Maps of Music

Laying My Burdens Down (1970)

Where the lyrics of Laying My Burdens Down take you, and where it was really made.

Willie Nelson's eleventh studio album was made under a Nashville formula he disliked, and it sold poorly despite his loyalty to the label chief.

Key places

Recorded in Nashville (1970)

Recording site Nashville — The album was recorded at RCA Victor Studios in Nashville. The source gives only a city-level location for this recording. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Laying My Burdens Down: eleventh studio album by country singer Willie Nelson
• Released in late 1970 on RCA
• Second RCA release of 1970 and fourth in two years
• Ten tracks; six are credited to Nelson alone, and four are covers credited to other writers
• Track credits include Dee Moeller, Glen Campbell and Jeannie Seely, Harlan Howard and Shirl Milete, and Stan Haas and Edger Ruger
• Recorded at RCA Victor Studios in Nashville

Background

• The formula stayed the same across Nelson's 1970 RCA releases
• Producers Chet Atkins and Felton Jarvis applied the Nashville formula to Nelson's recordings, against the singer's own judgment
• Patoski describes this album and its follow-up, Willie Nelson and Family, as a new cast of studio players, good cover songs, interesting concepts and lousy sales
• Despite weak sales, Nelson stayed loyal to RCA head Chet Atkins
• Nelson later said the two men's visions differed, yet he could not stay angry with a man who believed so deeply in his talent

Recording

• Recording credits list Al Pachucki as recording engineer
• Mike Shockley and Roy Shockley are credited as recording technicians
• Willie Nelson is credited with vocals and guitar
• Photography credits go to Jimmy Moore and New World Photography

Sources: en.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

• AllMusic: "This is what can best be described as a pleasant album...Not great, but you could do worse."
• AllMusic's reviewer Jim Worbois found some good material, but too much of it sinks under the Nashville Sound

Reappraisal

• Worbois wrote that there are some nice things on the album, but too many are buried under the Nashville Sound and cannot stand on their own
• Patoski's retrospective view names weak sales as a recurring result of this run of RCA albums

Records

• Billboard country albums chart: number 68 (Spanish Wikipedia)
• Sales were described as poor in the Patoski account; no figures are given in the source

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

Trivia

• Nelson later said that he could not stay angry with the producer who believed so deeply in his talent, even though their visions differed.
• Six songs are credited to Nelson alone, and the other four are covers written by other songwriters.
• The title track is credited to Nelson and runs 2:36.
• Patoski's summary of this album and its follow-up is the source's main critical framing of the RCA era.
• Nelson stayed with RCA and Chet Atkins despite the poor sales.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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