Customer Reviews

Songs (Dig)

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I spent some time in the California desert in early August and had this CD in my car stereo most of the time. It was a perfect match. A compilation of 20 Willie Nelson recordings from over 40 years, from "Crazy" (1961) to "On the Road Again" (2002), these songs are now firmly rooted for me in images of that sun-baked time and place. His voice and the way he delivers a line of lyrics capture the desolation and stark beauty of that landscape and the realities of hard lives lived far from easy comforts and consolations.

In these songs, the human heart is almost an open wound. Its pain is undisguised in some songs ("Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain") and lurks under the surface of others ("Funny How Time Slips Away"). Even a simple children's song, "The Rainbow Connection," is a hymn in Willie's hands to yearning for deliverance from life's disappointments. The great Townes Van Zandt composition "Pancho and Lefty" is a lament of loss and irony; so is "Night Life." With a swelling chorus of backup singers, "Whisky River" becomes an anthem to the salutary effect of alcohol for a busted heart.

There's a few rollicking good-time numbers, my favorite being Bob Wills' classic "Stay All Night" and a terrific outlaw duet with Waylon Jennings, "Good Hearted Woman," sung to a wildly appreciative live audience. And, of course, "On the Road Again," which closes the set. Those sparks of high spirits, though, hardly dispel the rich, dark shadows that permeate the rest and portray the haunting, touching sensibility of the man who went his own way and gave us his own instead of the manufactured sentiments that flow from Nashville. You may not like everything on this CD (Willie's eclectic taste has been all over the map), but at its best, it just can't be beat for country soul.

If you like Willie Nelson at all, you'll love this album. It's liberally sprinkled with the songs that made him a country icon - duets with Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, as well as solo, that make you nod and smile and say, "OH yeah!"

And then there are the little pearls that cross genre lines; inspired duets with BB King and Francine Reed, and his incredibly touching version of "Rainbow Connection" that redeems its schlocky origins and makes it glow. This feels like such a lovingly crafted album, such a jewel, that it makes me worry that is the aging songster's goodbye.

Buy it and love it.

This is the first album that I have ever bought by Country icon Willie Nelson. I can tell that it will certainly not be the last. I think that Willie's music stands on the same level of cultural impact that Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, to name two giants who have just been cannonized in their passing.

Though I don't think that every song included here is a classic, there is enough jaw dropping material to make me dig deeper into his catalog. My favorites include the spare touching CRAZY, his first hit TOUCH ME, the bluesy duet with Francine Reed on FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY and the utterly sublime BLUE EYES CRYING IN THE RAIN. Though Willie would be classfied as a country artist, he takes a host of other influences such as jazz, blues, Tin Pan Alley pop and latin elements and weaves them into the fabric of great American folk music.

SONGS has provided a good sampler of Nelson's wide ranging work to start investigating. If it weren't for two lesser duets with Lee Ann Womack and Brian McNight that seem to be a tad too polished for the other material included, I would call this an almost perfect introduction

Willie Nelson is known as one of the foremost country singers in the genre. Before he went out on his own, though, he made his living fronting for Ray Price and writing songs. This volume is packed with his own creations and they are marvelous.

Some, like Night Life and Crazy, were made famous by others. Some were made famous by Nelson himself. Some are known as duets. In this album though, they all shine through as the work of a master songwriter who is an accomplished musician and performer in his own right.

This is an excellent collection and highly recommended.

If you are a Willie Nelson fan this is a must have album. It spans nearly his entire career. I have been listening to it continually in my car for a few weeks now and am very impressed with it. Just don't think I'll ever tire of his voice, whether he's 20 or 60. Keep on, Willie, keep on.

We just picked out a CD of Willie Nelson's, because we like most of his music. This is a great CD. We love it. We've played the CD every day since we bought it. Try it.
Judy and Bob

One of the most important words to distinguise a truly great artist is "unique", and Willie is certainly that. This particular cd is a wonderful sampler of his entire body of work from the early sixties forward with excellent, crisp sound. If you are looking for a great anthology of a true American legend on one disk, this is it !

What a great song writer! When i'm feeling depressed and about to take my own life, Leave it to Willie to make me feel better about myself!! Rock on Willie!

If you want to own some classic Willie Nelson, this is a good CD for you. Some of his best is on this CD, and the sound is pure and true. I especially enjoyed the photos which capture Willie through the years. I have been a loyal fan for 30 years, and he has never disappointed me. There's nothing new on this album, but classics speak for themselves.

Love it, play it all the time in the Van. In fact while on a trip my friend enjoyed it so much, I am gonna order another one!!