Willie Nelson- A Beautiful Time
Label: Legacy
Producer: Buddy Cannon
It’s utterly impossible to fully express the impressive and prolific nature of Willie Nelson’s catalog as a recording artist. This is the man’s seventy-second studio release and it arrives on his 89th birthday. That feat in and of itself is an achievement. Then factor in the detail that the record opens with a song and performance that easily ranks among his finest performances, lead single “I’ll Love You Til the Day I Die”, a collaborative composition from Chris Stapleton and Rodney Crowell. Top it all off with the fact that the rest of the record sturdily upholds that quality all the way through its completion and there’s no other way to classify A Beautiful Time as anything but a gift, and if recent trends are any indication, it probably won’t even be his only release this year. Nelson’s inimitable voice may be showing increased wither as he closes in on his 90s, but it that development has only added further gravity to his performances and the subject matter he’s espousing. In classic Willie fashion, he champions the material of others as much as he does his own, and manages to balance the two as effortlessly as he always has. Tracks like the philosophical “Energy Follows Thought” and the charmingly ironic “I Don’t Go to Funerals” prove that his muse is just as deep as it always has been, all the while being complimented by familiar contributors like Shawn Camp (the title track) and Scott Emerick “Dusty Bottles”. Meanwhile, he still manages to get along to some classic covers (who knew there were any still left on the table) with Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song”, and The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends”, which can’t help but the sentimental favorite from another excellent Red Headed Stranger release.
Track Listing:
- “I’ll Love You Till the Day I Die” (Chris Stapleton, Rodney Crowell)
- “My Heart Was a Dancer” (Willie Nelson, Buddy Cannon)
- “Energy Follows Thought” (Nelson, Cannon)
- “Dreamin’ Again” (Jack Wesley Routh, Douglas Graham)
- “I Don’t Go to Funerals” (Nelson, Cannon)
- “A Beautiful Time” (Shawn Camp)
- “We’re Not Happy (Till You’re Not Happy)” (Camp, Charles R. Humphrey III)
- “Dusty Bottles” (Jim Brown, Scotty Emerick, Don Sampson)
- “Me and My Partner” (Ken Lambert)
- “Tower of Song” (Leonard Cohen)
- “Live Every Day” (Nelson, Cannon)
- “Don’t Touch Me There” (Nelson, Cannon)
- “With a Little Help From My Friends” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
- “Leave You With a Smile” (Cannon, Bobby Terry, Matt Rossi)
The 706 
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