A Willie Nelson Revue

Shotgun Willie

There is a swagger to this album. There are so many staples of Willie’s catalog on here that it almost serves as a roadmap to best understand the trajectory of Willie’s adventures in outlaw songwriting. The boozy one two punch of ‘Shotgun Willie’ and 'Whiskey River’ sets the album lurching with the momentum of a backwoods bar fight. Willie sees himself playing a cartoonish version of himself, confidently hooting and hollering over deceptively complex music. This album itches for misadventure on the open road, paved in the deliriously fun travelogue “Devil in a Sleeping Bag”. The album cover as well remains striking both in its absurdity and dead serious commitment to the bit. The double vision of Willie and his crooked smile staring at you from the other end of a double barrel dares you not to have the time of your life hollering along to these songs.

Yesterday’s Wine

“The voice of an imperfect man must now be made manifest, and I have been selected to be the most likely candidate.” In these lead heavy words Willie introduces the character he plays out through the rest of the album, Yesterday's Wine.  A concept album where the imperfect man struggles to reap meaning from an existence that dances in the dust laying on top of his family's bible. These songs argue that through time the imperfect man ferments into a sagacious brew where wisdom is hard won over seemingly endless march of bad times. This album definitely lays the groundwork of conceptual album writing later perfected on The Red Headed Stranger, it is in its abstraction and ambition that Yesterday’s Wine proves itself worthy of elevation from the margins of Willie’s catalog. 

Red Headed Stranger 

This is the one. In 152 albums across the 6 plus decades Willie has been at work, this is the one that stands as the quiet monolith in his discography. Willie’s songwriting always had aspirations to be cinematic but here is where Willie pushes it to its fullest conclusions. The “Redheaded Stranger” within its twisting melodies, barren instrumentation, and invested story lines makes this one of the best country records ever made. The center jewel of the album is the song “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”. One of the best country ballads written, Willie’s voice soars about the panoramic melody, ringing heartbreak all through the peaks and valleys that his titular red headed stranger travels through. Though listening to this album feels like hearing about the best cowboy movie, the actual attempt Willie made in the mid 80s to bring the story to the silver screen is a definite skip.

Stardust 

And in the quiet of night, where the heart languishes in joy and in the comfort of its soft breaking, the cowboy croons. The standards that map out the solace of Willie’s album “Stardust” are truly recordings to cherish. Though not a straight concept album, there is a sense that these songs will only tell you their best secrets under the cover of starlight. A cowboy’s version of Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours”. What really elevates these covers is the warmth in production brought by Booker T. Jones. Who’s encouragement brought out one of Willie’s most iconic performances in his cover of “Georgia On My Mind”. This little constellation of a record reminisces through pop standards and can guide the listener to the balm of Willie’s nostalgia. 

In anticipation of Willie's Last Leaf on the Tree

On Friday, November 1, 2024, Willie Nelson will release his new album, Last Leaf on the Tree. What has brought this particular album attention is the selection of covers Willie has chosen. The album features songs by Tom Waits, Nina Simone, and Neil Young alongside contemporary tracks by indie rock acts like The Flaming Lips, Sunny War, and Beck. The singles leading up to the release suggest a more atmospheric production style that gives the now 91-year-old singer the space his voice thrives in.

The cover of "Last Leaf," originally from Tom Waits’ Bad as Me, elevates the original dirge into a positive affirmation of one’s twilight years. Listening to the other two singles, Beck’s “Lost Cause” transforms the romantic heartache of the original into a broader reflection on not wasting precious life energy worrying about things that are lost or out of our control. Finally, Willie’s take on The Flaming Lips' staple “Do You Realize!?!” acknowledges mortality and the beauty of life in all its overwhelming absurdity. In Willie’s voice, the line “Let them know you realize that life goes fast / it’s hard to make the good things last” becomes less frenzied and more of a firm acknowledgment and invitation to let those you love know how you feel while you can.

It’s worth catching the reactions of songwriters Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd, with Wayne remarking, “The thing about Willie—you don’t really think about whether it’s his song or someone else's. When he does the song, it becomes his song.”