Also available in a 3-pack with ALWAYS ON MY MIND and RED HEADED STRANGER.
This is a Hyper CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser.
Personnel: Willie Nelson (vocals, guitar); Jody Payne (guitar); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Bee Spears (bass); Paul English, Rex Ludwig (drums).
Recorded at January Sound Studio, Dallas, Texas in 1975. Originally releases as Columbia (34695). Includes liner notes by John Morthland.
This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser.
Personnel: Willie Nelson (vocals, guitar); Jody Payne (guitar); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Rex Ludwig, Paul English (drums).
Audio Mixer: David Swope.
Liner Note Author: John Morthland.
Recording information: January Sound Studio, Dallas, TX (1975).
Photographer: Marsha Reed.
Arranger: Willie Nelson.
To Lefty From Willie is an affectionate and thoroughly enjoyable salute to Lefty Frizzell, featuring stellar versions of a number of Lefty's best-known songs -- including "Always Late (With Your Kisses)," "She's Gone, Gone, Gone," "I Never Go Around Mirrors," and "That's the Way Love Goes" -- plus revealing takes on a number of obscurities from the influential vocalist's catalog. Nelson is respectful without being overly reverential, giving his own spin to each song without abandoning their honky tonk roots. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
In 1950, Lefty Frizzell exploded onto the honky-tonk scene with the double-sided hit "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time"/"I Love You a Thousand Ways." For the next two years, he and Hank Williams were country's biggest stars. Then business troubles and the arrival of rock & roll conspired to bring down Lefty's career, and he had only sporadic hits between 1953 and his death in 1974. His influence, particularly on Merle Haggard, was immense.
Nelson, like Frizzell a freewheeling Texan with a gift for elegance that many mistake for simplicity, was likewise smitten. On this album, Nelson and Family give their laid-back, soulful treatment to ten of Frizzell's honky-tonk classics, mining not only the gold of Frizzell's early career but the later, overlooked periods as well. Throughout, pianist Bobbie Nelson and harmonica player Mickey Raphael provide stellar support, and Willie sings passionately and well. Oddly, "If You've Got the Money," which later appeared on Willie's GREATEST HITS...AND SOME THAT WILL BE, is not included here.
The remastered and expanded edition of To Lefty From Willie, truly one of Willie Nelson's classic recordings, is worth the cash for a number of reasons. The first is that it features as its lone bonus track an absolutely killer rendition of "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" from a different recording session. It's live in the studio and blows away the version of Willie and Family Live. Another is that the sound brings a warmth to this set that was missing from the shrill transfer of the set when it first appeared on CD. Finally, and most importantly, this remaster presents yet another opportunity for fans and those who may be discovering Nelson for the first time to become acquainted with two of the most kindred spirits in the history of country music. Nelson and Lefty Frizzell were made for each other. Frizzell composed songs that were meant to be sung. Their meanings came out in the grain of the singer's voice, and this was certainly true on his own recordings. Nelson, who arguably has the most recognizable male voice in the history of the music with the possible exception of George Jones, turns Frizzell's words into emotions before sending them out into a microphone. These narratives, broken love songs, memories, and ruminations on the blessings and hardships of life are living entities in Nelson's interpretations. "Mom and Dad's Waltz" has no false sentimentality. "I Love You a Thousand Ways" is a declaration without boasting. "Always Late With Your Kisses" is sung with a kind of stunned resignation and heartbroken longing that is taking place in the present in the protagonist's very being. "I Never Go Around Mirrors" is one of the most soothing honky tonk songs ever recorded -- especially when the subject matter is so wrenching. Nelson takes the edge off, but as a result the song becomes even sadder. The acceptance in "That's the Way Love Goes" is one where the reward for patience is still one that can be squandered with a false move and one in which that false move can never be known. The way Nelson turns the chorus in on itself and makes it a statement of undying love irregardless of the circumstances or whatever comes next underlines the uniqueness of Frizzell's lyric. The album proper ended with Nelson performing a song by Jimmy Buffett and Jerry Jeff Walker. The reason is not clear, but it feels like Frizzell might have written it, and Nelson delivers it in the same phrasing he uses for all of the Frizzell tunes. To Lefty From Willie is known as the great lost Nelson record, and though it did get to number two, it remains one of his least well-known outings but is certainly one of the best. ~ Thom Jurek minimize