When he isn't pimping for the presidential campaign of Dennis Kucinich (now humming along to the tune of 0% public support!), 70-year-old Willie Nelson is making remarkably youthful music on a pace that would daunt a performer half his age.
Willie's latest outing is an exceptional duet with another grizzled Texan, 77-year-old Ray Price, the Cherokee Cowboy, and together they have made Run That By Me One More Time (their second outing together, 23 years after their first, San Antonio Rose) a Western swinging, honky tonking delight in 4/4 shuffle and 3/4 waltz time.
Willie's reedy, supple tenor treads lightly but echoes deeply on lost and losing love, and Price's booming baritone, now a bit frayed around the edges, is the perfect counterpoint. Bobby Floores' fiddle and David Zettner on pedal steel contribute to the timeless but never dated sawdust and teardrops sensibility.
Their voices play tag, blend at key moments, and illuminate traditional classics like Fred Rose's "Deep Water," "Home In San Antone," "It wouldn't Be the Same Without You," and Floyd Tillman's "This Cold War With You," but it is the singer's originals that shine the brightest.
The pair's "I've Just Destroyed the World I'm Living In" boasts a graceful melody, poignant self-examination, and some charming guitar work from Nelson, whose nylon-stringed, jazzy acoustic leads are as identifiable as his voice. Nelson's "Something to Think About" is similarly ruminative, but Price's "Soft Rain" is best of all: a palpable sweet, sad drizzle of regret and fiddle with Price reaching down to the very soul of Country and Western, a spot Nashville pop hasn't touched in a generation.
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Article comments
1 - ClubhouseCancer
This is indeed incredibly heartfelt stuff, way beyond the endless early-70s Eagles soundalike stuff that passes for country these days.
Willie for the 100 greatest guitarists? Seeing him live it's almost unbelievable what he can do witha few well-placed notes and some passing chords.
2 - Eric Olsen
Thanks so much CC, I appreciate your input. I'm not sure why the music reviews get so few comments. Excellent point about Willie and the guitar by the way, hadn't thought of him re The Dreaded List.
3 - ClubhouseCancer
I too wish the musical comments would come to the fore. The long political/racial posts are, to me, quite dreary, hard to follow, and intensely personal. They're really just inside baseball, and I've stopped reading them. On the other hand, I could go on and on about the music I love.
4 - Eric Olsen
I imagine it's because there isn't a whole lot to argue about beyond "I agree" "I disagree" or "good post" "shitty post."
5 - ClubhouseCancer
Eric:
Shitty post, man.
6 - Eric Olsen
Thanks for taking the time
7 - ClubhouseCancer
Sorry about the easy joke, but your post is on to something. It seems that whenever a substantive discussion of music comes up here, there's always someone who starts chiming in with SUCKS and IF U THINK HENDRICKS IS NO GOOD LETS SEE U PLAY PURPLE HAIZE and such. That is why I prize the musical comments of you, barger, nat, driscoll, saleski, carruthers, and others whose handles I don't easily recall.
In fact, I find I agree with Barger on most issues musical (a McManus-ite after my own heart) and find his political comments self-serving and simple-minded. I wish he'd write more about music.
I hereby vow to chime in on musical items that I'm interested in, and hope others of like minds will do the same.
8 - Eric Olsen
Thanks CC, I look forward to it. The other problem is that to a lot of other people the music stuff is obscure and inside baseball, but I don't much care why they come as long as they come.