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Willie Nelson
Red Headed Stranger



He was Will Oldham before Will Oldham. Here’s the proof.

Willie Nelson

Shhhhh, Willie’s telling a story. The tale of a preacher man wronged by his woman and driven out of his mind. Willie reckons “he screamed like a panther in the middle of the night” and, because the simile’s so startling and Willie plays it so straight, you know that this is exactly what happened. So the preacher hunts her down, becoming half-man, half-wraith while Willie looks on and the band (Bucky Meadows, Jody Payne) tip-toe reverently by, so not-getting-in-the-way they’re barely out of bed. This makes Red Headed Stranger a great country record for people who don’t like country, but the worst Willie Nelson record for people who don’t like Willie Nelson, because ultimately it’s all about his voice: hangdog like Warren Oates’s Western anti-heroes, clipped and casually poignant like Miles Davis’s horn, the strangest instrument in popular music but an acquired taste that becomes an addiction. If, like me, you were turned off Willie Nelson by To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before, start again here. It’s unbelievably exquisite.

Danny Eccleston

Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 19/02/2008

Further Listening

Willie Nelson Shotgun Willie (Columbia)

Bruce LanghorneThe Hired Hand OST (Blast First Petite)

Bonnie ‘Prince’ BillyI See A Darkness (Domino)


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Willie Nelson

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