Willie Nelson Backtracks CD

Willie Nelson's early recordings for the RCA label have often been lambasted by critics, not because of Nelson himself, but because of the Nashville sound production sweetening that many believe was done contrary to the Red Headed Stranger's intentions. BACKTRACKS presents music from this era in an odds `n' sods fashion, delivering material from a variety of sources, including several sparsely-produced, previously unreleased songwriting demo versions of the aforementioned RCA tracks, a few of which feature other vocalists performing Nelson compositions. Though Willie had yet to fully develop his highly idiosyncratic vocal and guitar style when these recordings were made, the collection is an interesting window into Nelson's early creative process and the music that he later refined for his later, more successful, outlaw phase.

Willie Nelson, an American country singer-songwriter, played a vital roll in post-rock, country music. Not only did he leave a legacy of classic songs sung by himself, he also wrote music for some of countries other biggest names at the time. These songs include "Pretty Paper"-Roy Orbison, "Nite Life"-Ray Price, and most famously "Crazy" for Patsy Cline. Nelson reached his greatest fame during the so called "outlaw country" movement of the 1970's. With the release of his abum "Red Headed Stranger" (1975) he was made in to a star in both country and pop circles. From this album he achieved his first Number one hit, with "Blues eyes crying in the rain" (written by Fred Rose in 1945). He then also achieved country music's first platinum album on a collaboration with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser- An album called "Wanted! The Outlaws" Nelson continued to top the chart in the late 70's with hits such as "Remember Me" , Good hearted Woman (A duet with Jennings) and "If you've got the money I've got the time). In 1978 Nelson released a further two albums, ("Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" and "Stardust") both going platinum, despite many observers claiming that "Stardust" would be the end of his career. It definitely didn't! Nelson is still going strong and released his most recent album in January 2008- a living legend for all country music fans across the world.

Includes liner notes by Stephen Thomas Erlewine.