SANTA MONICA, CA. (UMe Records) - In a truly remarkable accomplishment in 2004, each of four new Willie
Nelson albums - one studio, two live and one compilation - reached the Top 30 of the Country chart. Willie proved he was still the renegade spirit of American music.
Now a new retrospective, Songs (Lost Highway/Hip-O/UTV Records/UMe), released February 15th, 2005, spans 40-plus years of Willie's recordings for the first time, from his original 1961 demo for "
Crazy" and his first Top 10 (1962's "
Touch Me") to songs from 2002's hit albums The Great Divide and Stars & Guitars. Willie's signature songs are all featured on this release.
Delving into each decade and chapter of his songbook, culled from six record labels and with duets with Lee Ann Womack, B.B. King, Brian McKnight, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings, Songs defines Willie much as he has defined Country. For new fans as well as those from back in the day, even with the plethora of Willie compilations, the one-CD Songs is unique by updating his formidable legend - nearly half of its 20 digitally remastered selections are culled from the '90s and '00s.
The package's booklet also features an essay by Grammy-winning Country music historian Colin Escott.
Songs opens in the '60s with Willie's self-produced demo of "Crazy," which Patsy Cline turned into a standard. From his first Nashville session, "Touch Me" was his first charter (#7). "Good Times" was initially released in 1968 but cracked the Country Top 40 when it was reissued 13 years later.
Recordings from the '70s are the signature tracks "Yesterday's Wine," "Whiskey River," "Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer)," "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way" and the No 1 Country/Top 40 pop hits "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" and "Good Hearted Woman," the latter with Waylon. Willie & Waylon also teamed in the '80s for the No 1 Country "Just To Satisfy You." Willie then soloed for the No 1 Country/No 5 pop "Always On My Mind" before joining Haggard for the No 1 Country "Pancho And Lefty." The '90s offers "She Is Gone" and "My Own Peculiar Way."
The new century found Willie dueting with Francine Reed on "Funny (How Time Slips Away)" and with B.B. on "Night Life." He also covered a Muppets song, "Rainbow Connection." He returned to the charts with Matchbox Twenty producer Matt Serletic and a song Serletic wrote with Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin, "Mendocino County Line" - a Top 30 duet with Womack.
That same album, The Great Divide, which peaked at No 5 Country 40 years after "Touch Me" debuted, also yielded a duet with R&B star McKnight on Serletic's "Don't Fade Away."
Songs concludes with the Stars & Guitars ensemble version of "On The Road Again," the all-time classic from a classic for all time.
