OPO:Willie Nelson

he has *always* had this inscrutable, off-kilter, jazzy phrasing. he constantly pushes ahead of or plays behind the beat, snaps the strings really hard, throws in weird runs and unusual chord voicings. Now that his voice is mostly shot (or, at least, he doesn't have as much lung power as he used to) it's remarkable that his guitar playing is still as great as it ever was.

his guitar playing was my favourite thing about the wonderful show I saw him play six or so years ago

how does this dude have yet another new album coming out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ticn0QrQwc

he's released like ten studio albums since Daft Punk released Random Access Memories.

I am listening to Country Willie (1975). Allmusic says "While not a bad record, there is really nothing here to recommend it."

If this is weak Willie, I'll take it all.

^Trigger Warning

Have been listening to Yesterday's Wine a lot this year and its been sounding like a masterpiece

First Rose of Spring is mostly really good, up to his usual standard. Also got new book coming out, w Sister Bobbie: a joint autobio.

Sad news: Bobbie has passed.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/bobbie-nelson-willie-nelson-family-band-dead-obit-1319861/

reading this now: really good alternating chapters of each sib's POV of situations, phases and stages, concise and vivid:
https://www.whiskeyriff.com/wp-content/uploads/Lukas-Nelson-2-1024x647.jpg

Tribute on Willie's Instagram too.https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2022/03/11/willie-nelson-shares-memorial-post-for-late-sister-piano-player-bobbie-nelson/

And as I said on Rolling Country, before I got the book:
Good on Bobbie: knew about her husband's band, which incl. her & Wille, but not the aftermath, ongoing consequences; also, I've got her rollin' Audiobiography (Willie and Johnny Bush show up some), and one of the duet sets w W, the remarkable December Day, but will have to check their earlier albums mentioned here, also still need the joint memoir:
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/11/1086000679/bobbie-nelson-a-country-music-pioneer-and-willie-nelsons-sister-dies-at-age-91

How have I never heard the words don’t fit the picture. What a stunning album

One thing I didn't get to during lockdown was listening to all 100+ (150?) Willie Nelson albums in chronological order. Some are much better than others, but it's possible every single one has something to recommend, which is pretty ridiculous.

What are your favorites so far?

Phases and Stages and Spirit are probably my two favorites. Also the compilation Nite Life: Greatest Hits and Rare Tracks (1959-1971) - I still need to give the early albums another listen, especially ...And Then I Wrote, but Nite Life was how I first got introduced to that era. And that massive run in the '70s is amazing, beginning with Yesterday's Wine (which Nite Life touched on) all the way through Stardust.

Besides Spirit, later stuff is often interesting, like Across the Borderline (surprising guest stars galore), the Lanois album, and his most recent stuff too, which I didn't start exploring until I caught his two more recent shows in NYC.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/magazine/willie-nelson.html

That's a really good piece, but I'm listening to the new album right now on Tidal and he sounds like Rowlf the Dog imitating Willie Nelson at this point.

I don't know why I've never connected that strongly with his music. I suspect it's because there's so much of it. Even if I find a couple of albums I like, there are still a hundred more, and too many of them just seem like dumb ideas or unnecessary somehow (the reggae album, children's albums, blah blah blah). I get the appeal, but not the worship.

My favorite from the new one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_-J_keVBY8

Saw him live in New York a decade ago with his band (including Paul!) and it was revelatory for me

unperson, you might like some of his w a bit of country jazz appeal: the all-instrumental Night and Day, the mostly instrumental Let's Face The Music and Dance, Willie and the Wheel(certainly does Asleep At The Wheel a solid, re their often bland vocals), Summertime: Willie Sings Gershwin, both of his Sinatra songbooks, and To All The Girls...: duets w a good variety of female singers.

Don't recall his duo album w Wynton that clearly, although I liked it---retain a stronger impression of Here We Go Again: The Genius of Ray Charles, where Marsalis provides some wild horn charts, reminding me of Cab Calloway, also he sings okay, as does Nora Jones, no longer Snora, more of a cool blue chanteuse, knowing when to shut up, as do Willie and Wynton.

No, see, all of those sound absolutely nightmarish to me. I'm sure if I listened to a random sampling of his "straightforward"/"country-country" albums I'd find a bunch of individual songs I'd like, but because they're country songs, with the exact same melodies and chord progressions over and over and over, they'd all blend together into momentarily room-filling vapor, with the occasional well-written verse or chorus popping out while it's playing but gone as soon as it ends. I mean, I listened to half of his newest album (eight songs out of 14) two hours ago, and liked most of them well enough, didn't actively dislike any, but I can't remember how a single one of them went.

And that massive run in the '70s is amazing, beginning with Yesterday's Wine (which Nite Life touched on) all the way through Stardust.

It didn't bowl me over immediately because it's so understated musically, but Yesterday's Wine has become one of my favorite albums of all time. Its concept--telling "the story of a man--from birth to death" is extremely ambitious, but somehow he pulls it off in under 30 impressionistic minutes. The way it gradually shifts in theme from the religious to the secular is really compelling, and it has some of his most beautiful tunes (esp. "Summer of Roses", "December Day")

No, see, all of those sound absolutely nightmarish to me. You mean you listened to them, or my descriptions put you off? Sorry either way, thought those might be closer to your usual likes. But I wouldn't have thought anything to do with country was much for you, 'til you indicated here that you'd tried to get into it.

