Country Music (Willie Nelson album)

2010 studio album by Willie Nelson

Country Music

Studio album by

Willie Nelson

Released| April 20, 2010
Recorded| Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre| Country, bluegrass
Length| 54:47
Label| Rounder
Producer| T Bone Burnett
Willie Nelson chronology
| American Classic
(2009)  | Country Music
(2010)  | Here We Go Again
(2011)

|
|

Country Music is the 58th studio album by country artist Willie Nelson. The album consists in a compilation of country music standards. Produced by Grammy-winning T Bone Burnett, it was released on April 20, 2010, by Rounder Records, and according to Nelson is the first traditional album he has ever recorded. It was his first release in the 2010s.

## Recording

[edit]

The album consists in a recollection of country music standards, Nelson stated that the album reflects his ideal of country music, featuring mandolins, fiddles and steel guitars and compared the album to his 1978 pop standards success Stardust.[1] Nelson and music producer T Bone Burnett had the idea to record an album together while they were playing a golf game in California. The album was recorded in Nashville, Nelson stated "We venture into all kinds of music but this is country music. No one would argue the fact that these are country songs".[2]

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
Metacritic| 78/100[3]
Review scores
Source| Rating
AllMusic| [4]
Engine 145| [6]
PopMatters| [7]
Slant Magazine| [5]

The album reached number four in Billboard's Top Country Albums, number twenty in the Billboard 200[8] and number five in Canadian Top Country Albums. It was nominated for Best Americana Album in the 2011 Grammy Awards.[9]

Billboard described the album as "front-porch, rural and rustic country music".[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic thought it lacked the "immediacy" of his recent works, and noted a displeasure in the production which "puts a layer of gauze between the listener and the singer."[4] Juli Thanki of Engine 145 gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, complimenting the musical arrangements and song choices. However, she commented that Nelson's vocal performances were inconsistent on a few of the tracks, namely "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" and "Dark as a Dungeon."[11]

Slant Magazine rated the article with four stars out of five. Critic Jonathan Keefe wrote: "the spectacular collection of songs as much as Burnett's ace production and Nelson's first-rate performances that elevates Country Music above the recent spate of country covers records and makes the album an essential addition to Nelson's rich catalogue".[5]

BBC Music acclaimed Nelson's voice and performance of traditional country covers: "It’s a long way from "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain", "On the Road Again" and "Crazy", and has none of the sparing tension of his finest works like Red Headed Stranger. But the great news is that his greatest asset – that wonderfully persuasive and uniquely distinctive voice – remains perfectly intact, and that alone is cause enough to make it an album to be cherished... Nelson delivers hardy material like traditional "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" and "I Am a Pilgrim" with such wizened assurance, it’s impossible not to feel the love".[12]

The Washington Post described Country Music as "a calm, contemplative and remarkably consistent album", praising specially the performance of "Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down": "while Nelson's voice remains front and center throughout, Burnett's fingerprints are all over 'Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down.' It's a traditional hymn that nudges Nelson out of his easy-breezy comfort zone, placing those warm, generous pipes in an eerie new context. The musicians barely touch their instruments as they creep along to the song's phantom pulse".[13]

PopMatters wrote: "One virtue shared by both Burnett, the producer, and Nelson, the performer, is an unerring trust that the song itself is up to the task. Both stand amongst American music’s most incisive students of song. That expertise reveals itself in both the selection and handling of each track on Country Music... it takes someone like T Bone Burnett to remind us that there’s no one like Willie Nelson".[7]

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Man with the Blues"| Willie Nelson| 2:21
2.| "Seaman's Blues"| Billy Talmadge, Ernest Tubb| 3:22
3.| "Dark as a Dungeon"| Merle Travis| 4:49
4.| "Gotta Walk Alone"| Weldon Allard, John Hathcock| 2:13
5.| "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down"| Traditional| 3:19
6.| "My Baby's Gone"| Hazel Houser| 5:05
7.| "Freight Train Boogie"| Jim Scott, Robert Nabor
Credited in the liner notes to Doc Watson| 2:39
8.| "Satisfied Mind"| Joe "Red" Hayes, Jack Rhodes| 3:52
9.| "You Done Me Wrong"| George Jones, Ray Price| 3:12
10.| "Pistol Packin' Mama"| Al Dexter| 2:36
11.| "Ocean of Diamonds"| Cliff Carnahan| 3:36
12.| "Drinking Champagne"| Bill Mack Smith| 3:42
13.| "I Am a Pilgrim"| Traditional| 4:52
14.| "House of Gold"| Hank Williams| 4:43
15.| "Nobody's Fault but Mine"| Traditional| 4:26
Total length:| 54:47

