Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson – The Willie Nelson Family (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 32:00 minutes | 340 MB | Genre: Country, Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

The Willie Nelson Family finds Willie joined in his Pedernales Studios by a host of his family members and extended family of long-time band members, performing songs that they have performed for much of their lives. Sister Bobbie, sons Lukas and Micah, and daughters Amy and Paula all contribute plus band members Mickey Raphael, Kevin Smith and Billy and Paul English. Produced by Willie and Steve Chadie and shaped around a setlist of 12 favourite spirit-driven songs from the Nelson Family repertoire which took on special significance during the lockdown when the album was finished. The album (Willie’s 71st studio album!) draws on deep Americana (including A.P. Carter’s “Keep It On The Sunnyside” and the traditional hymn “In The Garden”) while celebrating classic songwriting from Hank Williams (“I Saw The Light”) and Kris Kristofferson (“Why Me”) to George Harrison (“All Things Must Pass”) and – of course – Willie Nelson (more than half of the songs). The group offers new takes on Willie Nelson-penned tracks with a spiritual bent from the late 50s to the mid 90s. Willie’s son Lukas (who fronts his own band, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real) sings lead vocals on two of the album’s tracks–”All Things Must Pass” and “Keep It On The Sunnyside” – while sharing lead vocals with Willie on “I Saw the Light,” “I Thought About You, Lord” and “Why Me.” These songs represent the final recordings Willie made with his longtime drummer and pal Paul English who was Willie’s drummer for over 50 years before he passed away in February 2020.

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Willie Nelson – The Sound In Your Mind (1976/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 36:00 minutes | 664 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia Nashville

Released in February 1976, The Sound in Your Mind is the second album on Columbia Records by Willie Nelson, and his eighteenth overall.

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Willie Nelson – That’s Life (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 34:44 minutes | 378 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

Honoring the enduring inspiration of Frank Sinatra, That’s Life is Willie Nelson s second album of classics made famous by The Chairman Of The Board. Willie’s first ode to Frank, 2018’s My Way, earned Willie the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Solo Album, and That’s Life finds Nelson (who has penned a few standards himself) inhabiting 11 more of the most treasured songs in the Great American Songbook including the title track, “Luck Be A Lady,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “You Make Me Feel So Young,” and “I Won’t Dance” (a duet featuring Diana Krall). Produced by Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings, That’s Life was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood–where Frank Sinatra, created a string of album masterpieces–with additional recording at Pedernales Studios in Austin, Texas. Willie delivers 11 new studio performances, coming alive in a musical landscape animated by lush string and vibrant horn arrangements on an album mixed by recording industry legend Al Schmitt (who’s recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums and won more Grammy Awards than any other engineer or mixer). The album cover features a brand new painting of Willie and his iconic guitar, Trigger, standing in the glow of a twilight streetlamp, evoking classic Sinatra album covers of yore.

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Willie Nelson – Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 36:31 minutes | 750 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

Willie Nelson’s new album of pop standards, penned by America’s legendary songwriting duo George and Ira Gershwin, follows the selection of Willie as the 2015 recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Among the 11 Gershwin classics recorded by Willie Nelson for his new album are two duets: “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off” with Cyndi Lauper (the song was originally introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the 1937 film Shall We Dance) and “Embraceable You” with Sheryl Crow (the song was performed by Ginger Rogers in Girl Crazy, recorded by Billie Holiday in 1944 and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005). Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin hearkens back to Stardust, the 1978 blockbuster album of pop standards that secured Willie’s reputation as pop balladeer, in addition to his status as one of the architects of outlaw country music.

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Willie Nelson – Shotgun Willie (1973/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 37:03 minutes | 1,46 GB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino Atlantic

The legendary career of Texas-born music icon Willie Nelson has spanned six decades and stands as one of contemporary music’s greatest legacies. Nelson first rose to fame as a Nashville-based songwriter, penning many now timeless standards including “Crazy,” a top hit for Patsy Cline. Feeling constrained by the Nashville music establishment, Willie relocated to Austin in the early ‘70s, where the melding of rock and country audiences made a huge impression on him. He began fusing folk and roots rock with a rebellious “outlaw” country flavor, inventing an authentic, stripped-down sound that remains vastly influential to this day. At this pivotal point in his artistic evolution, Nelson signed to Atlantic Records, delivering two signature albums revered as all-time masterpieces of his extensive repertoire, Shotgun Willie and Phases And Stages.

