Reissue Review

There’s a famous quote by Steve Earle, who when referring to the genius of singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, boldly proclaimed, “Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.” Ask me about Willie Nelson and I’d second that statement, but for good measure I’d also stand on Johnny Cash’s coffee table too. That’s right, I think Willie Nelson rivals both Dylan and Cash in terms of talent, impact on modern music, and certainly when it comes to a larger than life personality. Willie Nelson is a true renaissance man and I don’t think he gets the critical respect he deserves. Compared to Cash, he definitely doesn’t have the hipster cred he warrants.

I’ve been a champion of Willie for quite a while now, enjoying most of the 1-2 albums he churns out every year. There are some duds for sure, but overall his consistency is astounding. What brings me to this endorsement, however, is not yet another stellar new release from the Red Headed Stranger, but Legacy Recordings‘ 30th Anniversary re-issue of his 1978 album of standards, Stardust.

These days, recording an album of standards is indicative of either late career desperation (see Rod Stewart) or an attempt to prove legitimacy (see Queen Latifah). In Willie Nelson’s case, however, it was pure renegade spirit. Let me explain.

After a remarkably successful career during the 1960s as a songwriter-for-hire (”Night Life” – Ray Price; “Funny How Time Slips Away” – Billy Walker; “Hello Walls” -Faron Young; “Crazy” – Patsy Cline) and some modest success as a performer (and a member of the Grand Ole Opry), Willie left Nashville in the early 1970s, moved to Austin, and temporarily retired from music. If he was going to spend a lifetime as a musician, he was going to do it on his own terms, not under the microscope of slick Music City producers.

With his reemergence on the country music scene with 1973’s Shotgun Willie, Nelson kickstarted what would become known as “outlaw country,” a movement so named because it did not conform to Nashville standards. His two follow-ups, 1974’s Phases and Stages and Red Headed Stranger were both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, spawning the hits “Bloody Mary Morning” and “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”

A couple of classic duet albums with Waylon Jennings in 1976 (Wanted! The Outlaws, the first country album to go platinum) and 1978 (Waylon and Willie) cemented Willie’s status as both an outlaw legend and a country star. He achieved massive success on his own terms and he was firmly in control of his music, direction and destiny.

Then, in 1978, while he was at the top of his game as an outlaw country superstar, Willie Nelson waltzed into Columbia Records’ Nashville offices and informed the suits at the label that his next record would be a set of standards by the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin. According to Nelson’s biographer, Joe Nick Patoski, when he received push-back from the label, Nelson’s response was simply, “Why be predictable?”

 

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