Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be) [Bonus Tracks] [Slipcase]

Performer: Willie Nelson
Artist: Leon Russell; Doug Sahm; Ray Price; Booker T. Jones
Distributor: Sony BMG Music (Canada) (

Notes: 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. Personnel: Chris Ethridge, Bucky Meadows, Jody Payne, Ray Price, Bee Spears, Billy Gene English, Paul English, Mickey Raphael, Booker T. Jones. Audio Mixers: Ollie Cotton; Larry Rosen. 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.

Willie Nelson began working in a conventional Nashville style and had great success as the songwriter of Faron Young's hit "Hello Walls" and others, but he was initially unable to make it as a performer. In the 1970s, he and Waylon Jennings made history with their outlaw country sound and image, growing their hair long and utilizing a raw, rock-influenced sound that endeared them to millions of country fans and rockers alike. Subsequently, Nelson ventured into Sinatra territory with STARDUST, an album of standards that became a huge success and established him as a singer who transcended genre boundaries. Throughout the '80s, '90s, and into the 21st century, he crossed over into pop and back again continually, even releasing an album of reggae covers, working with artists as diverse as Julio Iglesias and Ryan Adams.

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