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Willie Nelson – Ride Me Back Home (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:23 minutes | 866 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

Remarkably, this is Willie Nelson’s 69th album release! The Third album in the Trilogy about mortality, that began with “Gods Problem Child” (2017) & was followed by “Last Man Standing” (2018). The final release in this Trilogy, “Ride Me Back Home” see’s Willie Nelson on a more empathic, reflective & upbeat journey. An 11 song album, co-written & produced by Buddy Cannon.

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Willie Nelson – Red Headed Stranger (1975/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 33:55 minutes | 605 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia Nashville

Red Headed Stranger was a blockbuster among both country music and mainstream audiences, going multi-platinum and making Nelson one of the biggest stars in country. The album’s title would become a lasting nickname for Nelson. The album was ranked #184 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was ranked #1 on CMT’s 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music in 2006.

Album Chart Position in 1975:
Billboard Top Country Albums – 1
Billboard Top LPs & Tapes – 28

Singles Peak Position:
1975 – “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” – Billboard Hot Country Singles – 1
1975 – “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” – Billboard Hot 100 – 21
1976 – “Remember Me” – Billboard Hot Country Singles – 2
1976 – “Remember Me” – Billboard Hot 100 – 67

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Willie Nelson – My Way (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 35:30 minutes | 744 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

My Way, Willie Nelson’s new studio album, explores his admiration and connection to Frank Sinatra’s art and artistry across 11 fresh, intoxicating takes on songs made famous by the Chairman of the Board. Recorded in the tradition of 1978s legendary Stardust and 2016s Grammy Award-winning Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, My Way is a warm and personal nod from one icon to another. Included are Willie’s takes on timeless tunes like “Summer Wind,” “It Was A Very Good Year,” “I’ll Be Around,” “Fly Me To The Moon,” “What Is This Thing Called Love” (cast as a duet with fellow Grammy winner Norah Jones) and, of course, the anthemic “My Way.” Add Willie’s stalwart backing band plus lush arrangements for full string and horn sections – all produced by Grammy winners Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings – and you’ve got an album that’s as cool as it gets.

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Willie Nelson – Let’s Face The Music And Dance (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 48:20 minutes | 463 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

Let’s Face The Music And Dance is a stellar collection of new studio performances by Willie Nelson. The album is the first in a series celebrating the artist’s 80th birthday. Let’s Face The Music And Dancefeatures the acclaimed musicians: Bobbie Nelson (piano), Paul English (drums), Billy English (electric gut string and snare drum), Kevin Smith (upright bass), Jim “Moose” Brown (B-3 organ), Micah Nelson (percussion) and Mickey Raphael (harmonica). This is an essential addition to the outlaw country artist’s catalog of timeless recordings. It features a repertoire ranging from pop, rock, jazz and country classics including “Walking My Baby Back Home,” “You’ll Never Know,” “Matchbox” and hits by Irving Berlin, Mack Gordon, Carl Perkins, Frank Loesser, Django Reinhardt and Spade Cooley, among others.

“His voice dances around the meter gracefully and perhaps even mischievously, making deeply familiar songs sound utterly new again.” – Paste

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Willie Nelson – Last Man Standing (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 33:39 minutes | 689 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

‘Last Man Standing,’ comprised entirely of songs newly-penned by Willie Nelson (and longtime collaborator and producer Buddy Cannon), is the worthy successor to Willie’s ‘God’s Problem Child,’ which showcased seven Nelson-Cannon compositions and debuted at #1 on the Country charts. Willie and Buddy have been working together since 2008 with Cannon producing more than a dozen of Willie’s albums.

