Search - Willie Nelson :: City of New Orleans

A totally underrated , little gem of an album.....try it !

mitchiedoo | 06/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Any album with an opening track as sensational as this one , the title track , deserves your attention . From the first time I played this album , I thought is it impossible that the rest of this album can complement " City Of New Orleans " and attempt to meet , farless maintain this exceptional standard . Happily the answer was , and still is , yes ,and I have enjoyed this album many times since then . Not only are the vocals impressive , but I thought the musical arrangements complemented both the songs and the artists most satisfactorily . With the excellent mixing , and production , these are additional attractive factors which most definately contribute towards your enjoyment of any album . Although I enjoyed all tracks there have to be some you prefer and on this album Willie Nelson's rendition of " Wind Beneath My Wings " is absolutely superb in every respect as is his jaunty , happy style , treatment of " Why Are You Pickin' On Me ". If you can remember the early years of Willie Nelsons career , or alternatively , if you enjoy that period of his career , where it comprises his guitar , haunting vocals and little else then you will find the introduction to " Just Out Of Reach " takes you down memory lane ; you will also enjoy the song itself immensely . All in all a totally underrated gem of an album which , for reasons that escape me , has never recieved the plaudits that I feel it justifyably deserves ; artistically , critically and commercially . Try this album and I am sure you will not be dissappointed ."

Classic covers in Willie's own style

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 05/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some of these songs are more obscure than others but most people will be familiar with at least some of these songs in some version. Willie's versions of these songs are, as ever, distinctive - this is why he was so successful at recording them. Unlike several of his cover albums, he largely avoids the Great American Songbook (although one song here - Cry - is from that era), focusing instead on more recent songs from the fifties to the eighties.



The title track was an American hit for Arlo Guthrie but no version of the song ever charted in Britain. I've heard many versions of the song including excellent versions by Judy Collins, John Denver, Lynn Anderson, Johnny Cash and Sammi Smith, but Willie's version is my favorite.



As already mentioned, the oldest song here is Cry, Johnny Ray's debut single and one of his biggest American hits. (There were no British charts at the time.) The song became a top five country hit for Lynn Anderson in the seventies, since when several other country singers recorded it including Crystal Gayle and Janie Fricke.



Just out of reach has been covered by many pop, R+B and country singers down the years. I believe that Patsy Cline's 1958 version is the original though her version was not a hit.



Elvis Presley has recorded two of the songs here - Until it's time for you to go (originally written and recorded by Buffy Sainte-Marie, though Elvis may have recorded it after hearing Neil Diamond's version) and Good time Charlie's got the blues.



Dave Loggins has a long and distinguished career as a songwriter but his achievements as a singer are much more limited - however, he had a huge American hit with Please come to Boston. Many country singers have since covered it including Tammy Wynette, Glen Campbell and Reba McEntire.



She's out of my life is a Michael Jackson song. I've never been a huge fan of his but I would be if all his songs were this good. Willie was not the first country singer to cover it as Barbara Mandrell did it in 1981 as He's out of my life, while Johnny Duncan and Janie Fricke did a duet version.



Lee Greenwood had a big country hit with It turns me inside out. He also recorded Wind beneath my wings and had a minor UK hit with it in 1984, but that song was a much bigger success for Bette Midler who had a major transatlantic pop hit with it in 1989. Curiously, it was originally an R+B song, though the first popular version was by Gary Morris, who had a top five country hit with it in 1983.



Willie has recorded Why are you picking on me several times - it is one of his old songs from the sixties - but I don't know of any covers by anybody else



If you enjoyed Willie's album, Always on my mind, you will enjoy this."