CD
Review
Countryman,
Willie Nelson
Release Date July 12, 2005
Reviewed by LL for the
Reggae Movement
Lost Highway Records
Buy Now at Amazon
Imagine for a second
that Reggae music did not sprout from Jamaica, but in fact emanated from
the country roots of Texas.
Willie Nelson,
an undisputed legend of country and folk music, offers us this thought
of what such a musical landscape would be like in his latest album,
Countryman.
At first glance, one
might question the validity of marrying skanky reggae with the twang of
country, and in fact this writer was initially caught off guard at the
interesting sound that came from
Countryman. However, after listening
further, the comforts of
Willie’s
music lends itself well to the offbeat feel of reggae and is indeed a
marriage long overdue.
As far apart culturally
the two genres may appear, in fact they are compatible in many ways, and
not so distant stylistically as one might initially imagine.
Toots Hibbert proved it with his
triumphant version of John Denver’s “Country Roads” and the renown
reggae group The Melodians were the first to turn the gospel/bluegrass
classic “Rivers of Babylon,” (also previously covered by
Willie)
into a full-on reggae classic. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that
reggae is sometimes referred to as Jamaica’s “country
music,” being that both forms have drawn similar lyrical content from
everyday matters and share a foundation in spiritual and gospel music.
Willie Nelson
hardly needs an introduction to any fan of music. His body of work and
his unselfish societal impact to those who are less fortunate, as well
as his smooth, soft voice and deliberate delivery lends itself well to
the idiosyncrasies of the reggae feel. More an adaptation of
the reggae feel into the folk of the heartland of the US,
Countryman is
a successful compatibility of two splendid feeling genres and styles
towards the common goal of relaxation, spirituality and calmness through the ears.
Taking a handful of his
own classics and filtering them through a reggae prism,
Countryman is
Willie’s
impassioned tribute to the upstroke sound of reggae music. His
oft-covered standard “One in a Row” receives a melodic reggae injection,
as does “You Left Me a Long Time Ago,” a vintage duet he once recorded
with Brenda Lee. There’s a delightfully skanky run through of
“Darkness on the Face of The Earth,” his rugged chestnut from the early
60’s, which also includes a bit of dub at the end.
Toots
Hibbert is featured
in their joint cover of Johnny Cash's "I'm a worried Man," and the two
pair easily, as can be seen in Toots' album "True Love."
That many of
Willie’s
brilliant tunes could be interpreted so vividly through reggae is a true
tribute to the versatility of his material.
A definite highlight of
Countryman is Willie’s cover of
Jimmy Cliff’s classic “Sitting in Limbo”. The intermingling of the
twang of country music with the soulful rhythms of reggae in such a
fashion, they meld together so well it is hard to determine the
difference between the two. As much as reggae artists have the uncanny
ability of covering tunes so well, one wonders who is covering whom
after having listened to both versions,
Willie Nelson
sparks the same questions.
The seed for this
project was laid in 1995, sprung from the mind of famed produce Don Was,
with collaboration from Chris Blackwell, founder and President of Island
Records. Trodding on through a number of speed bumps along the way,
including corporate mergers, personal commitments and more, the project
eventually received a new spark with
Lost Highway Records and their A&R VP Kim Buie.
Lost Highway Records hired producer Richard Feldman (Toots
Hibbert ,
Wailing Souls, No Doubt),
who had produced the Grammy Winning
Toots and the Maytals release “True Love,” a recording that featured
an appearance of Willie himself. With Feldman’s unique production
additions and mixing talents inspired by his lover of reggae, the decade
long project was soon realized.
Reviewed by LL, Reggae Movement
Buy Now at Amazon
**Some of this information
drawn from
Lost Highway Records press release
