3.8 + I salivate when I hear phrases like "country music's first country album" and "Willie Nelson stripped down" but sadly this album doesn't live up to my excitement. To be sure, Nelson sounds uncommonly sweet as always, and there's plenty of twinkle in the spare guitar and piano parts. But there's lots of repetition, especially in the first half. I keep hearing "he cried like a panther" and "don't cross him, don't boss him" over a sedate oompa-pa and I wonder if I missed something.