On The Road Again...The Willie Nelson Thread

[Ojai Sam]

I'll be a jug of that.

Um, how many albums are there in all?

He's now up to 152, so I have to renumber all of my posts.

All 155 Willie Nelson Albums, Ranked

The recording career of country music’s greatest artist, surveyed, sized up, and sorted on the occasion of his 87th birthday.

www.texasmonthly.com

 

[axolotl]

He's now up to 152, so I have to renumber all of my posts.

All 155 Willie Nelson Albums, Ranked

The recording career of country music’s greatest artist, surveyed, sized up, and sorted on the occasion of his 87th birthday.

www.texasmonthly.com

While we appreciate all you do, you don't have to do that.

You are a Gunga Din than I am, Betterman.

 

[Ojai Sam]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1804229565717647731

 

[Ojai Sam]

While we appreciate all you do, you don't have to do that.

You are a Gunga Din than I am, Betterman.

Everybody loves a countdown.

50 years ago today, Casey Kasem debuted his American Top 40 countdown | Alan Cross

It was fifty years ago today when Casey Kasem hosted the first American Top 40 countdown. It quickly grew into one of the most-syndicated radio programs

www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com

I just hope I live long enough to finish this one.

 

[Ojai Sam]

#131 Willie Nelson & Friends - Live And Kickin' (2003)

The second of three annual tribute shows released on record shares the same major shortcomings as the first one: poor pacing and incoherent artist selection. Even within the same song we see a dire mismatch of Elvis Costello and Diana Krall. In my limited experience attending televised concerts, thanks to the down time I found them to be interminable. So by that standard, this record captured the moment successfully.

on the Sam-O-Meter. Two down, one to go.

 

[Ojai Sam]

#130 Willie Nelson & Friends - Outlaws and Angels (2004)

After missing the ball twice, the producers of the third and (so far) final Williepalooza finally hit a home run. These duet projects rise and fall on how well the artists actually match up. This time, the lineup includes such obvious winners as Merle Haggard, Toby Keith, Shelby Lynn, Ben Harper and Keith Richards. Even the more off-the-wall choices like Rickie Lee Jones and Toots Hibbert share Willie's eccentricity.

on the Sam-O-Meter. Third time's the charm.

 

[Ojai Sam]

#131/154 Willie Nelson & Bobbie Nelson - A Hill Country Christmas (1997)

All 155 Willie Nelson Albums, Ranked

The recording career of country music’s greatest artist, surveyed, sized up, and sorted on the occasion of his 87th birthday.

www.texasmonthly.com

OK, I give up. At age 92, Willie is cranking out albums faster than I can get to them.

So, I'm, just going to add a denominator and stop worrying about it.

This album was a very pleasant surprise. It was released on Finer Arts Records, a division of F2 Entertainment along with Fahrenheit Records and Celsius Records. I can't tell you much about F2 Entertainment because my anti-virus program won't let me see their website. It does appear to be run by a guy named Fletcher Foster, not to be confused with Freddy Fletcher, who produced this record.

Unlike most of Willie's records, the instrumental focus here is on sister Bobbie Nelson's gospel-influenced piano rather than his guitar. She lends a definite flavor of religion to a dozen Christmas songs. Most are familiar but the Spanish sounding "El Nino" is the best new holiday song I've heard in many years. Another highlight is "Here Comes Santa Claus" featuring a live and lively radio show performance by none other than Gene Autry, the guy who made it famous. This album will certainly get a lot of spins next Christmas.

on the Sam-O-Meter.


Freddy Fletcher


Fletcher Foster

Definitely not the same guy.

 

[Ojai Sam]

#131/155 Johnny Bush & Willie Nelson - Together Again (1982)

Vinyl Spin of the Day.



Willie's Roadhouse is my go to channel on Sirius whenever I'm on the road again. I have no idea how much control Willie actually exercises over the programming, but they play one of his songs at the top of every hour. His daughter, Paula, holds forth as a DJ for many hours each day. Cash and Haggard and Jones are in regular rotation as you would expect, but they also spin a lot of Texas artists including the late Johnny Bush.

Johnny started as a journeyman singer in the Ray Price mold. As a matter of fact, he and Willie were both in Ray's Cherokee Cowboys band at the same time. Later, Willie underwrote Johnny's first album launching a long career. After some early national success with the first charting version of "Whiskey River", Bush settled into the fertile Texas music scene where he became a local legend.

When Willie started pairing up on record with other artists, Johnny was therefore a natural choice. This record appeared on Delta Records out of Nacogdoches and has never seen a digital release. It includes many of Willie's signature songs such as "The Party's Over" and "My Own Peculiar Way", not to mention "Whiskey River" itself. Both men are in fine voice, with Johnny demonstrating the vocal chops that earned him the sobriquet of "The Country Caruso".

on the Sam-O-Meter. Shoulda been ranked much higher than #131 IMHO.

 

[axolotl]

on the Sam-O-Meter. Shoulda been ranked much higher than #131 IMHO.

Then so shall it be.

Sam, yours is the only opinion of Willie Nelson and his ilk that matters to a small coterie consisting of us.