The Willie Nelson Special with Special Guest Ray Charles

Written by Fantasma el Rey

The Willie Nelson Special is an hour of Willie at the top of his game in 1985, singing the songs that made him famous and loved by fans around the world. His stage show has no frills or popping pyrotechnics. It’s just 60 minutes of Willie in an intimate setting, making him seem even more down to earth as he presents classic country as it should be, stripped down, focusing on the music and its performers.

The show opens with the rollin’ jump of “On The Road Again” played for a minute over the opening titles and some scenes of Willie and the boys goofing around, playing golf, and shooting pool. Willie and his band are in a quiet, sit-down bar or a very small club and on a low-rise stage putting them right next to their fans. The venue is small and perfect for this type of show, providing good interaction between fan and artist. These are the kind of places I like best; they make it seem as though the show is just for you and the band is approachable, which most times they are. This makes the next selection perfect as Willie slows the show with the beautiful “Always On My Mind” and shows off his quiet Texas crooner vocals on a tune I’ve always loved.

From there the legendary Ray Charles steps up to the piano and shares the spotlight with his friend Willie. Ray opens with a little jam they’ve titled “Ray’s Improvisation,” a good little piece of jazz, and slides right into the slow duets of “Angel Eyes,” “Seven Spanish Angels,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” and a tune that hit big for Ray, “Georgia On My Mind.” Closing the duets with Ray, Willie picks up his guitar and the two begin to cut lose on a swingin’ version of the country/bluegrass staple “Mountain Dew.” Willie’s band picks up the pace as Ray lets his fingers fly on the ivories as the two stars reel and rock their way through; both having fun with it.

The Willie and Ray segment is highlighted by a couple of flashes back to rehearsals the night before where it’s just the band, Willie, and Ray working on songs they plan to do. Its fun to see them laughing, having a good time, and really connecting with each other. Willie’s intro of Ray to the stage on show night is awesome as Willie makes a blind joke that really has Ray laughing and showing his wonderful sense of humor. A great segment and one that I’m glad was caught.

Willie then brings up guitarist Jackie King to help him out on the western swing ditty “My Window Faces The South,” which also features fiddle great Johnny Gimble in the background doing what he does best and making the cowboy jazz tune truly pop. The two then slow down a bit and move to the more solid jazz of “There Will Never Be Another You.”

After the two songs with King, Willie takes the spotlight again and croons three nice, slow tunes with “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before,” “Without A Song,” and “Who’ll Buy My Memories.” The highlight here is one of my favorites: “To All The Girls,” a big hit for Willie and his duet partner Julio Iglesias. Willie even opens the second verse with a playful poke at Julio’s accent, jokingly claiming it was all him on the record. Another look at the playful side of the redheaded stranger.

Closing the show is another of Willie’s up-tempo numbers, fan-favorite “Whiskey River.” Willie and his band close strong with this one and provide a perfect bookend to the night, reminding us that even though they can groove slow they love to rock. As the song plays, we get a three-minute tour of Willie’s hometown, Abbott, Texas. It’s an interesting little look at some of the places, people, and friends who remember the young Willie, his adventures, and his deeds as well as his family.

“The Willie Nelson Special” is a solid hour of Willie doing what he loves and is best at: singing his heart out on slow numbers and raucous country stompers. It’s a good sample of what a Willie show is like in a close and cozy setting, one on one with his fans who will no doubt appreciate this DVD the most. The casual fan will have a good time too as there are some of Willie’s major hits on hand and presented with feeling and warmth that only some one with a great passion for what they do can bring. Bottom line: Shotgun Willie at his best!

Willie Nelson: Stardust - 30th Ann. Legacy Edition

Written by Fantasma el Rey

The story of country music outlaw “Shotgun” Willie Nelson is fairly well known. He wrote a good number of hit songs for other artists while he was a minor vocal player on the country scene but in the early 1970s he came to the forefront along with other outlaws. Willie and friends changed the way that country music was made, breaking with tradition at times and staying way the hell clear of music trends and fads. They played what they wanted to and what their fans wanted to hear, not what was going to make them a quick buck. With Willie’s Stardust album he did just that: an entire platter’s worth of American pop standards done his way. Contrary to fears and concerns of record execs, the damn thing sold extremely well and still does, as the new two-disc Legacy Edition of the album proves. So put that beer down and mix up a drink as I tell you a little about “crooner” Willie’s Stardust.

