Willie Nelson and Friends: Live and Kickin' [LIVE]

Willie Nelson

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 24, 2003)
• Original Release Date: June 3, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Lost Highway
• ASIN: B00009KTWT
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,008 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The great Willie Nelson tends to either thrill or sorely disappoint, depending on the kinds of projects he takes on--and his decision to be either a musician or a celebrity. This live recording, culled from his 2003 USA Network concert event, unfortunately falls into the latter category, and Nelson sounds as if he arrived just before show time and plunged in without rehearsing. On the album’s opener, "I Didn't Come Here (And I Ain't Leavin')," almost everything is wrong--the chorines, the overwhelming bigness of the production, and most troublesome, Nelson's apparent indifference. Thereafter, the program pairs him with such natural duet partners as Toby Keith and Ray Price, and such utterly unfathomable ones as Steven Tyler and Wyclef Jean, who prove, by turns, unlistenable and insufferable. While Diana Krall and Elvis Costello help give "Crazy" an odd and new kind of charm, Nelson's off-beat phrasing is just to quirky to work with Paul Simon's laconic musings ("Homeward Bound"), while the outing with Ray Charles and Leon Russell ("A Song for You") sounds like a cat-drowning ceremony. Weirdly, the best songs are those on which Nelson simply gets out of the way (John Mellencamp's bottleneck romp through "I Couldn't Believe It Was True," Kenny Chesney's soulful treatment of "Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning"). Thank God it's only a single disc. --Alanna Nash

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WILLIE STILL KICKIN' AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, July 9, 2003

By	Larry MacInnis (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

Willie Nelson Live & Kickin' delivers the goods! Sure Wyclef Jean is no Julio Iglesias on "To All The Girls I've Loved Before," but so what. His quirky interpretation is not the catastrophe others have claimed it to be.

Such quibbles about an offbeat interpretation or two do not dilute the overall charm and fun of this disc, especially Willie and Toby Keith kickin' it all out on "Beer For My horses." (If there is any justice, radio stations will replace the studio version of "Horses" with the live version heard here -- the way the live "Okie from Muskogee" replaced the original studio version on the radio airwaves in 1970 and has now become the version of choice for Merle Haggard fans.)

Other stand-outs include Shania and Willie on "Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain," and the offbeat coupling of Willie and Nora Jones on "Wurlitzer Prize," originally made a classic by Willie's late, great good buddy Waylon Jennings.

I thoroughly enjoyed this CD and would recommend it to anyone who loves Willie and his music -- and is not afraid to hear these songs in a refreshing and different light.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved the TV Special but, June 28, 2003

By	"robynr_41" (Sumter, SC United States) - See all my reviews

I was so excited about the TV special I went the next day and put my name on the waiting list for the cd... I LOVE the cd... BUT they left off some of the best song from the tv program.. Where else can we hear Toby Keith sing his infamous I won't smoke weeed with Willie again... And why leave out Lyle Lovett and Shania Twain. Come on guys give us the entire show on cd or better yet DVD...Thank goodness I taped it. I will just keep watching my tape till I am able to get the entire show on cd or dvd... at any price.... If you don't like this you are not a music lover....

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Willie sings with anyone and everyone, June 29, 2004

By	Wesley Mullins (Kentucky) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Let me say upfront that I love Willie Nelson, and I believe him to be a national treasure and one of our greatest living storytellers/poets. The setting for this recording is Willie's 70th birthday. As Toby Keith mentioned on the original USA television version, "Willie may not look 70, but we sure remember when he did."

What makes this CD unique is that it features a very eclectic mix of musicians accompanying Willie in versions of popular songs (both his and theirs). The songs with Paul Simon, Eric Clapton and Ray Charles/Leon Russell provide entertaining performances that are also important moments in music history. It would be like having a recording of Lennon and Hendrix singing together.

Willie has recorded with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Janis Joplin. So, it is not a surprise that some of his guests on this CD may seem strange (Steven Tyler and Wyclef Jean). While many say his voice doesn't work with more polished singers, I think he provides an interesting contrast to the silky vocals of Norah Jones and Dianne Krall.

There seems to be a common theme among the positive and negative reviews on here: the positive reviews contain references to the television broadcast that proceeded the release of this CD and the negative ones do not. This seems to suggest the experience of listening to the music is heightened by viewing the live performances, and I agree.