The Year of Willie

Willie Nelson - Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)

Part Five of Eight

First Appeared at The Music Box, January 2004, Volume 11, #1

Written by John Metzger

Willie Nelson
Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)
(Columbia/Legacy)

The two-disc career retrospective titled The Essential Willie Nelson that was released earlier this year may be more comprehensive, but the recently remastered 1981 compilation Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be) is actually a slightly better package. True, the latter set does leave out a lot — it does not include some masterful Nelson-penned classics such as Crazy and Hello Walls nor does it feature tunes from his legendary albums Yesterday’s Wine, Phases and Stages, and Shotgun Willie — but in focusing on material recorded between 1974 and 1981, it thankfully avoids having to deal with his many painful missteps during the 1980s and early ’90s. Instead, Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be) zeroes in upon the songwriter’s initial commercial successes and includes tracks from his smash breakthroughs Red Headed Stranger and Stardust. Still, its title is something of a misnomer for Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be) digs deeper than the big sellers and chart-toppers, and it doesn’t really include all of the hits. Even so, through its stylistic diversity, it offers a worthwhile introduction to an American legend, showcasing Nelson as both a premier songwriter as well as a masterful interpreter of others’ works.

Of Further Interest...

Part One: To Lefty from Willie

Part Two: Willie and Family Live

Part Three: San Antonio Rose

Part Four: Honeysuckle Rose

Part Six: Always on My Mind

Part Seven: Pancho & Lefty

Part Eight: Tougher than Leather

Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be) is available
from Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!

Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2003 The Music Box