So assured is Nelson that it’s impossible not to feel the love.
Having long strayed into the mainstream amid duets with everyone from Julio Iglesias to Wyclef Jean and Jon Bon Jovi, Willie Nelson has diversified into so many different musical territories – becoming an iconic figure in the process – that it’s easy to forget that his proud, primary heritage lies deep in the heart of country music. Listening to this not unattractive, but rather desultory album, it’s also easy to overlook the pivotal role he played in the great country wars when Willie and Waylon and Kris Kristofferson dramatically changed the image of Nashville.
Not that there’s much of the outlaw left in the 76-year-old Willie by the sound of this, even with the redoubtable T-Bone Burnett at the production desk. Initially exclusively on sale for a month in Starbucks outlets, it’s a relatively low-key effort, with Willie doling a mixture of classics like Dark as a Dungeon, Pistol Packin’ Mama, Freight Train Boogie and Satisfied Mind alongside lesser-known material in characteristically lugubrious style. Burnett surrounds him with a low-key old-timey sound built around fiddle, banjo, bass, guitar and pedal steel.
Lees de rest van deze review op BBC CD recensies (Engels)
Bron: BBC Music