Willie Nelson
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Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino: Available at: Amazon

Countryman: Available at: Amazon

Live At Billy Bob's Texas: One of the biggest boons of the Live at Billy Bob's Texas series of recordings has been the sheer sonic quality of their recordings, combined with loose, unpretentious performances by the artists contracted. By these standards it makes sense that a Willie Nelson date at Billy Bob's would be something very special. - Thom Jurek, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Me and Paul: On this reissue of a modest, self-produced 1985 album, Willie Nelson and his usual companions are up to their usual high standards. Seven of the dozen tunes are tasteful, touching remakes of lesser-known Nelson gems from the 1960s and early 1970s. All in all, this is certainly a charming listen and a worthy addition to your collection. --Marc Greilsamer, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

I Just Don't Understand: Available at: Amazon

The Sound in Your Mind: Nelson's second LP, 1976's The Sound in Your Mind, opened up the sound of Red Stranger, retaining some of the low-key vibe, but fleshing out music and even picking up the tempo on occasion. The Sound in Your Mind sets the template for the next few years of albums by Willie. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Yesterday's Wine: Yesterday's Wine had long been neglected. Reissued in 1997 by Justice Records, it finally took its rightful place amongst the singer's best-loved body of work. A series of meditations on God, love, and aging, these songs are fragmented reflections on the life of Nelson's "imperfect man" as he approaches death. Throughout, the outlaw subtext Nelson would become associated with a few years later is replaced by an underlying religious faith. As a whole, Yesterday's Wine provides further insight into the development of his art during this prolific period. — Nathan Bush, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Run That By Me One More Time: In September of 1961, Ray Price was a superstar and Willie Nelson was his bass player. Twenty years later, after Willie had become superstar in his own right, the two re-teamed for a second San Antonio Rose. Twenty-two years after that release, they're back for yet another exquisite, relaxed romp through the same Texas-Southwestern axis. Their understated approach isn't the only strength. Willie, at 70, and Price, at 77, retain nearly all of their vocal power, a result of near-nonstop touring that keeps their voices limber, supremely expressive, and, most importantly, as capable of moving a listener as they were decades ago. --Rich Kienzle, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

San Antonio Rose: In 1980 Willie Nelson was a superstar and Ray Price was packing concert halls but not selling records. In 1961 Nelson was Price's bass player and in the band that recorded Price's smash San Antonio Rose album. This date is a kind of reprise of Price as king of the honky tonk singers — something he willfully abandoned in the mid-'60s. Recorded in the same studio they'd used 19 years earlier, Nelson and his Family band augmented their sound. The program is pure Price, though many of these tunes were present in Nelson's live shows of the era and some remain so. The sound is pristine, full of warmth and depth. — Thom Jurek, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

To Lefty From Willie: Lefty Frizzell remains one of the most underappreciated artists in all of country-music history; therefore, it's no surprise that this little jewel of an album remains one of the most underappreciated in Nelson's vast catalog. Recorded in the peak Nelson year of 1975, To Lefty from Willie puts his personal stamp on the Frizzell catalog while still upholding the spirit of the source material. This balancing act is tough for anyone to sustain, but Nelson has proven time and again his interpretive powers and he uses them here to great effect. --Marc Greilsamer, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Without A Song: Available at: Amazon

Honeysuckle Rose: The soundtrack to Honeysuckle Rose is an anomaly in the genre. It is really a collection of songs by Willie Nelson and his Family band as well as a host of friends, all of it set in a concert-like atmosphere and performed live in front of an audience. The sound is much improved on this remastered version with a real bass presence and far less crowd noise during the performances. In addition they restore Irving's reading of Nelson's "If You Want Me to Love You I Will," which was omitted from the original CD release, and add a pair of bonus tracks, making it a superb value. — Thom Jurek, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Stars & Guitars: An A-list of musically diverse acolytes surrounds the venerable country icon on this concert recording, which pays rich dividends. Artists from Sheryl Crow to Norah Jones and Vince Gill to Keith Richards help celebrate one of the richest legacies in American music. Even when the material and guest vocalists don't mesh, Nelson's guitar punctuation remains an understated (and underrated) delight. --Don McLeese, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Tales out of Luck: Originally released as an Internet-only album called Me and the Drummer, Tales Out of Luck is a collection of 13 songs from throughout Willie Nelson's career, recorded live in the studio by a reunited lineup of Nelson's '60s Nashville band, the Offenders. The songs, tending toward the unreleased and obscure, are uniformly strong, a testament to Nelson's pre-stardom years as one of Nashville's most underrated songwriters, and the intimate small-group performances are pure country & western, with none of the pop gloss that occasionally mars some of Nelson's more high-profile albums. — Stewart Mason, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

