Originally Posted by Gavin B.

I'm a big fan of Willie Nelson and I go way back in my love for his music. I don't write a lot about him because he's so successful, that most people have more than a passing aquaintance with his music. I don't write a lot about the Beatles, Madonna, Eminem, Nirvana or U2 for the same reason. Unless you're living in a cave, you've probably heard music by their and have your own opinion about their merits (or lack of merits) as music artists. It's unlikely that anything I write about Willie Nelson is going to change anyone's mind about his music, for better or for worse. But since an artist like Townes Van Zandt isn't widely known, maybe an essay I write about him will win a couple of new fans for his music. My case in point: You.

I never cared for Willie Nelson duet albums except for last year's Two Men With the Blues collaboration with New Orleans jazz trumpeter Wyton Marsalis. A lot of Willie's music has strong elements of jazz and the blues and that's probably why Two Men With the Blues and Stardust, his 1978 album of jazz and blues standards, are among his strongest albums.

These are my favorite Willie Nelson albums:

Country Willie His Own Songs (1965) - The album contains Willie's earliest versions of Hello Walls, Nightlife and Funny How Time Slips Away. At the time Willie was thought of as more of a songwriter who wrote hits for other people but this album proves he was the best interpreter of his songs.

Phases and Stages (1974) In the early 70s Willie recorded two concept albums for Atlantic Records both of which are very good. The first one was Shotgun Willie (1973) followed by this one; Phases and Stages. This album is a cycle of songs revolving around the dissolution of a marriage and devoting one side to the wife's perspective, the second to the husband's. This innovative album set the stage for his blockbuster concept album Red Headed Stranger which appeared a year later on Columbia Records.

The Redheaded Stranger (1975) I'm not sure why this album appealed to so many people. It's a concept album about a preacher on the run after murdering his departed wife and her new lover, told entirely with brief song-poems and utterly minimal backing. It's defiantly anticommercial and it demands intense concentration — all reasons why nobody thought it would be a hit. Phases and Stages was far more acessible.

It took about a year for Redheaded Stranger for me to really appreciate the brilliance of this album. It's like an epic tale told around a cowboy campfire.

Stardust (1978) How could anybody not like this album? Part of what makes Stardust unique was it was produced by soul and jazz master keyboardist Booker T. Jones (of Booker T and the MGs noteriety). Jones adds a jazz/blues element to Willie's presentation that really works. The songs are all jazz standards writen the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Irving Berlin who were the greatest composers of the classic big band jazz era.