You mean you listened to them, or my descriptions put you off?

The latter. If I'm gonna listen to country, I'm gonna listen to country, not some country guy trying to do jazz. But as you say, it does almost nothing for me about 99% of the time. Really the only exceptions are Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakam, and Loretta Lynn. Beyond that, I just can't.

How have I never heard the words don’t fit the picture. What a stunning album

thank you for turning me onto this gem, Heez! mentioned it to a friend who turned me onto mp3s and have been digging it since.

Really the only exceptions are Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakam, and Loretta Lynn. Damn---that's a LOT to get from a genre otherwise useless to you.

Not really. If I could only name four rock bands whose music I actively enjoyed, and I told you that almost every other rock act I had heard had inspired feelings of rage and contempt, you wouldn't call me a rock fan.

And I don't call you a country fan, but that's a good stash to take away from it.

Anyway, looks like this might be another good book with David Ritz:

Willie Nelson Announces New Book About Longtime Drummer Paul English
Me and Paul: Untold Tales of a Fabled Friendship chronicles Nelson’s 70-year partnership with English—the country legend’s closest pal, tour accountant, and former bodyguard

It didn't bowl me over immediately because it's so understated musically, but Yesterday's Wine has become one of my favorite albums of all time.

I went deep on yesterday’s wine over the pandemic and I agree, definitely my favorite willie album at this point

not some country guy trying to do jazz

This is ironic bc while I’m a country fan generally what put me over the edge into really loving willie was realizing that he is a jazz vocalist who sings country songs

Jody shared the full transcript of his interview with Wynton Marsalis on Willie and I strongly recommend a read:

https://www.facebook.com/jodyrosen/posts/pfbid0eHMpmyzJ1KfJ2GDYNh8NqhfkQPxaqhPTzhVGUv4EaHfJwoRrsMUtFTCiPrexExaxl

Merle's jazzier stuff is great

Would read the shit out of a book by Willie about Paul

Haven't read the interview yet, but there's always been kind of an underacknowledged connection between country and jazz, especially in Western Swing.

Yeah a lot of ostensible country music from the 40s and earlier sounds indistinguishable from blues and jazz of the era, to modern ears. Jimmie Rodgers recorded with all kinds of jazz players, incl Louis Armstrong.

Willie's talked about how some of his favorite music early on was Western Swing ( may have still been a teen when he produced a local concert for Bob Wills. which lost money, but no regrets atall) and the Hot Club Swing of Reinhardt and Grapelli. And he mixed them sometimes, like when he did that Austin City Limits ep feat. "Lady Be Good" and so on. Messing with the beat in his singing came in part from jazz, and from country singer Floyd Tillman, who also showed up on one of Willie's ACL evenings: "Baay[-a-bee!"

His guitar solos get pretty skronky sometimes too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX1WMqdSSck

Hard to beat This 1980 performance of blue eyes

Picked up a lovely copy of Phase & Stages for £1.50 at a junk shop yday. A good weekend!

Yeah, that one still passes through my head without warning. Break-up album: A-side is hers, B-side is his, equally remarkable. Spoiler: they both go on to other"---phases and stages---circles and cycles, scenes that we've all seen before. Let me show you some more."

(did we mention he won Grammys forA Beautiful Time and "Live Forever," title track of that good Billy Joe Shaver trib---his other track on there, "I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train," elso ace.)

Out since March 3, haven't yet played it:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71ZK-pVCxRL._SL1500_.jpg

Amongst the nearly 150 albums that Willie Nelson has released, he has a number of amazing full-album tributes to songwriters from Kris Kristofferson and George Gershwin to Ray Price and Cindy Walker. Adding to that list is a new studio album dedicated to songwriting legend Harlen Howard who has scores of country hits including a number that crossed over to pop and even R&B charts. A member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall Of Fame, Howard wrote hits for Ray Charles (“Busted”), Buck Owens (“I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail”), Conway Twitty (the title track), Bobby Bare (“The Streets Of Baltimore”) and so many more. Produced by longtime collaborator Buddy Cannon and featuring a murderers’ row of crack Nashville musicians, I Don’t Know A Thing About Love is an amazing addition to Willie’s unparalleled catalog.
Featuring cover art by Micah Nelson (Willie's son), I Don't Know A Thing About Love was produced by longtime musical collaborator Buddy Cannon and debuts 10 studio performances. The band on the album includes Willie Nelson (Trigger, lead vocals), Larry Paxton (bass, tic tac bass), Lonnie Wilson (drums), Bobby Terry (acoustic guitar, electric guitar), James Mitchell (electric guitar), Mike Johnson (steel guitar), Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Jim "Moose" Brown (piano, synthesizer, B3 organ, Wurlitzer), Wyatt Beard (background vocals), and Melonie Cannon (background vocals).

Willie Nelson (Trigger, lead vocals)

.. that's a nice touch...