## Personnel

[edit]

* Willie Nelson - vocals; gut-string acoustic guitar
* Jim Lauderdale \- vocal harmonies on 1, 2, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
* Buddy Miller \- electric guitar; vocal harmonies on 5, 6, 8, 9
* Chris Sharp \- acoustic guitar; vocal harmonies on 11
* Dennis Crouch – acoustic bass
* Riley Baugus – banjo
* Ronnie McCoury \- mandolin
* Mike Compton \- mandolin on 2
* Russell Pahl - pedal steel
* Stuart Duncan \- fiddle
* Shad Cobb - fiddle on 2, 13, 15
* Mickey Raphael \- harmonica

## Chart performance

[edit]

Country Music debuted at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart and at #20 on the U.S. Billboard 200\. As of May 19, 2010, the album has sold 45,348 copies.[14]

Chart (2010)  | Peak
position

|

U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums  | 4
U.S. Billboard 200  | 20
Swedish Albums Chart  | 41

### End of year charts

[edit]

Chart (2010)  | Year-end
2010

|

US Billboard Top Country Albums | 66[15]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "CMT Insider Interview: Willie Nelson". CMT. MTV Networks. April 23, 2010. Archived from the original on April 27, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
2. ^ Evans-Price, Deborah (April 21, 2010). "Willie Nelson Delivers True 'Country Music'". The Boot. AOL Inc. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
3. ^ "Country Music". Metacritic. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
4. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (April 20, 2010). "Country Music Review". Allmusic. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
5. ^ a b Keefe, Jonathan (April 19, 2010). "Willie Nelson Country Music". Slant Magazine. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
6. ^ Engine 145 review[usurped]
7. ^ a b Child, Ben (April 23, 2010). "Willie Nelson: Country Music". PopMatters. Archived from the original on June 8, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
8. ^ Hall, Tara (July 13, 2010). "Willie Nelson pushes "Country Music" nationwide". Sound Spike. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
9. ^ "Last.fm Trends: Willie Nelson's On Grammy Road Again". Last.fm. CBS. February 3, 2011. Archived from the original on February 22, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
10. ^ Graff, Gary (April 30, 2010). "Willie Nelson, "Country Music"". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
11. ^ "Album Review: Willie Nelson – Country Music". Engine 145. May 28, 2010. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
12. ^ Irwin, Colin (April 28, 2010). "So assured is Nelson that it's impossible not to feel the love". BBC Music. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
13. ^ Richards, Chris (April 20, 2010). "Album reviews: Willie Nelson, "Country Music" and Merle Haggard, "I Am What I Am"". Click Track. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 18, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
14. ^ "Lady Antebellum Leads SoundScan Charts Again | New Country Music, Listen to Songs & Video". Roughstock.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
15. ^ "Best of 2010 - Top Country Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved December 31, 2010.

## External links

[edit]

* Willie Nelson, "Country Music" by Billboard

* v
* t
* e

Willie Nelson

* Albums
* Singles
* Songs
* Filmography
* Awards

Studio albums|

| 1960s|

* ...And Then I Wrote
* Here's Willie Nelson
* Country Willie: His Own Songs
* Country Favorites – Willie Nelson Style
* Make Way for Willie Nelson
* The Party's Over
* Texas in My Soul
* Good Times
* My Own Peculiar Way

|

1970s|

* Both Sides Now
* Laying My Burdens Down
* Willie Nelson and Family
* Yesterday's Wine
* The Words Don't Fit the Picture
* The Willie Way
* Shotgun Willie
* Phases and Stages
* Red Headed Stranger
* The Sound in Your Mind
* The Troublemaker
* To Lefty from Willie
* Waylon & Willie
* Stardust
* One for the Road
* Sings Kristofferson
* Pretty Paper
* The Electric Horseman

