Willie continued with successful collaborations. He had a #1 hit with Ray Charles, “Seven Spanish Angels,” and as a member of the country supergroup The Highwaymen. But like all artists, he could only remain in the spotlight for so long. He continued to put out albums, but went over a decade before returning to the Country charts in 2002 with “Mendocino County Line,” a duet with Lee Ann Womack.
Disc Four reveals what Willie had been up to the last two decades. Working with producer Don Was he delivers two great covers from Across The Borderline, Paul Simon’s “Graceland” and a fantastic rendition, more so because of the evocative music, of Bob Dylan’s “What Was It Wanted.” Daniel Lanois is another producer who knew how to maximize Willie. The two entries from Teatro don’t have a sound you would necessarily associate with Willie’s voice, but they work well. Willie’s version of “The Rainbow Connection” at the request of his daughter is a perfect combination of voice and song.
Some selections didn’t need to be included. Willie’s versions of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” and the standard “What A Wonderful World” are forgettable. The disc closes where it began with Willie 50 years later singing “When I’ve Sang My Last Hillbilly Song.”
One Hell of Ride presents 100 tracks over four CDs in a career that most artists could only imagine. Although there’s not much new material, it’s a great set for those who want a crash course on an American music legend.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Fellow Blogcritics take note, because at the risk of further inflating Mr. Bicho's already over inflated ego, I'm gonna put quite a shine on this piece.
This is everything a great review on a retrospective set covering the career of a legend like Nelson should be. It is part history lesson, part critique, and part analysis. Most importantly, it really makes me to buy the record, expensive as I'm sure it is. There are so many Nelson retrospectives out there, one doesn't really know to begin (I've got Sony's "Essential" set, and it barely scratches the surface).
With this review, Bicho not only pointed me in a good general direction, he gave me several reasons to consider seeking this out.
So well done, Bicho. Just don't let it go to your head okay?
-Glen
2 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.
3 - Matt Wardlaw
I haven't met a Willie set, studio, retrospective or otherwise, that I didn't like.
My only beef with this set, is that Beer For My Horses isn't on it. That's cool though, because I've got it elsewhere. 100 tracks, and it's priced really nice everywhere I've seen it - heck of a value!
4 - El Bicho
Thanks, Glen