The Essential Willie Nelson [columbia]

This CD commemorates Willie Nelson's 70th Birthday (April 30, 2003). Personnel includes: Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Ray Price, Leann Womack, Julio Iglesias, Leon Russell, Merle Haggard, Aerosmith. Producers include: Felton Jarvis, Arif Mardin, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Booker T. Jones. Compilation producers: Nich Shaffman, Al Quaglieri. Recorded between 1961 & 2002. The catalog of Willie Nelson is so vast and rich that assemblingan "essential" collection of only one ortwo discs seems nearly impossible. RCA'ssingle-disc 1995 attempt was admirable and worthy, but doomed by space limitations. With a bit more room to move, Legacy's roomier two-disc collection is about close as anyone could hope to come. We get the full view of the great singer/songwriter's artistic journey. "Hello Walls" and the evergreen "Crazy" hail fromthe days when Nelson was tooling around Nashville as a songwriter for hire but mystifyingly unable to connect as a solo artist. His transformation into a counterculture icon via the '70s "outlaw country" movement is marked by the likes of "Me and Paul" and "Bloody Mary Morning. " His tremendous skill as in interpreter can be heard in such standards as "Blue Skies" and "Georgia on Mind, " which helped make him a crossover success in the STARDUST era. Latter-day collaborations with everyone from Aerosmith ("One Time Too Many") to U2 ("Slow Dancing") show Willie's mercurial, eclectic nature. Add itall up and a portrait comes together of a man whose artistic vision has carried him across decades and stylistic shifts aplenty and seen him through in style. Reviews: Dirty Linen (8/03, p. 64) - ". . . The double disc, 41-track offering lives up to its marquee billing as the collection to end all Willie collections. . . "

Track Listing

• Disc 1
• • 1 night life
  • 2 hello walls
  • 3 crazy
  • 4 funny how time slips away
  • 5 i never cared for you
  • 6 the party's over
  • 7 good times
  • 8 me and paul
  • 9 shotgun willie
  • 10 bloody mary morning
  • 11 blue eyes crying in the rain
  • 12 good hearted woman
  • 13 if you've got the money (i've got the ti
  • 14 uncloudy day
  • 15 mamas don't let your babies grow up to b
  • 16 georgia on my mind
  • 17 blue skies
  • 18 all of me
  • 19 heartbreak hotel
  • 20 help me make it through the night
  • 21 whiskey river [live]
  • 22 stay all night (stay a little longer) [l
• Disc 2
• • 1 my heroes have always been cowboys
  • 2 faded love
  • 3 on the road again
  • 4 angel flying too close to the ground
  • 5 always on my mind
  • 6 last thing i needed first thing this mor
  • 7 pancho and lefty
  • 8 to all the girls i've loved before
  • 9 city of new orleans
  • 10 seven spanish angels
  • 11 forgiving you was easy
  • 12 highwayman
  • 13 living in the promiseland
  • 14 nothing i can do about it now
  • 15 graceland
  • 16 everywhere i go
  • 17 slow dancing
  • 18 mendocino county line
  • 19 one time too many [previously unreleased