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The Year of WillieWillie 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
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) For Canadian orders, please Click Here! For UK orders, please Click Here!
Ratings 1 Star: Pitiful
Copyright © 2003 The Music Box
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Willie Nelson