Maps of Music

In the Jailhouse Now (1982)

Where the lyrics of In the Jailhouse Now take you, and where it was really made.

A duet album by Willie Nelson and Webb Pierce that reworks old honky-tonk songs, and one critic said some of the remakes sound tougher than the originals.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1982)

Recording site Pedernales Recording Studio — The album page lists Pedernales Recording Studio in Spicewood as the place where the album was recorded. The source gives no recording date for the sessions. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• In the Jailhouse Now is an album by Willie Nelson and Webb Pierce
• Released in 1982 on the Columbia label
• Ten tracks in total, five on each side
• Side A opens with There Stands the Glass and closes with Heebie Jeebie Blues No. 2
• Side B opens with Slowly and closes with More and More
• Track lengths run from about two minutes to nearly three and a half minutes
• Combined running time of all ten tracks is about 25 minutes 19 seconds
• The record is built around covers of older country and honky-tonk songs

Background

• The album pairs two country singers, Willie Nelson and Webb Pierce, on one release
• Webb Pierce is credited as a co-writer on several tracks, including Slowly, I Don't Care, and More and More
• The title track In the Jailhouse Now was written by Jimmie Rodgers
• Cindy Walker is credited as co-writer of I Don't Care
• Merle Kilgore is credited as co-writer of More and More
• Richard Manuel is listed as a contributor to the album
• Several tracks carry co-writing credits shared with other songwriters, so the record is mainly a collection of songs written by others

Recording

• The recording location is listed as Pedernales Recording Studio in Spicewood
• The source gives no separate recording date for the sessions

Sources: en.wikipedia.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

Reappraisal

• Robert Christgau noted that some of these remakes sound tougher and more vibrant than the originals
• Christgau added that the originals are honky-tonk standards for a reason, which frames the record as a tribute to songs that already had a strong reputation
• AllMusic gave the album four-and-a-half stars, a high rating for a record made of covers
• Critic Eugene Chadbourne praised the combination of the two different vocal styles
• Chadbourne wrote that emotion is where the two singers really come together
• He said both singers mean every word they sing and deliver the lyrics with a sentimental and meaningful spirit
• Chadbourne placed that spirit at the essence of great country and western music, so his praise centers on feeling rather than arrangement
• Taken together, the reviews focus on how the remakes were sung, with the emotional delivery of the two voices as the main point of praise

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Richard Manuel is listed as a contributor to this album
• Jimmie Rodgers is credited as the writer of the title track In the Jailhouse Now
• Recording took place at Pedernales Recording Studio in Spicewood, as listed on the album page
• Critic Robert Christgau said the originals are honky-tonk standards for a reason
• Most of the ten tracks carry credits to songwriters other than the performers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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