Maps of Music

Country Favorites – Willie Nelson Style (1966)

Where the lyrics of Country Favorites – Willie Nelson Style take you, and where it was really made.

Nelson's second RCA album contains no original songs at all; every track is a cover, including the Bob Wills standard 'San Antonio Rose'.

Key places

Recorded in Nashville, December 1965 (1965)

Recording site Nashville — Discogs credits RCA Victor Studios in Nashville as the recording location. The point sits at the city centre, not on the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Country Favorites – Willie Nelson Style is the fourth studio album by country singer Willie Nelson
• It is Nelson's second album for RCA, released in early 1966
• Recorded with Ernest Tubb's band, the Texas Troubadours
• Fiddler-vocalist Wade Ray and studio musicians Jimmy Wilkerson and Hargus 'Pig' Robbins also took part
• All twelve tracks are covers of songs by other writers and singers
• Nelson's album covers include songs by Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard, Leon Payne and George Jones
• Recording place credited on Discogs: RCA Victor Studios, Nashville

Background

• From 1965 to 1971, Nelson made about 150 appearances on Ernest Tubb's syndicated TV show
• On the show Nelson was the face of modern country, in contrast to Tubb's traditional honky-tonk appeal
• Nelson was a lifelong fan of Tubb
• He had already recorded one album for RCA with Chet Atkins, after moving there from Liberty
• His association with the show led to the Texas Troubadours backing him on his second RCA LP

Recording

• Recorded in mid-December 1965
• The session had a strong western swing flavour, like Nelson's second Liberty album
• The Troubadours made sense as partners because they knew Nelson's work from the TV show and tours
• Nelson later said he found Atkins's production heavy-handed
• Nelson's road band with his wife Shirley Collie had played an earlier version of 'Columbus Stockade Blues'

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Willie Hugh Nelson on April 29, 1933, in Abbott, Texas.
• Wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band, Bohemian Polka, as a guitarist at age nine.
• Attended Baylor University for two years before dropping out to pursue music.
• Moved to Nashville in 1960 and joined Ray Price's band as a bassist.

Career

• Songs such as "Crazy" (Patsy Cline), "Funny How Time Slips Away" and "Pretty Paper" became hits for other artists.
• Debut album ...And Then I Wrote was released in 1962; joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1965.
• Helped lead the outlaw country movement after moving to Austin, Texas in 1972.
• Red Headed Stranger (1975) was a critically acclaimed concept album; the single "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" became his first number one hit.
• Co-founded Farm Aid in 1985 with Neil Young and John Mellencamp.
• Acted in over 30 films, including The Electric Horseman (1979).
• Received a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance for "Ride Me Back Home" (2019).
• Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released in early 1966, the album stayed on the country charts for seventeen weeks
• It peaked at number 9 on the country chart
• The album sold well enough to keep its place on country charts for a long run
• The album was received as a collection of familiar songs, which helped Nelson's unusual vocal style reach listeners

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Lang Thompson wrote that Nelson had already learned how to handle his unconventional voice effectively
• Thompson said the songs had honest freshness and a sharp sense of rhythm that would characterize Nelson's later work
• Thompson called the album arguably Nelson's finest artistic achievement up to that point
• AllMusic later judged it a small treasure, saying Nelson's idiosyncratic vocals went over better on familiar songs
• Biographer Joe Nick Patoski wrote that the reprise of 'Columbus Stockade Blues' would have been better left off compared with the earlier Liberty versions

Records

• Peaked at number 9 on Billboard's Hot Country Albums chart
• Stayed on the country charts for seventeen weeks
• Released in early 1966 on RCA Records

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The 1970 abridged reissue was released as 'Columbus Stockade Blues' on RCA's budget Camden label (CAS-2444)
• Nelson wore a plain turtleneck and black slacks on the Ernest Tubb show, which he said suited him better than stage glitter
• He first played 'Columbus Stockade Blues' as a faster number while touring as The Offenders
• Nelson called Bob Wills his idol and chose 'San Antonio Rose' as a cover for this record

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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