Way back in nineteen hundred and seventy-eight, Willie Nelson told his record label, Columbia, about his plan to record an album of pop tunes that he loved by such folks as Berlin, Gershwin, and Ellington. They frowned a bit as they were surely hoping for more in the Red Headed Stranger vein but realized that that is what “artistic creative control” meant, something that Willie had managed to win in his contract a few years prior, so they had to give him the go-ahead. The idea of going the opposite direction from one’s last record wasn’t something new. Look at what Brother Ray Charles did with his country album, yet for good reason it is always seen as a radical move. From a profit point of view, the gamble can be a big one, fans and critics may not react so well and the whole thing could just come out awful. But Willie is a smart man and knew his unique voice would fit well on the proper tunes.

So with his Malibu neighbor, Booker T. Jones (that’s right; the legendary member of the Stax Records’ house band and leader of the MG’s with Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper) set as producer Willie entered the studio and picked out ten tunes that would shine like stars in the night sky for his disc of standards. He brings a wonderful country feel to the songs chosen with quiet guitars, soft bass notes, and a harmonica that adds a cowboy campfire vibe to some of the selections.

Disc one of the set is the original album and nothing on it is as overdone as they could have been, not “Georgia On My Mind,” “Unchained Melody,” or “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.” The album is simple and the arrangements make these tunes more approachable, showcasing why Willie’s calm voice is perfect for his dreamy project.

From the start of the title song and opening number on the disc it’s easy to hear why Stardust remains so popular. “Stardust” sets the stage and shines a dim light on the path that Willie is about to take us down. His voice is soft as the drums lightly tap behind him. The guitar evokes the spirit of Django Reinhardt and that harmonica wails its lament of “Paradise where roses grew” and “The memory of love refrained.” Even though “Blue Skies” gets a funky treatment, it keeps in step and gives off the same aura as the rest of the tunes, dominated by the Django strumming and cowboy-harp whispers. The piano seems to know its place as well and adds a quite beauty to the mix.

Willie shows that he can make these ditties jump and swing to boot with such light hoppers as “All Of Me” and “On The Sunny Side Of The Street.” He gets his band to reach back to the days when cowboy jazz (western swing, y’all) filled the airwaves and bands had names like Playboys, Doughboys, and Ramblers.

The sixteen cuts on disc two are cut from the same mold though the songs are pulled from albums that followed Stardust as Willie would continue to sprinkle one or two standards on his albums. The instrumentation widens a tad on some of the tunes but again is never overdone, not too horn- or string-laden, keeping the efforts from coming off too polished. Willie does a masterful job interpreting such top pop hits as “What A Wonderful World,” “Basin Street Blues,” “Mona Lisa,” “That Lucky Old Sun,” and “Stormy Weather.” Willie keeps western swingin’ as well with “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter” and “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive.” Both tunes would no doubt put a smile on Bob Wills’ or Gene Autry’s face as they move right along with the rest of the CD and concept of the original Stardust album.

I’ve known of this album for years and had heard a song or two but never paid it too much attention, thinking in my younger days that it was too slow and not for me. Yeah, well I felt that way about Elvis’ Vegas years as well and now I love the hell out of those performances just as I do Stardust and what he set out to do and prove with this million seller and all-around great recording. One more triumph on the long list of great and brilliant accomplishments that have come from the “red headed stranger.”

To help celebrate Willie’s 75th birthday there is also a career-spanning box set titled One Hell Of A Ride that was recently released, a biography Willie Nelson: An Epic Life and let’s not forget all the other CDs that have been remastered and re-released with excellent bonus tracks. So grab that mixed drink and the beer too, what the hell, why not and sit back and enjoy Willie Nelson’s crooning on his swingin’ masterpiece Stardust.