Search - Willie Nelson :: Grand Ole Opry: Willie Nelson

Willie At The Nashville Opry?!

R. Webb | u.s.a. | 07/31/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Who would've guessed,the outlaw Willie Nelson was a member of the Grand Ole Opry,the "Texas Opry House",yes,but not the "Ryman" in Nashville,Tennessee,- on the other hand this Time Life recording tells us otherwise. Willie and his band,featuring the great Jimmy Day on steel, are kickin' out the footlights to enthusiastic audiences, included here are fourteen tracks featuring Nelson classics,"Hello Walls","Funny How Time Slips Away","Touch Me","Mr. Record Man",and the mesmerizing "Healing Hands Of Time". Willie also sings out a couple classic standards, Hank Williams' "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight", Bobby Helms' "Fraulein". Listen close for the acoustic guitar lead on,"I Never Cared For You",excellent spanish guitar,even though it's not Willie. This is early Willie Nelson,back in the rough and rocky days of Nashville,where Nelson was virtually unknown,known mainly as a songwriter,the maverick singer is not as polished or relaxed on these Opry recordings as the veteran musician we hear nowadays. This Time Life release is worth the price for historic reasons alone and Nelson collectors like me. A 2008 release, the audio on this disc is a little rough,almost as if this was recorded from a hi-fi cassette player, the Marty Robbins opry recording is about the same quality,I'm sure Time Life did the best they could with the best possible sources available."

Classic performances from 1964-1967

E. C. Powell | Brooklyn, NY | 09/05/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Legends of the Grand Ole Opry - Willie Nelson Singing His Hits LIVE!" is a welcome release of classic performances recorded between 1964 and 1967 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN for broadcast on the Grand Ole Opry.



The performances coincide with Willie's first three years as an RCA recording artist, with seven of the fourteen tracks (Mr. Record Man / My Own Peculiar Way / Funny How Time Slips Away / Healing Hands Of Time / One Day At A Time / Darkness On The Face Of The Earth / Hello Walls) coming from Willie's first RCA LP ("Country Willie: His Own Songs" - containing some re-recordings of material from his Liberty years) and one track (Fraulein) coming from Willie's second RCA LP ("Country Favorites, Willie Nelson Style"). "She's Not For You" wasn't an LP cut; as a single on RCA it went to #43 in the spring of 1965. "I Never Cared For You" was released originally as a single for Monument Records in 1964; it received an RCA release in 1966 on "Country Music Concert", as did "Touch Me" (originally recorded for Liberty Records in 1962). "Family Bible" would be recorded for RCA in 1971 by Willie for "Yesterday's Wine", but at the time of these recordings Willie hadn't yet released his own version of the tune Claude Gray took to #40 on the Country charts in 1960. "The Part Where I Cry" was Willie's first single on Liberty Records in 1961. "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" was the B-side of the "Am I Blue?" single on Liberty Records in 1964.



The performances are good: the Grand Ole Opry band sounds good behind Willie and Willie's voice is clear and upfront on the recordings. Willie is relegated strictly to rhythm guitar here though, as Willie was presented mainly as a vocalist in those days in his performances, and so Trigger is barely to be heard.



I wanted to take off a half star for the liner notes, but with Amazon's rating system that winds up taking the rating down a full star. My complaint here was that the liner notes fail to give specific info on the performance/broadcast dates as well as on the musicians present. The back cover states that the recordings date from 1964-1967 while the liner notes suggest the last recordings Willie made for the Grand Ole Opry occurred in 1966. There's not even an indication that the tracks are at least presented in chronological order. Had this release provided more thorough details regarding the performance and broadcast dates I would have rated it five stars.



This 2008 release provides an interesting, though brief, insight into Willie's tenure in Nashville as an RCA recording artist in the mid-60s, struggling to prove himself as a performer and recording artist in his own right beyond the accolades he had received to that point as a songwriter. Recommended for the Willie fan looking to dig a little deeper. Also, this may be the only "pure" live document of Willie in the 1960s that is available - "Country Music Concert" had overdubs on it I believe - which makes this release an essential purchase on that count alone."