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Willie Nelson – Half Nelson (1985)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 36:20 minutes | 740 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia

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. ~~AllMusic Review by Tom Roland

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Willie Nelson – Good Times (1969/2008)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 31:24 minutes | 586 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RLG/Legacy

Good Times is the eighth studio album by country singer Willie Nelson. Arrangements were by Anita Kerr, Bill Walker and Ray Stevens.

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Willie Nelson – God’s Problem Child (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 44:31 minutes | 925 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

Mortality hangs over God’s Problem Child, Willie Nelson’s first solo album of original songs since 2014’s Band of Brothers. Since that record, Willie lost several friends and he’s also been the subject of several death hoaxes, a subject he tackles with a grin on “Still Not Dead,” one of seven originals Nelson co-wrote with his longtime producer, Buddy Cannon. “Still Not Dead” provides a gateway to the rest of God’s Problem Child, where Willie looks at the world with a blend of bemusement and melancholy suiting a road warrior who is still going strong in his eighties. Nelson is in better voice than he was in 2016, when he released two tribute LPs, and his band has a relaxed gait that harks back to his classic outlaw records of the ’70s but feels mellowed with age. Not that the album moves slowly. “Little House on the Hill” gets things off with a skip and the record regularly returns to a laid-back groove that’s often punctuated by blues, honky tonk ballads, and lazy laments. Whenever Nelson looks at his twilight years, it’s either with clear eyes or bemusement: he salutes his friends who have crossed over on the lovely “Old Timer” and admits that “It Gets Easier” when you get older because you can let your feelings fade, but he gets a kick that he’s still around to experience it all. His sense of humor remains sharp — “Delete and Fast Forward” is one of the best expressions of exasperation at the state of the world in the late 2010s — and his sentiment isn’t sticky; he salutes the late Leon Russell by leaving in his old friend’s guest vocal on the title track and pays tribute to Merle Haggard with “He Won’t Ever Be Gone.” All these songs hang together — they’re songs about love, loss, memory, and mistakes — but God’s Problem Child isn’t a song cycle, nor is it a major statement. It’s simply an uncommonly strong latter-day record from Willie Nelson: there isn’t a hint of fussiness and the songs and the performances are so understated, they only seem richer with repeated spins. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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Willie Nelson – First Rose of Spring (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 41:26 minutes | 858 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

For his 70th album, the unshakeable Willie Nelson (now 87 years of age) shows us his softer side. He may be the King of the outlaws, sitting comfortably atop his marijuana mountain, but the Texan has never hidden the super-sensitive and borderline romantic side of his personality. First Rose of Spring was produced by his old partner Buddy Cannon with whom he co-wrote two of its original songs. It also includes compositions by Chris Stapleton, Toby Keith and Pete Graves, as well as one by another 5-star outlaw, Billy Joe Shaver, with whom he covers We Are the Cow-Boys. This exquisite album primarily made up of love songs is drawn to a close with Yesterday When I Was Young (a cover of Charles Aznavour’s famous Hier Encore), which gives a sense of finality to the album as a whole, but not in a weak, languishing way. The production is understated, never flashy and accentuates the violins – when they’re there – with skill. There are also some beautiful acoustic guitar moments (played on a Martin N-20 Trigger) and vocals that are more fluid than usual. First Rose of Spring truly stands out from the many (perhaps too many) recent releases of Willie Nelson, who seems to be writing a never-ending will but doing so with as much class as ever. – Marc Zisman

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Willie Nelson – Country Music (2010)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 54:52 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rounder Records

Willie Nelson goes back to his roots with a songbook of classic Americana. Country Music was recorded in Nashville, TN and produced by T Bone Burnett. Nelson wrote one track on the album, “Man With The Blues” and, with T Bone Burnett, co-arranged three traditional songs, “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down,” “I Am A Pilgrim,” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.” The album also features many popular old-time/bluegrass/folk songs including Ernest Tubb’s “Seaman’s Blues, Merle Travis’ “Dark As A Dungeon,” and The Delmore Brothers “Freight Train Boogie”. Willie Nelson collaborated with many musicians on Country Music including old-time banjo master Riley Baugus, double bassist Dennis Crouch, and T Bone himself, all musicians featured on Raising Sand, the 2009 Grammy award-winning Album of the Year by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

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