Maps of Music

Yesterday's Wine (1971)

Where the lyrics of Yesterday's Wine take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded in just two days, this concept album about one man's life from birth to death never reached the charts.

Key places

Nashville sessions at RCA Studio B (1971)

Recording site RCA Studio B — The new concept songs were recorded at the RCA studios in Nashville in just two days. The sessions began on May 3, 1971 and finished on May 4. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Yesterday's Wine: thirteenth studio album and concept album by country singer Willie Nelson
• Considered one of country music's first concept albums
• Tells the story of the 'Imperfect Man' from the moment of birth to the day of his death
• Released August 1971 by RCA Records

Background

• Nelson had recorded for RCA Victor since the early 1960s without significant hit records
• His song-writing royalties went into concert tours that were generally unsuccessful and unprofitable
• He divorced his wife Shirley Collie in 1970
• His Tennessee ranch was destroyed by fire in December 1970
• He moved to a ranch near Bandera, Texas, and married Connie Koepke
• Producer Felton Jarvis contacted him about the next album, but by April 1971 he had written no material
• Inspired by readings including the Bible, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet and the works of Edgar Cayce, he decided to write new songs

Recording

• Wrote nine songs on May 1 and 2, 1971, combining new songs with older material such as 'Family Bible'
• Recorded in four sessions: two on May 3 and two on May 4
• Backed by David Zettner and studio session players
• The concept songs were recorded at the RCA studios in Nashville in just two days

Cover

• Cover art designed by Hartsel Gray

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

• RCA's marketing department did not know how to promote the album
• RCA initially pressed 10,000 copies
• Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B+, observing that Nelson found a concept to match his singing
• Nathan Bush of The New York Times called it the last and best of Nelson's Nashville albums and Nashville's first fully conceived concept album
• Rolling Stone called it the first of Nelson's bold, conceptual departures from country's hits-plus-filler norm
• The Dayton Daily News gave it an A
• The Fort Worth Star-Telegram welcomed it as the usual heady stuff from this unique song stylist

Reappraisal

• AllMusic gave the album five stars out of five
• Bush compared it to Red Headed Stranger, saying its story is less tightly constructed but gives it a feeling of malleability
• Robert Oermann and Douglas B. Green in The Listener's Guide to Country Music said few songs are well-known Nelson compositions, but all are minor masterpieces
• Author Michael Streissguth felt the album lacked a clear thread, despite Nelson's claim to the contrary

Records

• Failed to chart and did not satisfy RCA's expectations
• Single 'Yesterday's Wine' peaked at number 62 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles
• Reissued on CD in 1997 by Justice Records and in 2003 by RCA/BMG Heritage
• In 2017 RCA Victor reissued it on LP and digital download

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

Trivia

• The concept songs were written in May 1971 and recorded at the RCA studios in Nashville in just two days.
• 'Family Bible' was an older tune that Nelson sold for fifty dollars when he was a struggling songwriter.
• 'December Day' had been recorded earlier for Nelson's 1969 LP Good Times.
• After the album failed, Nelson took a break from music and returned in 1972 after moving to Austin, Texas.
• In 2010, Sony reissued the album in a triple disc boxed set with Red Headed Stranger and Stardust.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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