Essential Willie Nelson

In 1975, Willie recorded a cover of Blue eyes crying in the rain, an old Roy Acuff song, which became a major country and pop hit in America. Other hits followed including a lot of duets -so many that you could fill a boxed set with them. Just a few are included here, among them being Good hearted woman, Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys (both with Waylon Jennings), Faded love (with Ray Price - and Crystal Gayle singing backup harmony), To all the girls I've loved before (with Julio Iglesias) and Seven Spanish angels (with Ray Charles). Willie's classic solo country hits (some covers, some originals) are represented by If you've got the money I've got the time, Uncloudy day, Help me make it through the night, My heroes have always been cowboys, On the road again, Always on my mind, City of New Orleans and a few others.

Another aspect of Willie's career was the series of albums he recorded featuring songs from the Great American Songbook. The first and most famous of these albums was Stardust. It is the only songbook album from which tracks are taken and is represented here by Blue skies, Georgia on my mind and All of me. A very different double CD of Willie's music titled All the songs I've loved before was released in Britain and Australia, which was dominated by this aspect of Willie's music and which I've already reviewed.

If you only want one collection of music by Willie Nelson, this is a good one to choose.


American Treasure   July 12, 2003
Jim Mitchell (St. Louis)
22 out of 25 found this review helpful

While Willie's 3 disc box-set Revolutions of Time is ultimately a more thorough and "essential" collection, this set definitely hits all of the high (and one or two low) points in Willie's career. Just about every mainstream hit from the late 70s and early 80s is here. While some of this might sound dated and overproduced ("Always On My Mind" would be perfect if it weren't for those backup singers), these songs are as much a part of pop music as any rock and roll collection. In my opinion, Willie is only nominally a country artist anymore, and much more a pop singer, so don't use your dislike of country music as an excuse to ignore Willie.

This set, unlike the 3 CD box-set, includes songs from various points in his career- his rendition of "Crazy" and "Hello Walls" are here. While they are more in the mold of traditional late 60s Nashville country (even more overproduced than the early 80s stuff), it's wonderful to hear Willie sing some of his songs that others turned into massive hits. A few of his duets are here, including two with Waylon, the wonderful and haunting "Pancho and Lefty" with Merle, the Highwayman title song, "Faded Love" with Ray Price, and my favorite, "Seven Spanish Angels" with Ray Charles. Again, the box-set includes an entire disc of duets, so this offers only a sample. What a fine sample it is, though.

Willie's late 70s to mid 80s material speaks for itself- a few songs from "Stardust" and his live album, "On the Road Again" (one of my all time favorite songs from any artist), "City of New Orleans"- all essential classics. The collections begins to trail off with his 90s and early 2000 material, and this stuff is hardly Willie's finest- the U2 song is ponderous and pretentious, and some of the duets from this period are just silly- Aerosmith? Willie's rendition of Paul Simon's "Graceland" is the best from this era, and holds up well against the fine original.

I tend to like singers with less traditional voices- Bruce, Dylan, Willie, Lyle Lovett, Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The most frequent complaint you'll hear about these people is that their voices are unpleasant. I just find that to be outright wrong- Willie's reedy, sweet voice is a thing of beauty, and the uniqueness that he brings to both his own songs and his covers is part of his appeal. He's a timeless artist who is both a fine songwriter and an even better interpreter of songs both standards and obscurities. He joins the ranks of a handful of true American musical greats- Louis Armstrong, Elvis, Frank, Dylan, Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen. I'm an enormous fan of The Boss, and placing Willie alongside him is my highest form of compliment.


Quality Willie   April 28, 2003
Robert L. Henry Jr. (Paden City, WV United States)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

A Quality collection from a true legend. This collection covers all the bases and record labels that this legend has recorded for. This collection is a tad bit skimpy on the Liberty and RCA material, but it would take a 3 or 4 cd set to include all the good material. It would have been nice to include "Yesterday's Wine or "Mr. Record Man" or from the Columbia years, Willie's version of "Let it Be Me". No collection is perfect and this is the best Willie collection out there. This collection is filled with Number 1 hits and covers 5 decades, WOW This collection deserves 10 stars, it is that good!!! All the classics and quality duet material is included in this collection


A must have.   July 20, 2005
Jed C. Fitch (Helena, MT)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

If you like Willie, or America, or have any nostalgia for the way things used to be, buy this CD. I sometimes forget that its 2005, and what a mess we are in when I am rolling along with "Whiskey River" or "Bloody Mary Mornining."



WOW Ten star winner   May 30, 2006
MotherLodeBeth (Sierras of California)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

WOW.... This two disc set is awseome. Last week I was listening to NPR's Fresh Air and heard Willie Nelson talking about a song that was obscure and low and behold its on this. Anyway this is a CD that I have had playing nearly nonstop since I bought it. Crisp clear recordings that seem ageless. And such a nice selection of songs from decades of performing. If you own just one of Willie Nelsons CD's this should be the one.