The Great Divide: An array of duet partners join Nelson on this attempt to attract a younger and wider demographic. --Don McLeese, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Rainbow Connection: This charming, super-casual collection began as a children's record and later became a "family" record. Nelson tackles odd kid-friendly little ditties from country's past. The more traditional children's fare comes early on, but by the end of the disc Nelson seems to have lost interest in the album's original premise, moving to hardcore blues and folk rock. Rainbow Connection is a low-key, informal affair, and what would sound sloppy by most other artists is of course endearing by Willie. --Marc Greilsamer, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Always On My Mind: The Best of Willie Nelson in Concert: Legendary country music performer and songwriter Willie Nelson is celebrated for his radically different brand of country music and his offbeat cowboy style. But it is his life-long dedication to country music and the tremendous variety of his musical material that have made Willie Nelson an icon. This Sugo Music Tribute, featuring some of Willie Nelson's most famous and enduring country songs, pays homage to an artist whose prolific music career has helped to shape what country music is today.; Available at: Amazon

The Troublemaker: Released in late 1976, at the height of Willie-mania, The Troublemaker is Willie Nelson's first all-gospel album, but country gospel in his hands doesn't sound like traditional country gospel — it's a Willie album, through and through, performed with the freewheeling Family as support. Consequently, it's every bit as wonderfully idiosyncratic as any of his other mid-'70s work and, in some ways, even more so, because inspirational songs and religious material are usually not given arrangements as imaginative and free-spirited as this. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Good Ol' Country Singin': Available at: Amazon

Milk Cow Blues: It feels natural for country's grand old hippie Willie Nelson to record a CD of blues standards--especially since he wrote some of them. Those who buy Milk Cow Blues for the artist names will be disappointed. Those who buy it for Willie will be delighted as he proceeds to show the youngsters (and all of us) what soul, and phrasing, and the blues are all about. --Michael Ross, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Brand On My Heart: Available at: Amazon

Always On My Mind: Legendary country music performer and songwriter Willie Nelson is celebrated for his radically different brand of country music and his offbeat cowboy style. But it is his life-long dedication to country music and the tremendous variety of his musical material that have made Willie Nelson an icon. This Sugo Music Tribute, featuring some of Willie Nelson's most famous and enduring country songs, pays homage to an artist whose prolific music career has helped to shape what country music is today.; Available at: Amazon

Red Headed Stranger: Though this 1975 album cost Willie only $20,000 to record, it handed him the success he'd craved after years as a hit songwriter and modestly successful singer. By blending originals and vintage material, he created a timeless Western saga, one that originally left Columbia Records, who'd guaranteed him artistic control, skeptical. The label's doubts, amplified by the fact that Nelson had recorded the album in Texas with only his seven-piece touring band, evaporated after the album and two singles, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "Remember Me," became huge hits and launched Willie into the stratosphere. This enhanced version preserves the original sequence, adding four bonus tracks. --Rich Kienzle, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Me and the Drummer: One of country music's true superstars is back with one of his best collections of tunes ever. The songs on Me and the Drummer are a flashback to a simpler time, reminiscent of the western-flavored tunes featured on his Red Headed Stranger and Tougher Than Leather releases. The lyrics are compelling, Nelson's vocals are as smooth as ever before, and the music provided by the Offenders is Texas cool. They operate on the "less-is-more" principal, and it is the perfect compliment for Nelson's distinct vocal style. — Michael Smith, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Stardust [Bonus Tracks]: At the height of outlaw country, Willie Nelson pulled off perhaps the riskiest move of the entire bunch. He set aside originals, country, and folk and recorded Stardust, a collection of pop standards. It's not that Willie makes these songs his own, it's that he reimagines these songs in a way that nobody else could, and with his trusty touring band, he makes these versions indelible. Stardust showcases Nelson's skills as a musician and his entire aesthetic perhaps better than any other album, which is why it was a sensation upon its release and grows stronger with each passing year. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Night and Day: The sound of Trigger, Willie Nelson's gut-string guitar, remains one of the most distinctive in all of music. On this affectionate record, Nelson's first all-instrumental affair, Trigger alone takes center stage, guiding Nelson's usual cast of characters through a low-key yet always engaging set. Nelson's playing is, as usual, completely natural and unaffected, tasteful and restrained, a masterful blend of pith, playfulness, and patience. Jaunty in some spots, reflective in others, Night and Day reveals yet another aspect of Nelson's singular artistry. --Marc Greilsamer, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Teatro: The first words from Willie Nelson's 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. The original material is decades old, but little known, and generally as haunting as Lanois's arrangements. So much could have gone wrong on this pairing. It's a thrill to hear how much truly goes right. --Roy Francis Kasten, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

How Great Thou Art: How Great Thou Art is a stripped-down collection of gospel standards, performed only on guitar, piano and, occasionally, upright bass. Apart from two new songs from Willie Nelson, the album consists entirely of traditional gospel material, such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." Nelson offers a pleasing, idiosyncratic country gospel record. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Standard Time: Available at: Amazon

