Willy Nelson - The Red Headed Stranger

I've been avoiding a lot of the country albums in my collection. The reasons are many, and complicated, and much too hard to formulate for even my longest winded of posts. But i love Willy Nelson, and i definitely can't neglect the recent gift of his best selling 18th album, The Red Headed Stranger.

What makes this album special? For starters, it's an honest to goodness concept album (my favorite). It's the story of a fugitive who "killed his wife and her lover." The Juice is loose, indeed.

Jokes aside, his well negotiated deal with Columbia gave Willy full creative control. Now that's a deal. They seriously thought Willy was playing a demo recording of the intended album when he turned it in. What it must have felt like to have Willy Nelson tell you to your face, "tough shit you have to publish it," i can only guess. Then, when it sold millions and somebody made the album into an actual movie starring Willy, it had to sting.

Why is it so good? Because he knew from the start that he had to avoid sounding silly, it had to be stripped down. It had to be raw. It's not a party time, hillbilly, yee haw, rodeo album, it's an i killed 'em in a jealous rage and now i'm an outlaw album. It's an album that's meant to be listened to like i'm doing right now, intently.

Go find some negative criticism of this album, and it will be the standard "i'm supposed to say popular things are bad" crap like "this music has too much music in it," or "all albums have to be as big and polished and generic as possible,"  or "ugh, i hate it when songs tell a story, if i wanted to hear a book i'd just learn how to read." What really gets me is the notion that vocals, guitar, piano, bass, drums, and the occasional harmonica or mandolin is a "minimalist" ensemble. Who in their right mind would set this story to full strings, banjo, steel guitar, marching band? Just Willy, Trigger, and a harmonica player would be minimal. "Apropos" is the adjective you're thinking of, like 5 guys around a campfire; fitting.

The problem of course is that by 1975 everyone just expected the full Nashville workup, hillbilly jamboree like the tv tells me so. But, anybody with a shred of real appreciation for the actual art of music can immediately recognize the troubodor, singer-songwriter aspect of this album. And, in case you haven't noticed, i'm not spinning much party-time, chicks and hot-rods, getting drunk on a Saturday night rock music either (and when i do, i'm not exactly gushing with praise). I'm not saying that stuff is bad, i'm saying it doesn't interest me.

I happen to really like Willy Nelson, but even if i didn't i couldn't call this anything other than a great album. Like i've said so many times before, technical astonishment isn't one of my criteria for enjoyment. Creating a big, well constructed piece of art from a simple idea is. The Red Headed Stranger is a fantastic work of art, and another one of those magical moments when the artist knew better than everyone.

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