Happy Birthday, Willie!
April 29, 2020 10:09 AM Subscribe
All 143 Willie Nelson Albums, Ranked. Willie turns 87 today! There'll be a special broadcast on youtube of his 1976 appearance on Austin City Limits -- starts at 4:20 Central, don't forget!
This is great. I would have put Teatro a few notches higher personally, it's a wonderful album, and it's great to hear his brilliant songwriting redone differently.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 10:59 AM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 10:59 AM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is awesome. Please call me when ACL puts out the Tom Waits episode.
posted by nushustu at 11:09 AM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by nushustu at 11:09 AM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
87!? I hope Willie has lots of support to stay home & safe from COVID-19. I love Willie, saw him in concert when I was about 22 and even got to say hello o him after it.
My husband and I were at a party when we were newly dating. A woman saw my date across the room and came over to tell me in a drunken whisper, “he looks like a young Willie Nelson!” And she was right! This was a very exciting moment! Reader, I married him.
posted by areaperson at 11:45 AM on April 29, 2020 [17 favorites]
My husband and I were at a party when we were newly dating. A woman saw my date across the room and came over to tell me in a drunken whisper, “he looks like a young Willie Nelson!” And she was right! This was a very exciting moment! Reader, I married him.
posted by areaperson at 11:45 AM on April 29, 2020 [17 favorites]
I've loved Willie Nelson for a long time, and I am learning a lot about him from reading the notes on each of these albums.
posted by Orlop at 11:46 AM on April 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Orlop at 11:46 AM on April 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
Teatro is an amazing and sublime album, and always makes any desert-island list I make. It's not just my favorite Willie album; it's one of my favorite albums, period.
I think it's quite a bit better than the other big "neo-Willie" album, Across the Borderline, which they slate higher.
posted by uberchet at 12:35 PM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
I think it's quite a bit better than the other big "neo-Willie" album, Across the Borderline, which they slate higher.
posted by uberchet at 12:35 PM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
About 20 years ago, I was living in Austin, and my mother visited. We went downtown and saw some art, and we were sitting in a coffee shop near the capitol. I was facing the window, which looked out onto Congress Ave. after about 15 minutes, I said “Mom? Don’t be alarmed, but, if you’ll turn around, you’ll see Willie Nelson riding a horse down the street.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:08 PM on April 29, 2020 [14 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:08 PM on April 29, 2020 [14 favorites]
That's too many albums for one person. Seriously. You'd think he was just grinding to albums because he had some kind of massive debt to pay off, or something. Otherwise, he'd have told his record company, "You know, boys, I've gotten a lot of exposure in my life. How about we give a young person a chance."
posted by Modest House at 1:49 PM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Modest House at 1:49 PM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
After seeing him at the CMAs I was a little worried, but watching Willie and his boys on Colbert the other day gives me hope. I've seen Willie twice so far and hope to make a third show sometime when this is over. I've never seen someone so beloved by and in control of the audience as when I saw him do the Stardust album at Hollywood Bowl.
posted by downtohisturtles at 2:58 PM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 2:58 PM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
Modest House, I do think at one point he had a major tax bill to pay off, but I think mostly he just wants to make music.
posted by tavella at 3:04 PM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by tavella at 3:04 PM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
Modest House, I would like to introduce you to Robert Pollard.
posted by Ike_Arumba at 4:43 PM on April 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Ike_Arumba at 4:43 PM on April 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
On that score I always thought that his supporting role in Wag the Dog was an apt representation of how I think of Willie. Wether he actually is a self satirizing music machine that leases lyrics and chords all over the floor on his way to the next high, well, I can't actually know.
but i believe
posted by mce at 4:44 PM on April 29, 2020
but i believe
posted by mce at 4:44 PM on April 29, 2020
Listening to Red Headed Stranger while I get ready for bed. I had forgotten just how perfect the arrangements were. Not a note wasted. Simple but not bare. Roots 101 without being boring or derivative. Showing off by not showing off, because you don't have to. Dang!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:00 PM on April 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:00 PM on April 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
My very favorite artist-and one of the best live performers I’ve ever seen. My sister and I used to dance and act out the Red Headed Stranger album that my parents played a lot-watching it today made me so happy. And damn, he was a baby.
posted by purenitrous at 8:45 PM on April 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by purenitrous at 8:45 PM on April 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
Willie said he'll play as long as his guitar (Trigger) lasts. We've got top people working on it.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:46 PM on April 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:46 PM on April 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
My husband and I got to see him perform a couple of months ago. To say that he performed like a man half his age both sounds trite and oversells the abilities of most forty-three-year-olds. He was just... magical, and that performance is one that I will remember for the rest of my life. Happy Birthday, Willie.
posted by la glaneuse at 11:26 PM on April 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by la glaneuse at 11:26 PM on April 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
I was surprised Trigger had the 'second sound hole' as far back as '76.
