Willie Nelson
The Essential Willie Nelson (1995)

review by: Brandon Copple
Date: 12/17/01

It's pretty much accepted that Willie Nelson didn't blossom until he moved from Nashville to Texas and released 1975's seminal "Red Headed Stranger." Before that, they say, Willie spent years toiling as a songwriter, constrained, exploited and nearly broken by Music City suits who greedily snatched up his brilliant songs but had no idea how to record him. Not many people would advise you to bother with his pre-"Stranger" albums. I happen to be one of the not many.

If you're a fan, or you're curious about how this gruff and ugly Texan has become the most revered American artist alive (tough shit, Dylan fans), you need to get hold of the recordings Willie made before he broke for Texas. "The Essential Willie Nelson" has all the classics and is the easiest to locate (pick up "Yesterday's Wine" if you can find it). These are the best songs Willie ever wrote, including many he still records and performs today ("Funny How Time Slips Away," "Me and Paul") and several that were monster hits for others ("Night Life" for Ray Price, "Hello Walls" for Farron Young). The production is polished but it's not overstated, and the tempos nicely compliment the quirky cadence of Willie's voice. The slower numbers have a country-jazz feel that you don't hear at all anymore, with tinkling piano keys, brushy drum strokes and a smoky pedal steel. The songwriting is, of course, masterful: A simple, exquisite blend of melancholy and nostalgia, sour grapes and humor spun into your basic country verse-and-hook tunes. Hank Williams pioneered that structure. Willie Nelson, as you'll hear here (homonyms...cool), perfected it.

Ironically, Willie damn near destroyed that very genre with the trailblazing sound of "The Red Headed Stranger" and the outlaw movement it spawned. It's easy to regard these early recordings as mere exposition to three decades of hard-touring, hot-picking, pot-smoking, movie-starring, tax-dodging American high life. But there are no clean breaks in life, and Willie Nelson's genius didn't just grow out with his ponytail.