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William Hugh Nelson is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. The critical success of his album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.
Red Headed Stranger is the eighteenth studio album by American outlaw country singer Willie Nelson, released in 1975. Following the success of his recordings with Atlantic Records, coupled with the negotiating skills of his manager, Neil Reshen, Nelson signed a contract with Columbia Records, the label that gave him total creative control over his works. The concept for the album was inspired by the "Tale of the Red Headed Stranger", a song that Nelson used to play as a disc jockey on his program in Fort Worth, Texas. After signing with Columbia, he decided to record the song, and arranged the details during his return to Austin, Texas, from a trip to Colorado. It was recorded at low cost at Autumn Sound Studios in Garland, Texas. The songs featured sparse arrangements, largely limited to Nelson's guitar, piano, and drums. Nelson presented the finished material to Columbia executives, who were dubious about releasing an album that they at first thought was a demo. However, Nelson had creative control, so no further production was added.
"Pancho and Lefty", originally "Poncho and Lefty", is a song written by American country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Perhaps his most well-known song, Van Zandt recorded his original version of this song for his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. The song has been recorded by several artists since its composition and performance by Van Zandt, with a 1983 version by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard reaching number one on the Billboard country chart. In 2021, Van Zandt's version was ranked number 498 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Stardust is the 22nd studio album by Willie Nelson, released in April 1978. Its ten songs consist entirely of pop standards that Nelson picked from among his favorites. Nelson asked Booker T. Jones, who was his neighbor in Malibu at the time, to arrange a version of "Moonlight in Vermont". Impressed with Jones's work, Nelson asked him to produce the entire album. Nelson's decision to record such well-known tracks was controversial among Columbia executives because he had distinguished himself in the outlaw country genre. Recording the album took only ten days.
"Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues singer Percy Mayfield and recorded by Ray Charles. The song was a US number 1 hit in 1961, and won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording, becoming one of Charles' signature songs.
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" is a country ballad written and composed by Kris Kristofferson and released on his 1970 album Kristofferson. It was covered later in 1970 by Sammi Smith, on the album Help Me Make It Through the Night. It has been covered since by many other artists from Tammy Wynette and Johnny Cash to Elvis Presley and Joan Baez and Bryan Ferry and Mark Eitzel.
"Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" is a country music song first recorded by Ed Bruce, written by him and his wife Patsy Bruce. His version of the song appears on his 1976 self-titled album for United Artists Records. In late 1975 and early 1976, Bruce's rendition of the song went to number 15 on the Hot Country Singles charts. This song was featured on Chris LeDoux's album released January 20, 1976, Songbook of the American West.
"Faded Love" is a Western swing song written by Bob Wills, his father John Wills, and his brother, Billy Jack Wills. The tune is considered to be an exemplar of the Western swing fiddle component of American fiddle.
"Graceland" is the title song of the album Graceland, released in 1986 by Paul Simon. The song features vocals by The Everly Brothers. The lyrics follow the singer's thoughts during a road trip to Graceland after the failure of his marriage. Actress and author Carrie Fisher, Simon's ex-wife, said that the song referred in part to their relationship.
"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" is a song written by songwriter Fred Rose. First recorded by Elton Britt in 1946, then made more popular by Roy Acuff in 1947, the song has been covered by many artists, including Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Russell, Charley Pride, and Elvis Presley. Most notably, the song was recorded by Willie Nelson as part of his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger. Both the song and album revived Nelson's success as a singer and recording artist.
"Lookin' for Love" is a song written by Wanda Mallette, Bob Morrison and Patti Ryan, and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Lee. It was released in June 1980 as part of the soundtrack to the film Urban Cowboy, released that year. The background vocalists are Marcy Levy, Rosemary Butler and Tom Kelly. "Lookin' for Love" was reissued as the lead song on Lee's October 1980 album of the same name. Johnny Lee also recorded a Spanish language version of "Lookin' for Love" known as 'Buscando Amor'.
"After the Fire Is Gone" is a song written by L. E. White, and recorded by American country music artists Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty as a duet. It was released in January 1971 as the only single from the LP We Only Make Believe. "After the Fire Is Gone" was the first number one on the U.S. country chart for Lynn and Twitty as a duo. It spent two weeks at number one and a total of 14 weeks on the chart. On the Billboard Hot 100, the single peaked at number 56. It also won a Grammy for Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
"Could I Have This Dance" is a song recorded by the Canadian country music artist Anne Murray. It was used in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy and appeared on both the Urban Cowboy soundtrack album for that film, as well as on the Anne Murray's Greatest Hits compilation album, issued in late 1980. Later on, it also appeared on Murray's 2007 album Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends, performed as a duet with Amy Grant.
"Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" is a song from the film Honeysuckle Rose. The song was written and recorded by American singer Willie Nelson and released in 1980 on the Honeysuckle Rose soundtrack and later as the soundtrack's second single in January 1981. The single was Nelson's seventh number one on the country chart as a solo artist and stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country chart.
"Here We Go Again" is a country music standard written by Don Lanier and Red Steagall that first became notable as a rhythm and blues single by Ray Charles from his 1967 album Ray Charles Invites You to Listen. It was produced by Joe Adams for ABC Records/Tangerine Records. To date, this version of the song has been the biggest commercial success, spending twelve consecutive weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 15.
"Mendocino County Line" is a song written by Matt Serletic and Bernie Taupin, and recorded as a duet by American country music artists Willie Nelson and Lee Ann Womack. It was released in January 2002 as the lead-off single from Nelson's album The Great Divide. It was a Top 40 hit on the U.S. country chart, peaking at number 22. It was Nelson's first Top 40 hit on that chart since "Ain't Necessarily So" in 1990. It won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration.
The following is a detailed discography of all singles released by American singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. A total of 25 Nelson singles have reached number one on music charts in the US.
When Will I See You Again is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in March 1975 by Columbia Records and was again predominantly composed of covers of recent hit songs by other artists.
"Half a Man" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Willie Nelson. The song was released as the A-side of the single for his second Liberty Records album, Here's Willie Nelson. Despite receiving mixed airplay for its content, the song became a sales success, peaking at number twenty-five on Billboard's Hot Country Singles and number twenty on Cashbox's country singles.
References
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- Deming, Mark (2012). "Honeysuckle Rose (1980)". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation, Inc. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
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- Jurek, Thom (2012). "Honeysuckle Rose". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
- Rolling Stone staff (2004). "On the Road Again". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 1, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
- Rolling Stone staff (2) (2004). "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 10, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Thomas, Willie (1995). Jazz Anyone.....? MAKING Music A Simple Language systems for Jazz. Vol. 3. Alfred Music Publishing. ISBN 9780769230160.