Mark is doing the Lord's work.
posted by MtDewd at 4:30 AM on April 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
Mark is doing the Lord's work.
posted by MtDewd at 4:30 AM on April 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
Stardust is #3. It's still a huge favorite of mine, along with a lot of his other music. I would like it if Willie could live and make music for an even longer long time. There's something magic about his ability to be loved by so many very different people.
concerts I wish I could have attended: Willie Nelson and Linda Ronstadt.
posted by theora55 at 11:05 AM on April 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
concerts I wish I could have attended: Willie Nelson and Linda Ronstadt.
posted by theora55 at 11:05 AM on April 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
Looking for recommendations on which of his greatest hits albums I should buy.
posted by Beholder at 2:24 PM on April 30, 2020
posted by Beholder at 2:24 PM on April 30, 2020
Not a frequent C&W listener, but I've bought some albums I was glad to discover, and Willie has always been on that short list.
I guess it's because he always sounds like a cowboy out singin on the Green Grass of Wyoming for the Riders of the Purple Sage. Less ... polished than Slye singin 'Tumbling Tumbleweeds', for example.
He and his motorcycle gang sped past me once one sunny summer day when I was visiting Colorado. Sometimes, there's a man.... Ah, I lost my train of thought here.
posted by Twang at 4:07 PM on April 30, 2020
I guess it's because he always sounds like a cowboy out singin on the Green Grass of Wyoming for the Riders of the Purple Sage. Less ... polished than Slye singin 'Tumbling Tumbleweeds', for example.
He and his motorcycle gang sped past me once one sunny summer day when I was visiting Colorado. Sometimes, there's a man.... Ah, I lost my train of thought here.
posted by Twang at 4:07 PM on April 30, 2020
He and his motorcycle gang sped past me once one sunny summer day when I was visiting Colorado.
Much cooler than the time I was passed by The Monkees' tour buses on the New York State Thruway.
posted by Twang
Also, eponysterical.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:22 PM on April 30, 2020
Much cooler than the time I was passed by The Monkees' tour buses on the New York State Thruway.
posted by Twang
Also, eponysterical.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:22 PM on April 30, 2020
Modest House:That's too many albums for one person. Seriously. You'd think he was just grinding to albums because he had some kind of massive debt to pay off, or something. Otherwise, he'd have told his record company, "You know, boys, I've gotten a lot of exposure in my life. How about we give a young person a chance."
Really?
He made one album to cover his tax issues. He trusted Price Waterhouse to give proper accounting info and was misinformed. [cite] The big 5 accounting firms were... never transparent about some of the things they did.
I also don't understand your last sentence. Sounds like straight up ageism. Why shouldn't Willie keep playing? (And hosting a 4th of July festival every year that gives the opportunity for 'young person' a chance to perform/support and ditto for Willie b-day parties.)
N.B. The three times I have seen him, he was wearing about the ugliest gray tennis shoes with velcro straps. He's not trying to make a buck. He is enjoying playing and also enjoying the opportunity of letting "young person" play. He loves trigger, his family, his band, his friends and loves to put on a show. And, he is frugal.
I am really curious about why you would make the comment of yours that I quoted. The IRS debt was taken care of quickly. Willie supports younger musicians. Live albums are a chunk of those albums, so zero effort from the band besides what they were already doing onstage.
Why do you care how many albums he has released? That seems like a bizarre judgement of a person to me.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:52 PM on May 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
Really?
He made one album to cover his tax issues. He trusted Price Waterhouse to give proper accounting info and was misinformed. [cite] The big 5 accounting firms were... never transparent about some of the things they did.
I also don't understand your last sentence. Sounds like straight up ageism. Why shouldn't Willie keep playing? (And hosting a 4th of July festival every year that gives the opportunity for 'young person' a chance to perform/support and ditto for Willie b-day parties.)
N.B. The three times I have seen him, he was wearing about the ugliest gray tennis shoes with velcro straps. He's not trying to make a buck. He is enjoying playing and also enjoying the opportunity of letting "young person" play. He loves trigger, his family, his band, his friends and loves to put on a show. And, he is frugal.
I am really curious about why you would make the comment of yours that I quoted. The IRS debt was taken care of quickly. Willie supports younger musicians. Live albums are a chunk of those albums, so zero effort from the band besides what they were already doing onstage.
Why do you care how many albums he has released? That seems like a bizarre judgement of a person to me.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:52 PM on May 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
Yeah, Modest House's take is an incredibly bad one from soup to nuts.
posted by uberchet at 11:28 AM on May 2, 2020
posted by uberchet at 11:28 AM on May 2, 2020
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posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:19 AM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]