OPO:Willie Nelson

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...