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Willie Nelson — Naked Willie
RCA Nashville/Sony Legacy
David McPherson
CHARTattack.com
04/28/2009 11:47am
Seeing 75-year-old Willie Nelson in the buff is a scary thought. Thankfully, other than a playful picture of him in a bubble bath in the liner notes, that's as far as this image goes.
In musical terms, "naked" Willie is much more appealing: a stripped-down Nelson — just the outlaw, his faithful guitar and his distinctive voice. The result is a keeper that shows off his trademark phrasing that, while unconventional, is also unforgettable.
Nelson's longtime harmonica player Mickey Raphael decided to unearth and "unproduce" Nelson's early RCA recordings with Chet Atkins by taking the old session tapes and removing the string arrangements, slick production and other lush instrumentation that took away from the country singer's raw emotion.
These songs, originally recorded from 1966 to 1970, are vintage Nelson. More than 40 years on, Raphael has given us some gems and reinvented the way the man sounds best — naked. From Kris Kristofferson's classic "Sunday Morning Coming Down" to the anti-war anthem "Jimmy's Road," this 17-song collection is an important addition to Nelson's songbook.