Willie Nelson: Bluegrass
You know that ancient maxim about old dogs not learning new tricks? Depends on the dog, no? If his name is Willie Nelson, then you can just forget it. For his 74th solo studio album, the Mount Rushmore-ready American hero, who turned 90 in April, has put together his first-ever bluegrass album. And, no surprise here, it’s fantastic. While it’s not entirely a leap of faith—its dozen songs are all reworkings of tunes from Nelson’s pre-existing catalog— the country legend still manages to inject new life into the arrangements until he has you believing that songs you’ve heard a thousand times were meant to be played this way all along. Among the most familiar are Nelson staples like “On the Road Again,” “Good Hearted Woman” (made famous as a duet with Waylon Jennings) and “Yesterday’s Wine,” a number that dates back more than 40 years to the same-titled album. Another from that era is “Bloody Mary Morning,” a cut Nelson included on an RCA album (his 10th in all) titled Both Sides Now. For the new versions, Nelson employs a sizable team of musicians from outside of his regular circle, save for trusty longtime harmonica man Mickey Raphael. The Red Headed Stranger understands instinctively that his usual loosey-goosey approach to unfurling a song won’t work in this more highly structured bluegrass setting, and he’s got no problem at all keeping things tighter. On the ballad “You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago,” another selection with a ‘70s vintage, Nelson integrates traditional vocal harmonies into an arrangement dominated by Dobro and pedal steel (neither of which happen to be standard bluegrass instruments) while playing around with his tempo and phrasing—as is his natural predilection—on some more upbeat treats like “Slow Down Old World” and the opening cut, “No Love Around.”
