Personnel includes: Willie Nelson (vocals, guitar); Leon Russell (vocals, keyboards); Ray Price (vocals); Jody Payne (guitar, mandolin); Larry Gatlin (guitar, background vocals); Bucky Meadows (guitar); James Clayton Day (pedal steel guitar, dobro); Doug Sahm (fiddle, background vocals); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Booker T. Jones (piano, organ); Bobbie Nelson (piano); Bee Spears, Chris Ethridge (bass); Paul English, Rex Ludwig (drums); Kris Kristofferson, Crystal Gayle (background vocals).
Producers: Willie Nelson, Booker T. Jones, Arif Mardin, Sydney Pollack, Leon Russell.
Recorded between 1975 & 1981. Includes liner notes by Jonny Whiteside.
If you're looking to own one and only one Willie Nelson disc, look no further. GREATEST HITS (AND SOME THAT WILL BE) lives up to its name, delivering 20 killer tracks from Willie's most fruitful era, the 1970s. During these years, Nelson successfully pushed the limits of commercial country music, tackling such themes as sexuality and vulnerability with a candor previously unheard in the genre. The result was "outlaw country," a movement so dubbed for its brazenness. The hallmarks of Nelson's sound--reedy vocals, quirky gut-string guitar solos, and a band that always sounds on the verge of falling apart without ever being remotely in danger of doing so--are all front and center on this disc.
Nelson's greatness lies in his undeniable sincerity and in his mastery of various American genres: jazz, blues, Western swing, gospel, honky-tonk, even hints of rock and roll seamlessly rise to the surface when called for, then recede before they've outstayed their welcome. For those who hated Willie merely because he was so popular in the 1970s, here's the place to give him a second chance. You might be pleasantly surprised. Those who love Willie undoubtedly already know that herein lies the mother lode.
