Stardust Willie Nelson Background: This is already the 22nd album by Willie Nelson, it’s all pop standards recorded by Willie Nelson, the king of cowboy country. Produced by Booker T Jones, the album is a departure from what he had done up to this point. The arrangements suit Willie’s voice and keep the spirit of the standards many of which played no small part in inspiring Nelson to become the musician that he became. Track-by-track: Stardust Willie Nelson’s voice is distinctive and iconic now. We try to think back to context here in 1978 when the album came out. This song is a relatively standard jazz/country song, guitar arrangement on the nylon string guitar is pleasant, the hammond organ on top of the piano adds to the ethereal feeling of “stardust”. It’s hard to think that this is “On the road again” Willie Nelson, but I think Willie Nelson’s voice may be something I can only feel one way about. Georgia on my Mind This intro organ is great, and Willie’s voice actually suits Georgia on my mind quite well, even if his version as he worried will never be as good as Ray Charles’. The country jazz feeling of this rendition still brings something new with the addition of the organ and Willie’s distinctive country voice. The guitar arrangement and piano arrangement work around the organ to make a rendition of this song that understandably performed well on the charts. This is the first time they bring out the melodica and it has a great effect on this version. Blue Skies There’s something more blue than blue skies about this rendition of Irving Berlin’s song. All of Me These minimalist arrangements and instrumentation really suit Willie Nelson’s voice. The combination of guitar simple drums and the hammond organ create a mood that suits perfectly the idyllic voice of Willie Nelson. Guitar work on this track is great, gives a real country jazz feeling. Nelson’s voice is only what it is, a part of the ensemble of the song, his renditions aren’t technical, they aren’t the best way these songs have ever been sung, but there’s something pure about the combination of solid simple arrangements and his distinctive twangy voice. The production also just sounds good. Unchained Melody He even decides to take on Unchained Melody, perhaps the most prolifically performed song in popular music. Wilie’s version is worthy, the strings and the harmonica solo really stand out alongside Nelson’s guitar playing and his performance in his higher register, which is a technical merit that perhaps people don’t give enough credit to Nelson for. September Song Kurt Weill’s September song, another standard written aptly for an older star in a musical who had a limited vocal range, this version stands out among the stronger tracks on the album although perhaps it would be even better to hear now in Nelson’s old age. Is this album the midlife crisis, the existential crisis of Willie Nelson? He recorded this album in 10 days, Booker T Jones’ arrangements are so congruent and singular, his piano and organ playing so consistent. On the Sunny Side of the Street This one’s just pretty forgettable to be honest, adds to the overall feeling of the classics, but I just can’t help but like other versions of the song better. Moonlight in Vermont This is the song that inspired Willie to do this album, the one that he asked Booker T Jones to arrange for him and made him decide to go forward with the project he wasn’t sure would work with a producer he hadn’t worked with before. Suddenly I feel that Willie Nelson could pass for a granola man with his granola wife in Vermont when I hear him sing this song, that the southern twang of his voice is not so much southern as it is mountain. More great melodica/harmonica parts here and the interplay of organ and piano again makes a great backing to the simple sharp voice that Nelson delivers. Don’t get around much anymore For some reason I played this song on guitar and liked to sing it when I was first learning guitar. The guitar sound with the bass and organ is nice on this one. These versions are really something nice, something distinctly Americana, also something very white though. These songs are great songs and the versions are very digestible, but I think probably Willie could have chosen not to cover most of these songs and we would have been just as well off. This song really reads like a sad country western, and actually fits Nelson very well. Someone to watch over me George Gershwin tune, honestly this track is one of the songs that holds up the least well as a standard today. Not entirely surprising considering it’s not a top song of George Gershwin and it’s quickly approaching 100 years old. We’re not really getting anything new at this point, more of the same combinations of strings, organ, guitar and album #22 from Willie Nelson wraps up. Overview: Every time I open one of these songs I just feel like it can’t hold a candle to the version that Ella Fitzgerald did. For instance moonlight in vermont has a version with a beautiful piano arrangement behind it as well as a Louis Armstrong solo, Willie’s version is nice, but Ella’s version is downright divine. If I had to only listen to one version it would be Ella’s version with no question. The style that they chose for this album is great, I enjoyed listening to probably 8-9/10 of the songs on the album and generally thought the instrumentation was enjoyable. Some of the instrumentation approached being innovative, though the range of production was predictably limited as the 10-track album was recorded in as many days. The combination of Booker T Jones and Willie Nelson works very well, and definitely finds its way into a niche that feels different from other versions of the same songs, feels true to Willie Nelson, and feels true to the all-time classic standards that were on the album.
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