Willie Nelson Releases Album of Classic Covers
Among the great country singers of his time, Willie Nelson is known for not backing down from any musical challenge. His career, spanning almost half a decade, proves that he is capable of reinventing himself and experimenting with various musical genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, folk, and popular music, not unlike his fellow country singers who have stuck with tradition. Showing no signs of slowing down, the 76-year old musical icon has recently released a new studio album, the aptly titled “Country Music.” Taking a straightforward approach in choosing the title of his album, Nelson settled for the simple title for the album, which is a collection of covers of country songs, including classic country love songs, among others.
In a recent interview, Nelson said, “This is a group of songs that when they first came out, it didn’t take them very long to become standards, just like ‘Stardust,’ ‘Moonlight in Vermont,’ ‘All of Me’ and ‘Georgia’ are considered standards, so are ‘Dark as a Dungeon,’ ‘Freight Train Boogie,’ ‘Pistol Packin’ Mama’ and ‘Satisfied Mind.’ These are all standard songs from another field of music, but they are still the same category. They are just as good in their own way.”
The album, also containing classic country love songs given the Willie Nelson treatment, was produced by T Bone Burnett and musicians such as Riley Baugus in banjo, T-Bone Burnett himself, and Dennis Crouch on acoustic bass. As for working with Burnett, Nelson says, “T Bone and I are old friends. We were playing golf one day in California and started wondering why we never had done a record together, so we started talking about it.” He adds, “He brought most of the songs to the session, called all the musicians together. I trusted him and I knew he’d get the right guys and the right songs, and sure enough, I think he did.”The resulting album, “Country Music” marks his first ever collaboration with the award-winning producer who also won for his works with a diverse group of artists such as Alison Krauss and Robert Plant.
The massive album contains 15 noteworthy tracks that span a few decades of hit country standards and country love songs from some of the legendary country singers of all time. The tracks include “Man With The Blues,” “Seaman’s Blues,” “Dark As A Dungeon,” “Gotta Walk Alone,” “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down,” “My Baby’s Gone,” “Freight Train Boogie,” “Satisfied Mind,” “You Done Me Wrong,” “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” “Ocean of Diamonds,” “Drinking Champagne,” “I Am A Pilgrim,” “House of Gold,” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.”
Nelson has recently confirmed that he is returning for the 40th anniversary of the Glastonbury Festival June of this year, alongside diverse musical acts such as Slash, U2, Muse, Pet Shop Boys, Scissor Sisters, Ray Davies, Jackson Browne, Dr. John, Richard Thompson, Nick Lowe, MGMT, The Stranglers, the XX, and Stevie Wonder. Nelson is also currently on tour promoting his latest album. His tour dates until October of this year have already been announced, including tour stops in most major US and European cities.
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