Maps of Music

The Border (2024)

Where the lyrics of The Border take you, and where it was really made.

Willie Nelson's 75th solo studio album is built mostly from other writers' songs: four are by Nelson and Cannon, and six come from writers such as Rodney Crowell, Shawn Camp and Mike Reid.

Key places

Recording location: East Iris, Nashville (2024)

Recording site Nashville — The album's recording location is listed as East Iris in Nashville. The point is set at city-center level, so the exact building is not marked. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Border: 75th solo studio album by Willie Nelson
• Released May 31, 2024 through Legacy Recordings
• Produced by Buddy Cannon
• Four original songs by Nelson and Cannon, plus six songs from writers such as Rodney Crowell, Shawn Camp and Mike Reid
• Lead single and title track: a cover of Crowell and Allen Shamblin's song 'The Border', from Crowell's 2019 album Texas
• Lead single released March 14, 2024

Background

• Nelson and Cannon wrote their four songs over text threads, as with most of their compositions
• Cannon found more material at a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame lunch with Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin
• Reid sent in 'Nobody Knows Me Like You'; Shamblin submitted 'The Border'
• Nelson's manager Mark Rothbaum suggested another Crowell song, 'Many a Long and Lonesome Highway'

Recording

• A recording location is listed for the album: East Iris (Nashville)
• Tony Castle handled mixing and engineering; Andrew Mendelson handled mastering
• Musicians include Mickey Raphael on harmonica and Bobby Terry on acoustic, electric and steel guitar

Cover

• Frank Harkins credited for art direction and design
• Photography of Trigger by Pamela Springsteen; Big Bend photography by Kelly VanDellan and William Silver

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

• Critics gave positive reviews; Metacritic score 79 out of 100 from six reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• Graeme Thomson at The Spectator: the material plugs smartly into Nelson's mythos, with praise for his guitar playing and communication; compared the sombre, stately mood to 1996 album Spirit
• Texas Monthly, which has reviewed all of Nelson's albums: Willie sounds in better voice and more active on Trigger than since 2018's Last Man Standing; 'Nobody Knows Me Like You' singled out as a highlight
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic: treats the album as a sequel to 2022's A Beautiful Time; Crowell contributes the weightier material; calls it a welcome coda rather than a final chapter

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Pamela Springsteen is credited with photography of Trigger, Nelson's guitar, which appears in the album credits
• The Spectator compared the record's sombre, stately mood to Nelson's 1996 album Spirit
• The title track was first released as a single on March 14, 2024, ahead of the album
• Texas Monthly singled out 'Nobody Knows Me Like You' as a highlight among the songs

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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