The Complete Atlantic Sessions [Box]

Performer: Willie Nelson
Producer: Jerry Wexler; James Austin (Compilation); Cheryl Pawelski (Compilation)
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Includes bonus tracks. Personnel: Willie Nelson (vocals, acoustic guitar); Waylon Jennings (guitar, background vocals); Larry Gatlin (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Red Lane (acoustic guitar); David Bromberg, Steve Burgh (electric guitar); James Clayton Day (pedal steel guitar, dobro); Johnny Gimble (mandolin, fiddle); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); The Memphis Horns (horns); Augie Meyers, Bobbie Nelson (piano); Jeff Gutcheon (electric piano, organ); Barry Beckett (keyboards); Dan Spears, David Hood (bass guitar); Roger Hawkins, Arif Mardin, Paul English, Steve Mosley (drums). Just before becoming a paragon of "outlaw country" with the release of 1975's iconic RED-HEADED STRANGER on Columbia Records, Willie Nelson spent a brief and largely overlooked time at Atlantic, releasing only two albums. However, longtime fans now consider 1973's rock-&-roll-influenced SHOTGUN WILLIE and 1974's autobiographical concept album, PHASES AND STAGES, to be two of the Texas singer-songwriter's finest albums. THE COMPLETE ATLANTIC SESSIONS is an outstanding overview of Nelson's time with Atlantic, presenting both albums in full along with a complete 1974 show recorded at Austin's Texas Opry House for a planned live album that was scrapped when Nelson changed labels. Along with remastered sound and extensive liner notes, this three-disc set adds a total of 27 outtakes, demos, and alternate versions.

Rolling Stone (p.110) - Ranked #9 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 10 Reissues Of 2006" -- "A 1974 concert included here is a dynamic preview of the show Nelson still takes around the land." Entertainment Weekly (p.69) - "[Atlantic's] Texas blend of country, R&B, and rock redefined his art, and expanded Nashville's musical mindset." -- Grade: A- Q (p.123) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[O]ne of the great American songwriters. Flying in the face of Nashville tradition, Nelson introduced jazz and rock flourishes, opening out the genre's vocabulary in the process."

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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