Maps of Music

First Rose of Spring (2020)

Where the lyrics of First Rose of Spring take you, and where it was really made.

The album was first set for release on April 24, 2020, but COVID-19 pushed it back to July 3.

Key places

Recorded at The Tracking Room (2020)

Recording site Nashville — The album was recorded at The Tracking Room in Nashville, Tennessee. The point is placed at city-center level, not at the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Pedernales Recording Studio (2020)

Recording site Pedernales Studio — The album was recorded at Pedernales Recording Studio in Spicewood, Texas. The point is placed at city-center level, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• First Rose of Spring is the 70th solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Willie Nelson
• Released July 3, 2020, by Legacy Recordings
• Produced by Buddy Cannon
• The album features eleven tracks
• Nelson and Cannon co-wrote two originals for the album
• The remaining tracks include compositions by Chris Stapleton, Toby Keith and Pete Graves
• The title track was written by Randy Houser, Allen Shamblin and Mack Vickery
• The closing track is a cover of Charles Aznavour's "Yesterday When I Was Young"

Background

• The album was originally scheduled for release on April 24, 2020
• Release was pushed back to July 3 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Recording

• Recorded at The Tracking Room in Nashville, Tennessee
• Recorded at Pedernales Recording Studio in Spicewood, Texas

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

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

• First Rose of Spring received positive reviews from music critics
• Glide Magazine's Peter J. Hoetjes praised the album's songwriting and its use of organic instruments
• Hoetjes wrote that Nelson willfully imbues the album with his own brand of bitter honesty
• Hoetjes said this gives the album an emotional resonance that most of Nelson's contemporaries give up for switchboard instrumentation and hollow lyricism
• The Independent's Elisa Bray gave the album four out of five stars
• Bray described it as the work of an artist who will never grow old
• Metacritic assigns a score of 76 out of 100 based on six reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews

Records

• Debuted at No. 5 on Billboard's Top Country Albums
• First-week tally of 12,000 album equivalent units

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was first set for April 24, 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic moved its release to July 3
• The closing track is a cover of Charles Aznavour's "Yesterday When I Was Young", credited to Aznavour and Herbert Kretzmer
• Chris Stapleton, Toby Keith and Pete Graves wrote the tracks that are not credited to Nelson and Cannon
• Nelson and Buddy Cannon co-wrote "Love Just Laughed" alongside the two originals

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact