Willie Nelson as a guitarist - how does he rate?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I heard an idiot on the radio last night say he sucked, but whenever I hear a solo of his on acoustic I always like it (they are usu. relatively brief and unostentatious, but I haven't heard him that much), he has a really unique sense of phrasing and melodies...isn't he a very good guitarist or am I just imagining it?

― douglas eklund (skolle), Saturday, 28 October 2006 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

He's fucking great!

Incredibly melodic, superb phrasing - as you've already noted. I love the way he throws in chromatic runs and Django Reinhardt licks.

I saw him live last year with a buddy, who had recently been subjected to some Derek Bailey (which he wasn't keen on.)

Willie busts into this solo, very angular and jazzy, quite distorted (in the way only an ancient nylon string guitar can distort.) My friend turned to me with a look of glee on his face and said "FUCK DEREK BAILEY!"

Willie has a lot of tricks up his sleeve on the guitar.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Saturday, 28 October 2006 13:56 (nineteen years ago)

yeah I think willie and his band are very good. maybe they "suck" compared to slick country outfits, but his phrasing (guitar, vocal, etc) is very unique, kind of haphazard. often things sound like they're on the verge of falling apart. that's what's so good about it.

― kyle (akmonday), Saturday, 28 October 2006 14:12 (nineteen years ago)

Same with his singing... He always seems a little off-time, but it works perfectly.

Good ol' Bio-Willie!

― shorty (shorty), Saturday, 28 October 2006 14:23 (nineteen years ago)

He's a great guitarist.

― Nathan P1p (hoyanathan), Saturday, 28 October 2006 14:57 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, he's one of the few artists outside of yer stereotypical guitar heroes where I always notice and enjoy every little line.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Saturday, 28 October 2006 17:24 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks everyone--I too love the slight sloppiness and weird angular lines and offbeat timing, he might be the Malkmus of country?

― douglas eklund (skolle), Saturday, 28 October 2006 17:27 (nineteen years ago)

Maybe you're thinking of Spiral Stairs.

Or Bob Quine.

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Saturday, 28 October 2006 17:30 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, definitely Quine, thanks

― douglas eklund (skolle), Saturday, 28 October 2006 17:31 (nineteen years ago)

"Same with his singing... He always seems a little off-time, but it works perfectly."

I once heard a Willie Nelson live LP (from the 70's) and it seemed like the whole damn band was on Willie time...just rushing from phrase to phrase without stopping to savor it.

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Saturday, 28 October 2006 17:44 (nineteen years ago)

it seemed like the whole damn band was on Willie time

"Willie time"=coke?

Willie Nelson is fucking awesome, with the beats, with rhymes, whatever...real genius.

― M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 28 October 2006 17:51 (nineteen years ago)

Willie savors like a motherfucker!!! Maybe he was taking so long with each line that the band sounded fast? I mean, listen to Stardust some time, the guy is like almost a half beat behind on everything.

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Saturday, 28 October 2006 17:53 (nineteen years ago)

"Willie savors like a motherfucker!!!"

Well, maybe Willie was stopping to smell the roses, but the band on WILLIE & FAMILY LIVE was havin' a hard time keeping up!

"Maybe he was taking so long with each line that the band sounded fast?"

You probably made the call, there...I have an earlier, back-when-my-hair-was-short live album he recorded for RCA in the sixties and the music doesn't sound as choppy.

"I mean, listen to Stardust some time, the guy is like almost a half beat behind on everything."

Well, whoop-de-doo for STARDUST, but I'm talkin' 'bout WILLIE & FAMILY LIVE! Sounds like the whole band was snorting!

But the other Nelson albums I have (especially the vaguely soulish SHOTGUN WILLIE) don't have that problem.

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Saturday, 28 October 2006 21:55 (nineteen years ago)

I've got a jazz guitarist friend who I harrass by telling him that Willie Nelson is the best jazz guitarist there is! Of course, I don't really believe that, but he's great at soloing and playing around the beat and he swings hard like Django or Wes Montgomery or the Texas Playboys. The other thing is that he sounds like no one else, whether it's the way he plays, or that guitar with the hole in it where it's been picked away over time. There's a great moment on the Johnny Cash/Willie Nelson VH1 Storytellers thing where Willie, after breaking a string, takes over on Johnny's guitar and Johnny says, "That's the first time it's ever been played."

― mcd (mcd), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 01:42 (nineteen years ago)

thirteen years pass...

Love this dude.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 6 June 2020 09:59 (six years ago)

Stardust one of those rare albums one never tires of

― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Saturday, 6 June 2020 12:44 (six years ago)

and holy crap at the piece Alfred linked

https://www.texasmonthly.com/interactive/big-list-willie-nelson-albums-ranked/

― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Saturday, 6 June 2020 13:46 (six years ago)

"sister's coming home" is listed twice, btw (6, 33)

― medicate for all (outdoor_miner), Saturday, 6 June 2020 14:31 (six years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.