Willie Nelson became a success as a country music tunesmith long before he broke through as a genre superstar in the mid-1970s. His appearance in Ace’s Songwriter Series this month is both long overdue and most welcome.
Years before he had any hits of his own, Willie forged his reputation as a front tier writer, thanks to songs like Crazy, Night Life, Hello Walls and Funny How Time Slips Away. Others made these songs hits initially, but it was Nelson’s skill as a lyricist and composer that truly ‘made’ the songs.
Written over a period of more than 30 years, you can hear all of those and 20 others on One In A Row which demonstrate the breadth and depth of his catalogue and shows why so many of his biggest copyrights continue to be revived and revisited decades after Nelson first put pen to paper.
Some of these have been covered literally hundreds of times in all genres of music, others just once or twice. But all of them reinforce the fact that Willie Hugh Nelson is one of the most important songwriters of the 20th Century inside or outside of country music – and would have been one even if he had never sung a note.
A most valuable addition to Ace’s unofficial ‘series within a series’ featuring the songs of Nelson’s country peers Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard, and a solid testament to the talents of a man who is still singing many of them and others live in concert at the age of 91…
Tracklist:
1. Hello Walls - Little Esther
2. Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground - Bob Dylan
3. Night Life - B.B. King & His Orchestra
4. Me And Paul - Doug Sahm and Band
5. He's Not For You - Dionne Warwick
6. Sister's Coming Home - Emmylou Harris
7. Healing Hands Of Time - Vikki Carr
8. Opportunity To Cry - Tom Jones
9. Family Bible - George Jones
10. Crazy - Patsy Cline
11. Man With The Blues - Del McCoury
12. Funny How Time Slips Away - Spinners
13. Good Hearted Woman - The Everly Brothers
14. Valentine - The Beautiful South
15. One In A Row - Trisha Yearwood
16. Pretty Paper - Johnny Tillotson
17. Three Days - kd lang & The Reclines
18. I Let My Mind Wander - Ray Price
19. Pretend I Never Happened - Waylon Jennings
20. You Took My Happy Away - Timi Yuro
21. Are You Sure - Kacey Musgraves & Willie Nelson
22. Somebody Pick Up My Pieces - Bettye Lavette
23. One Day At A Time - The Flatlanders
24. My Own Peculiar Way - Perry Como
Please note that One in a Row - The Willie Nelson Songbook (CD) is currently not in store but is with our local supplier.
Most of the time it takes around 2-5 days from the time you place the order for the item to arrive here and be sent out but it can take longer if there are any delays.