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The first words from Willie Nelsons lips, The sun is filled with ice and gives no warmth at all / the sky was never blue, warn the listener something is happening here. In a converted Mexican movie theater, producer Daniel Lanois surrounds the 65-year-old Nelson with the most startling and assured musical vision of his career: lush, rippling guitars, and swelling, splashing drum tracks, doubled and tripled over, sometimes in a Latin mood.
Lanois allows Nelson freedom to solo in and around his sonic dreamwork, and with the presence of longtime fellow travelers Mickey Raphael, Emmylou Harris, and sister Bobbie, the record clearly smacks of Nelsons style and lyrical vision. The original material is decades old, but little known, and generally as haunting as Lanoiss arrangements. So much could have gone wrong on this pairing. Its a thrill to hear how much truly goes right.
–Roy Francis Kasten
Desert Island CD – Id take it anywhere
I’ll begin by saying Im over 50, and Ive been exposed and heard lots of music over the years. Ive collected various artists as I was financially able, including Elton John, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, and Billy Joe Shaver. I remember my Dad watching Willie when I was a child. I associate this with the Porter Wagoner Show, The Wilburn Brothers Show, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs Show. They were all in black and white, as I recall. As I grew up in the 60s and came of age in the 70s, Willie had many hits. I didnt pay much attention at the time to their import and quality. I missed a few great artists, discovering them only in retrospect. Willie is one of them. It was only in the last five years that I began to collect his CDs. He has some classics, including the Red Headed Stranger, Phases and Stages, and Willie and Family Live among others. My personal favorite song sung by Willie is Till I Gain Control Again. Teatro is one of those albums that grows and grows on one. I used to say that if I had to be marooned on a desert isle, Id take Bob Dylan with me; later, I said Elton John. These artists are both great, but I know now who Id take: Willie Nelson.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at 9:32 pm and is filed under Albums, News and Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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