1980s|

* San Antonio Rose
* Honeysuckle Rose
* Family Bible
* Somewhere Over the Rainbow
* Always On My Mind
* In the Jailhouse Now
* WWII
* Pancho & Lefty
* Tougher Than Leather
* Take It to the Limit
* Without a Song
* Angel Eyes
* City of New Orleans
* Music from Songwriter
* Me & Paul
* Partners
* The Promiseland
* Island in the Sea
* Seashores of Old Mexico
* What a Wonderful World
* A Horse Called Music

1990s|

* Born for Trouble
* The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?
* Clean Shirt
* Across the Borderline
* Moonlight Becomes You
* Six Hours at Pedernales
* Healing Hands of Time
* Just One Love
* Augusta
* Spirit
* How Great Thou Art
* Teatro
* Night and Day

2000s|

* Tales Out of Luck (Me and the Drummer)
* Milk Cow Blues
* Rainbow Connection
* The Great Divide
* Nacogdoches
* It Always Will Be
* Countryman
* You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker
* Songbird
* Last of the Breed
* Moment of Forever
* Willie and the Wheel
* American Classic

2010s|

* Country Music
* Remember Me, Vol. 1
* Heroes
* Let's Face the Music and Dance
* To All the Girls...
* Band of Brothers
* December Day
* Django and Jimmie
* Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin
* For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price
* God's Problem Child
* Willie Nelson and the Boys
* Last Man Standing
* My Way
* Ride Me Back Home

2020s|

* First Rose of Spring
* That's Life
* The Willie Nelson Family
* A Beautiful Time
* I Don't Know a Thing About Love
* Bluegrass
* The Border
* Last Leaf on the Tree
* Oh What a Beautiful World

Live albums|

* Country Music Concert
* Willie Nelson Live
* Willie and Family Live
* VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
* All of Me – Live in Concert
* Willie Nelson & Friends – Stars & Guitars
* Live and in'
* Live at Billy Bob's Texas
* Outlaws and Angels
* Songs for Tsunami Relief: Austin to South Asia
* Two Men with the Blues
* Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles

Compilations|

* Columbus Stockade Blues
* Country Winners
* The Best of Willie Nelson
* Spotlight on Willie Nelson
* Country Willie
* What Can You Do to Me Now
* The Longhorn Jamboree Presents: Willie Nelson & His Friends
* Willie – Before His Time
* Face of a Fighter
* There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight
* Sweet Memories
* Always
* Willie Nelson: His Very Best
* Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)
* The Minstrel Man
* The Best of Willie Nelson
* 20 of the Best
* Collector's Series
* Half Nelson
* Love Songs
* Yours Always
* The Hungry Years
* Any Old Arms Won't Do
* Super Hits
* Super Hits, Volume 2
* Revolutions of Time...The Journey 1975/1993
* Willie Standard Time
* 16 Biggest Hits
* Good Ol' Country Singin'
* All the Songs I've Loved Before: 40 Unforgettable Songs
* Crazy: The Demo Sessions
* The Essential Willie Nelson
* Songs
* 16 Biggest Hits, Volume II
* One Hell of a Ride
* Playlist: The Very Best of Willie Nelson
* Legend: The Best of Willie Nelson
* Naked Willie
* Lost Highway

Books|

* Willie: An Autobiography
* The Facts of Life: And Other Dirty Jokes
* Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road
* It's a Long Story: My Life
* Pretty Paper

Related articles|

* Trigger
* The Family
* Farm Aid
* Fourth of July Picnic
* Willie Nelson statue
* BioWillie
* Willie's Reserve
* Willie's Place
* Willie's Roadhouse
* Luck Films
* Pedernales Country Club
* The Highwaymen
* Outlaw country
* Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award
* The Western Express
* Bobbie Nelson
* Shirley Collie Nelson
* National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
* Come and Toke It
* Wanted! The Outlaws

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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