Search - Willie Nelson :: Funny How Time Slips Away: Best of

Willie Nelson is my hero

08/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A long time ago, in a land far far away, an unknown songwriter rode into Nashville. He'd been listening to country music for many years because he loved it so much. This was back in the days when crying in your beer was more common than storytelling, although a combination was always best, and controversy was to be avoided. Our young songwriter was able to follow every convention, play by all the rules, be true to himself, and yet inject a level of intelligence that was rare. And since you read the title of this thing, you know I'm talking about the red-haired stranger himself, Willie Nelson.



I'll just pick a title at random. Are you old enough to remember Faron Young singing Hello Walls? I am. Willie wrote that. Can you remember anything else Faron Young sang? I can't. Sorry, Faron. I'm only 43.



This particular CD contains Willie Nelson singing over 20 of those songs that he wrote way back when.



Lemme throw one more song title at you because it's suddenly newsworthy again. Merle Haggard and George Jones teaming up for an album called Yesterday's Wine. Title track written by Willie Nelson. 25 years later, they're teaming up again. No idea what they'll sing, but it does make my little review somewhat timely.



This is a great CD, okay? It's real and it's Willie. Some of the tracks are still in my MP3 player. Some aren't. But as a unified whole CD, it's great. Awesome lyrics and soulful voice even when the words are corny. Willie rules.



Incidentally, One In A Row might be the most cold-blooded song I've ever heard, ranking right up there with Tainted Love by Marilyn Manson, except that Willie makes me laugh whereas Marilyn just needs to get another 20 or so years under his belt so he can chill. I mention this because I want to be the first reviewer to ever use "Willie Nelson" and "Marilyn Manson" in the same sentence. And that makes TWO in a row, haha!

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