''Let's Face the Music and Dance'' is the 61st studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

country singer-songwriter

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

. Nelson's second album under his contract with

Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 2 ...

, it was released on April 16, 2013. The album produced by Buddy Cannon featured a collection of standards that Nelson and his sister Bobbie played throughout their careers.

Recording

Composed of

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

standards, the set also included a new version of Nelson's original "Is the Better Part Over" from his 1989 album '' A Horse Called Music''. The album was recorded at Nelson's Pedernales studio in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, was produced by

Buddy Cannon Buddy Cannon (born April 20, 1947 in Lexington, Tennessee) is an American country music songwriter and record producer active since the 1970s best known for his work with Kenny Chesney and Willie Nelson. Career Cannon began working in Nashvill ...

and later mixed by Butch Carr at Budro Music Repair Shop in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The album focuses in his musical relation with his sister, Bobbie, as the standards were played by them during their childhood and throughout their musical career.

Release and reception

The second album by Nelson under his contract with

, it was released on April 16, 2013. ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'' rated the album with three stars out of five,

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

praised the musicality, describing Nelson and The Family's sound as "one seamless unit". ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' also rated the album with three stars out of five, and referred to Nelson's upcoming birthday, calling it "An exquisitely contemplative turn into 80". Meanwhile, ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' praised Nelson's guitar playing and described the band as a "small combo playing songs as timeless as (Nelson's) wonderfully idiosyncratic voice". '' Daily Record'' also favored his guitar playing as well as voice, also remarking Nelson's tendence to feature covers, instead of original songwriting in his recent recordings.

Popmatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

rated the album with seven stars out of ten. The review praised Nelson's coordination with the band, describing the record as "a welcome effort; it’s comfortable, graceful, and uniformly pleasant".

Track listing

Personnel

*Willie Nelson - acoustic guitar, lead vocals * Jim "Moose" Brown -

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created from rotat ...

* Paul English -

snare drums The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

gut string guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the modern steel-string a ...

* Bobbie Nelson -

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Micah Nelson -

charango The charango is a small Andes, Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua people, Quechua and Aymara people, Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments we ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Mickey Raphael Michael Siegfried Raphael (born November 7, 1951) is an American harmonica player, music producer and actor likely best known for his work with Willie Nelson, with whom he has toured as part of The Family since 1973. He has performed or record ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

* Kevin Smith -

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control Willie Nelson albums 2013 albums Sony Music albums Albums produced by Buddy Cannon Traditional pop albums