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The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? (1991)

Where the lyrics of The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? take you, and where it was really made.

Willie Nelson recorded this album alone with his guitar to pay his tax debt, and at first it was sold only by phone order through a toll-free number that did not exist.

Key places

Recorded at Pedernales Recording Studio (1991)

Recording site Pedernales Recording Studio — MusicBrainz lists Pedernales Recording Studio as the place where this album was recorded. The point uses the coordinates given in that database entry. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? is the 39th studio album by American country and western singer Willie Nelson
• Features only Nelson and his acoustic guitar, without his band
• Released by Sony Music in 1992
• Initially distributed only by phone order in June 1991, then later sold in stores after negotiations with Sony
• Made to pay Nelson's tax debt with the IRS
• Constitutes a compilation of Nelson's hits

Background

• In 1990, the IRS seized most of Nelson's assets, claiming he owed US$16 million
• His accountants, Price Waterhouse, had not been paying his taxes for years
• Weak investments made in the early 1980s worsened his financial situation
• His lawyer, Jay Goldberg, renegotiated a settlement in which Nelson would pay US$6 million, although Nelson did not comply with the agreement
• By the time of release in 1992, Nelson's assets had been auctioned, and fans and friends bought items and returned them to him

Recording

• Nelson recorded the album with his guitar alone, without the accompaniment of his band
• A second tape of 1976 recordings, The Hungry Years, was offered to direct sales purchasers at the same time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

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

• Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+, praising Nelson's warm, emotive baritone and the deft accompaniment of his acoustic guitar
• Chicago Tribune gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling Nelson one of country music history's most literate and sensitive songwriters and singers, and saying the album presents him at his most effective
• Houston Chronicle said Nelson sounds naturally relaxed, and that with no band or string sections he distills the personal emotion in these songs to its universal essence
• Thom Owens of AllMusic wrote that the album is one of Nelson's most direct and affecting albums, featuring several of his finest vocal performances
• Owens noted that the set includes a handful of unusual tracks, several new tunes and a few of Nelson's most familiar songs

Records

• The album was first sold by phone order starting in June 1991
• After Nelson negotiated with Sony Music, the album was also distributed in stores
• The IRS collected US$3.6 million from album sales
• After a further payment of US$9 million over the next five years, Nelson's debt was satisfied

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Nelson wore a T-shirt with the nonexistent toll-free number 1-800-IRS-TAPE on Primetime Live, which was said to be the number for ordering the album.
• After 500 calls, Jon Richards, owner of Visual Technology Inc., offered to let Nelson lease or purchase the number to help album sales.
• Nelson promoted the album during a benefit concert for the restoration of the Texas State Capitol.
• The album generated US$3.6 million for the IRS, and Nelson's debt was satisfied after a payment of US$9 million over the next five years.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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