Spirit: The self-written and self-produced collection is something of a concept album. This is simple declarative account of a man abandoned by the great love of his life. He reflects upon his loss, expresses his fears and desires, and searches the heavens for solace. He finds some and gives thanks. The band (Nelson backed by fiddle, piano, and second guitar) plays a wistful waltz and life goes on, though the end is in sight. The Willie of Spirit is reflective and contrite. Still, Spirit ranks with Red-Headed Stranger, one of the landmarks in modern country music history. --Steven Stolder, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Just One Love: Just One Love is a superb, old-fashioned honky-tonk album, featuring 10 well-aged standards plus 2 tunes by modern Nashville songwriter Kimmie Rhodes. The best known of the standards is Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart," and it receives the same refurbishing as the others. Instead of trying to out-sing the original, Nelson illustrates how relaxed and effortless the song can become and still retain its captivating melody and confessional intimacy. Grady Martin, the Nashville session legend and Nelson's long-time road guitarist, is the album's producer, and he gives the arrangements a quiet restraint and a slippery swing that seem to echo the leader's smoky, fluid singing. --Geoffrey Himes, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Six Hours at Pedernales: Available at: Amazon

Healing Hands of Time: Healing Hands of Time is the most ambitious album, in that it's the furthest from what might be expected of Nelson, but at the same time it's the closest to the "album of standards" formula employed by other artists. But rather than singing just pop standards, Nelson opts to include five country standards of his own composition, including "Crazy" and "Night Life." — Martin Monkman, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Across the Borderline: If ever there were doubts about the breadth and depth of Willie Nelson's ambitions and talents, Across the Borderline should put them to rest. Nelson surveys roughly two decades of popular music, tackling songs by writers as varied as Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Willie Dixon, and Lyle Lovett. The result of the apparently scattershot song selection and numerous musicians is an album that possesses a quiet majesty, further establishing Willie Nelson as one of the most important writers and interpreters of the last half of the 20th century. — Martin Monkman, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Phases and Stages: This 1974 album was actually Willie Nelson's second concept effort. Recorded in Muscle Shoals, Phases and Stages was an album he'd had in his mind since leaving RCA (where he'd first recorded several of the songs). It applied Willie's compositional insights to the emotional roller coaster that accompanies the breakup of a marriage. To achieve this, he melded new original compositions and older ones into a compelling, seamless exploration of emotions ranging from shock to anger to anguish and, finally, healing and acceptance. --Rich Kienzle, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

Shotgun Willie: Willie and a group of Texas, Nashville, and Manhattan musicians recorded three albums worth of material in New York, including this benchmark collection. A musical crazy quilt reflecting Nelson's own freewheeling repertoire, it mixed Willie compositions old and new. Literate, sharply focused, and earthy, it proved a turning point, validating Willie's creative quest aesthetically. The triumph was also a commercial one. Acclaimed by the rock music press, Shotgun Willie attracted many younger fans to become Nelson's bestselling album to date, paving the way for his future superstardom at Columbia and beyond. --Rich Kienzle, Amazon.com; Available at: Amazon

What A Wonderful World: Nelson makes one of his occasional dips into the Great American Songbook for What a Wonderful World, which features his renditions of "Moon River," "Twilight Time," and "Spanish Eyes," another successful duet with Julio Iglesias. — Jason Ankeny, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Somewhere Over the Rainbow is a collection of more '40s pop standards, as arranged by Willie Nelson. While it isn't quite a continuation of what he did on Stardust and Always on My Mind, the record is a safe resting spot and something all the grandmas can enjoy. — James Chrispell, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

Seashores of Old Mexico: Available at: Amazon

Half Nelson: This is an appropriate collection, since Nelson has recorded more duets with more fellow performers than any other country singer in history. This runs the gamut, from traditional country singers Merle Haggard and George Jones, to soulman Ray Charles, to Latin-lover Julio Iglesias, and the rock band Santana. It even has a duet with the late Hank Williams, arranged through modern studio recording technology. — Tom Roland, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

One For The Road: One for the Road, Willie Nelson's duet record with fellow American music maverick Leon Russell, followed months after his freewheeling, jam-heavy double album Willie and Family Live. Both Nelson and Russell are known as sharp interpreters of other people's material, and teamed together, they might not reinvent songs, but they infuse a lot of sound and spirit into these songs. It's a little bit too laid-back and easy to qualify as a no-holds-barred classic (particularly on the second half), but that mellow charm is precisely why it's a small, priceless gem for any serious fan of either singer. — Stephen Thomas, AllMusic.com; Available at: Amazon

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Willie Nelson Official Website :: Listen on Rhapsody :: Add To My Favorites

Willie Nelson
Official Website :: Listen on Rhapsody :: Add To My Favorites