Doc Jenkins (Willie Nelson) is a singer/songwriter who tries to leave his singer/songwriter roots to be a music "mogul", and gets tangled up in a bad publishing deal. He enlists a team of cronies, including a young singer (Lesley Ann Warren) and his former singing partner, Blackie Buck (Kris Kristofferson), and together they execute his plan to get out of the deal. Hilarious help from Rip Torn as a stereotypical small-time concert promoter, Melinda Dillon as the love interest/ex-wife, and Mickey Raphael, who was actually a member of Willie s band.