With 41 tracks drawn from nine record labels, the two-disc Essential Willie Nelson is impressive in its breadth. Disc one is simply superb; it begins with 1961's "Night Life," recorded for the obscure Bellaire label, and moves on to several of Nelson's early 1960s Liberty recordings, an overlooked gem recorded for Monument in 1964 ("I Never Cared for You"), a cherry-picked selection of his RCA and Atlantic sides, and finally his mid-1970s hits for Columbia (where he found his greatest chart success, beginning, in 1975, with the No. 1 single "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"). Disc two, however, is hit-or-miss. Classics like "On the Road Again," "Pancho & Lefty," and "Nothing I Can Do About It Now" are offset by such lesser material as "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" (recorded with Latin pop star Julio Iglesias), the phoned-in "City of New Orleans," and the sounds-better-on-paper "Highwayman" collaboration with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings. (Just because they all made it to No. 1 doesn't make them "essential.") Nelson's two best albums of the 1990s, Across the Borderline and Teatro, are represented by a paltry two songs. The disc ends with collaborations with U2, Lee Ann Womack, and Steven Tyler and Aerosmith (the previously unreleased "One Time Too Many"). None is particularly worthy of a best-of collection. Still, while it doesn't quite live up to its billing, the Essential Willie Nelson offers an excellent career overview of one of country music's true legends. --David Hill
More Albums by Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson "One Hell Of a Ride (4-CD Box Set)"
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This box contains a wealth of American music, plus a couple of jewels--Django Reinhardt's "Nuages" and Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come"--from beyond these shores. Here are 100 songs commemorating Willie Nelson's incredible journey by going full circle. "When I've Sang My Last Hillbilly Song," leading off Disc One, was recorded in 1954 or '55; it is reprised on Disc Four's final track, updated in 2007. Between those years Nelson, a Depression era kid who grew up dirt poor in Abbott, Texas, became one of the world's most recognizable figures, in the music/entertainment business or otherwise. One Hell Of A Ride is, quite simply, the most all-encompassing Nelson retrospective ever assembled.
In addition to all of its glorious music, this package also features incisive words in an essay by Nelson's biographer, Joe Nick Patoski, whose Willie Nelson: An Epic Life was published in 2008. There's also a brief reminiscence by Mickey Raphael, Nelson's longtime harmonica player, that is funny and affecting.
Finally, there is the man himself, who on April 30, 2008 turned 75. The songs herein, many of them touchstones, some lesser known gems, reflect the musical sense and sensibility of an artist for all ages, and for the ages.
Countless Westerns have centered around the theme of a young turk coming into town to try to take down a legendary gunslinger. Well, for the past couple of decades, Willie Nelson has turned that imagery on its head, attracting countless younger artists eager to soak up some of his musical mojo and infuse the master's work with some of their own spirit.
Moment of Forever, matches Willie with Kenny Chesney. The very idea of these seemingly disparate characters coming together is intriguing enough on paper. What really counts, however, is how it works on disc -- and work it does, with Chesney's production bringing out Nelson's natural warmth and grace.
While he's written some of the most enduring tunes of the past few decades Nelson has long been considered one of the premiere song interpreters of his time, infusing a surprising array of tunes with his singular personality. This record includes a hushed, poignant version of the Kris Kristofferson-penned title track and a super-heated, album-closing version of Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody."
The songs that Nelson wrote for Moment of Forever take on many of the same topics addressed in that pair of tracks -- taking stock of a life well lived and considering the possibilities of what might lay down the road. On songs like the sweetly twanging "Always Now," Willie comes across like a man who's come to terms with most of those issues, coming to the conclusion that "there never was a used to be...it's always now."
Other highlights include Willie's take on Dave Matthews' "Gravedigger" and tracks like "Worry B Gone" -- where Willie trades verses with Chesney The easy vibe carries over to the gently celebratory "I'm Alive" -- on which Nelson marvels at life's simple pleasures.
If Willie Nelson had concentrated on just his songwriting, he would be considered one of the most important composers of his generation. Fortunately, Willie maintained his writing career in tandem with his own recording career, further adding to his importance. This album features thirteen tracks with minimal musical accompaniment, allowing his rich and distinctive voice to come to the fore. That he wrote or co-wrote all but one of the tracks on this album only adds to the allure. Hallmark. 2007.
Willie Nelson has never been one to do the safe or expected, and this Booker T. Jones-produced album of pop standards from the '30s and '40s certainly fits the profile. It's also one of the better albums of Nelson's career, allowing Willie to dip his fragile, quivering tenor all around the beat in songs like "All of Me" and "Unchained Melody." Jones's organ, piano, and string arrangements are low-key and swinging (except on the almost wooden "On the Sunny Side of the Street"), and Nelson's vocals on "Georgia on My Mind" and "Moonlight in Vermont" are filled with a dignified and slightly jazzy country soul. The 1999 reissue adds a pair of bonus cuts to the mix, including the lullaby-like "Scarlet Ribbons" and the somewhat out-of-place "I Can See Clearly Now." --David Cantwell
