Tag: Willie Nelson

80 Years of Willie: From Opry Singer to Outlaw to Wizard

Willie Nelson Heroes Eighty years ago this week, Willie Hugh Nelson was born on April 29, 1933 in Abbott, Texas. Nelson is still going strong making music, and he using his annual birthday concert to benefit the West, Texas volunteer fire department that was affected by the recent fertilizer plant explosion that killed fourteen people and injured many others.

We have highlighted some of Nelson’s songs in other posts, and the man has such a range it is hard to select one song to celebrate the special occasion. So here are several spanning the birthday boy’s career.

Here is some early Willie Nelson from before the long hair and the beard. In this video, he performs a medley of songs at the Grand Ole Opry. One of the songs he performs is “Night Life,” which he wrote and which became a hit for Ray Price. Nelson also played bass for a time in Price’s band. Nelson also performs part of his classic ‘Crazy,” which of course was a big hit for Patsy Cline.

Around 1970, Nelson left Nashville and moved back to Texas, where he became an “outlaw.” Here in this performance from 1974, Nelson performs “Good-Hearted Woman,” which he wrote and recorded with Waylon Jennings.

Here is a 1975 performance of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.” The song was written by Fred Rose, but the song is forever linked to Willie Nelson after he covered the song on his great concept album, Red-Headed Stranger (1975).

Here is one you might have missed, a more recent song from Nelson. Nelson is a great interpreter of a range of styles and songwriters, which he shows here in a cover of “Gravedigger,” a Dave Matthews song. The song appeared on Nelson’s 2008 album Moment of Forever.

Finally, here is something even more recent showing Nelson’s sense of humor. Conan O’Brien recently showed Willie Nelson’s audition tape for the role of Gandalf in Hobbit 2. Of course, there is some of Nelson’s pot humor as well as a short rendition of “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Orcs.”

Whether you like early Willie, Outlaw Willie, or modern Willie, put on some music today.

What is your favorite Willie Nelson song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Three Unusual (But Awesome) Coldplay Covers

    coldplay x&y Songs by Coldplay often seem ripe for reinterpretation despite the fact that lead vocalist Chris Martin does have a great voice. But his voice is so distinctive that sometimes hearing someone else sing a Coldplay song helps reveal another side of the song.

    One cover, which may be the most familiar Coldplay cover because of its use in a Chipolte commercial, is Willie Nelson’s cover of “The Scientist,” which appears on his Heroes (2012) album. Willie Nelson, long known for his ability to interpret songs by other artists, takes the Coldplay song and gives it new meaning, aided by the video from Chipolte that addresses a message more serious than tacos. The accompanying “Back to the Start” short movie by film-maker Johnny Kelly made me see “The Scientist” in a whole new light.

    Another animated video for a Coldplay cover is “Yellow” by Renee & Jeremy on their A Little Love (2012) CD. The singers Renee Stahl and Jeremy Toback record songs together as Renne & Jeremy for listeners of all ages with the idea of recording songs for kids that adults enjoy too. The following charming video was created and directed by Jon Izen.

    My favorite cover of a Coldplay song appeared in the movie Young@Heart (2007). The film (reviewed by Cinematical here) is about senior citizens from Massachusetts who formed a singing group called Young@Heart. Hearing one of the elderly men sing Coldplay’s “Fix You” when he is himself near death and has lost a number of friends sends chills down your spine, giving the song a meaning that the younger singer cannot quite capture no matter how good they are.



    What is your favorite Coldplay cover? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Andrew Combs Need Not Be A “Worried Man” (CD Review)

    Andrew Combs Worried Man

    I do not quite get the album art on Worried Man (2012), the debut full-length CD by Andrew Combs. Is he cold? Is it supposed to be a picture of a “Worried Man”? I do not think the album cover adequately prepared me for what to expect when I heard the music. One thing I do know, though, is that it is the best album by a new artist I have heard in a long time.

    Because Worried Man came out in October 2012, I realize I am a little slow in discovering Andrew Combs. But seeing a video of Andrew Combs performing on the Twang Nation website recently led me to check out his album. Listening to Worried Man starting with the first track of “Devil’s Got My Woman” has been one of those periodic experiences that restores my faith in new music.

    Combs, who is originally from Texas and now resides in Nashville, wrote all of the songs on the album, and he sings with an ache in his voice in the best country and Americana tradition. The album includes heartbreak, whiskey, and pedal steel, and the title track reminds one of an old murder ballad (even if the violence stops short of killing). You can hear the influences of Combs’s heroes who include Harlan Howard, Willie Nelson, Mickey Newbury, Guy Clark, Jackson Browne, and Tom T. Hall. Combs pulls off connecting to these past influences while also sounding modern at the same time, as he does in this performance of “Please, Please, Please.”

