www.music.blog.austin360.com
By Peter Blackstock
Coming Dec. 2 from Willie Nelson and Bobbie Nelson on Legacy Recordings is “December Day: Willie’s Stash Vol. 1,” a collection of 18 new recordings of old favorites by the eightysomething siblings and longtime bandmates.
Billed under the name Willie Nelson & Sister Bobbie, the set features mostly Nelson originals such as “Permanently Lonely,” “Who’ll Buy My Memories” and the title track (in a medley with “Summer of Roses”), plus a handful of classics from the songbooks of Irving Berlin, Django Reinhardt and Al Jolson.
Though focusing on the guitar and piano interplay of Willie and Bobbie, the set also features contributions from members of their Family band — including the late Bee Spears, who laid down the bass tracks for “What’ll I Do” during his final session with Willie before his death in 2011.
Longtime Family Band harmonica player Mickey Raphael also is on the album, for which he penned the liner notes as well. “When it comes to a brother-sister collaboration with the longevity of Willie and Bobbie, there is beauty in keeping things simple,” Raphael writes. “‘Less is more’ is the underlying theme.”
The album was recorded by Steve Chadie at Willie’s Pedernales Recording Studio outside of Austin, with Buddy Cannon producing.
“December Day” is the first installment of a new “Willie’s Stash” archival series curated by Nelson that Legacy says “will present a variety of releases … culled from decades of recording and touring.
Read about other new releases:
http://music.blog.austin360.com/2014/10/28/on-the-record-willie-bobbie-nelson-the-xmas-men/