    Every artist is different, of course, but for comparison purposes, a lot of the songs remind me of another artist I like a lot, Slaid Cleaves. “Please, Please, Please” sounds like it could be a great Heartbreaker-era Ryan Adams track. The song “Worried Man” sounds like it is off of the album of another Texan, Ray Wylie Hubbard . For now, Andrew Combs has made a stream of the album available so you can listen for yourself below Check it out.

    Combs, who released the album on his own Coin Records, also co-produced the album with Mike Odmark. Singer-songwriter Caitlin Rose adds her voice to several of the tracks. I look forward to more music from Andrew Combs, whatever the cover looks like.

    What is your favorite track off of Worried Man? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Tribute to Guy Clark CD is “Stuff That Works”

    This One's For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark

    One of my favorite recent CD purchases is This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark (2011), which I have had on repeat play since I got it in December. This One’s for Him is a solid 2-CD collection of songs by the wonderful Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark. Although tribute albums often are hit-and-miss affairs with an uneven collection of interpretations by various artists, this one maintains a nice consistency throughout. One reason the CDs work so well is the consistency of Guy Clark’s writing, although tribute albums usually consist of well-written songs. Another reason that the listening experience is like listening to a CD by one artist is because the producers recorded live with the band and a limited number of overdubs, giving consistency throughout. Finally, the great collection holds up due to the group of artists assembled for the project. Although there are some famous singers on the collection, the producers clearly opted for talented musicians who love Clark’s music instead of just seeking big names, and the love comes through the music.

    It is hard to choose a favorite song, but one of mine is Jack Ingram’s version of “Stuff that Works.” In a video no longer available on YouTube, Jack Ingram talked about his love of Guy Clark’s music, noting that the music feels “like the Truth.” The great thing about Clark’s songs is that he writes beautiful words to go with his beautiful music.

    Stuff that works, stuff that holds up;
    The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall;
    Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel;
    The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall.

    Artists on the CD include a who’s who of great singers and songwriters: Rodney Crowell, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, John Prine, and many more. [UPDATE: In a promotional video no longer on YouTube, Hayes Carll, who sings “Worry B Gone” on the tribute CD, talked about hanging out with Clark.]

    If you are already a fan of Guy Clark’s music, you will love the CD. But if you are new to his music, the tribute CD is a great place to start. One of my favorite songs of all-time is Guy Clark’s “LA Freeway.” Radney Foster does an excellent job covering the song on the CD. I could not find his version on Youtube, so here is the songwriter’s version. He does a pretty good job too.

    If I can just get off of this LA freeway,
    Without getting killed or caught;
    I’d be down that road in a cloud of smoke,
    For some land that I ain’t bought — bought — bought.

    “LA Freeway” captures the common longing for running off and being free. Even if you cannot make that kind of escape, you might come a little closer if while you’re on the road you pop in this CD.

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    Buy from Amazon

    Seven Spanish Angels: Happy Birthday Willie

    willie nelson half nelson seven spanish angels Willie Nelson was born in Abbott, Texas on April 29, 1933. In 2012 a statute of Willie was unveiled in Austin, but instead of choosing his birthday, organizers chose the appropriate date of April 20 at 4:20 p.m. for the man who released an album that features a song with Snoop Dogg called, “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die.” Anyway, today we celebrate with one of his great collaborations, this one with Ray Charles singing “Seven Spanish Angels.”

    The song was released as a single in November 1984 and originally appeared on Nelson’s album, Half Nelson (1985) and on Charles’s album, Friendship (1984). Although Charles had several successful country recordings, this one was his most successful. I was surprised to hear that this song was so successful for Charles, as it is not the first country recording I think of when I think of Charles. But it is an excellent one. In the video below, Nelson explains that Charles brought the song to him and that “it is going to be a phonograph record pretty soon.”

    Like Willie Nelson’s great recording of Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho & Lefty” with Merle Haggard, “Seven Spanish Angels,” written by Troy Seals and Eddie Setser, recounts the story of an outlaw in Mexico. Instead of being about two men, though “Seven Spanish Angels” tells the story of an outlaw and his girlfriend. After the outlaw is killed in a gunfight with a posse, the woman exclaims, “Father, please forgive me; I can’t make it without my man.” Then she picked up his rifle, knowing it is empty, and points it at the men who then shoot and kill her.
    willow tree angel The Seven Spanish Angels in the song “pray for the lovers in the valley of the guns.” When the smoke cleared, “seven Spanish angels took another angel home.” The line about “another angel” always made me wonder, does that mean they left the woman’s boyfriend behind?

    What do you think happened at the end of “Seven Spanish Angels”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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