''Somewhere Over the Rainbow'' is the 26th studio album by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

, released in 1981. It features 1940s

pop standard Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

s arranged by Nelson. The album's acoustic jazz instrumentation was also meant to play tribute to one of his heroes, Belgian gipsy jazz guitar virtuoso

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

, who influenced Nelson's playing.

Track listing

Side one

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...

" (

Jay Livingston Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison, March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a song-writing duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote music and Evans t ...

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and song-writing duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films. Evans wrote the lyrics and Living ...

) (2:28) #" Exactly Like You" (

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On th ...

Jimmy McHugh James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, J ...

) (2:22) #" Who's Sorry Now?" (

Bert Kalmar Bert Kalmar (February 10, 1884 – September 18, 1947) was an American songwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also a screenwriter. Biography Kalmar, a native of New York City, left school at an early age ...

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American actor, pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Ted Snyder Theodore Frank Snyder (August 15, 1881 in Freeport, Illinois – July 16, 1965 in Woodland Hills, California), was an American composer, lyricist, and music publisher. His hits include "The Sheik of Araby" (1921) and " Who's Sorry Now?" (1923). ...

) (2:58) #"

I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) "(I'm) Confessin' (that I Love You)" (also known as "Confessin'", "I'm Confessin'" and "Confessin' that I Love You") is a jazz and popular standard that has been recorded many times. Background The song was first produced with different lyric ...

" (

Al Neiburg Allen J. Neiburg (November 22, 1902—July 12, 1978) was an American lyricist. He was born on 22 November 1902 in St. Albans, Vermont and received his education at Boston University. He is known for writing lyrics for such songs as "I'm Confessi ...

Doc Daugherty Harold Ray "Doc" Daugherty (October 12, 1927 – August 15, 2015) was an American professional baseball player and manager, and high school football head coach. A shortstop in minor league baseball, he made one appearance as a pinch hitter i ...

, Ellis Reynolds) (3:30) #"Won't You Ride in My Little Red Wagon" (

Rex Griffin Alsie "Rex" Griffin ( – ) was an American country musician and songwriter. Biography Early years Griffin was born in Gadsden, Alabama as the second of seven children to Marion and Selma Griffin. He grew up on a farm and received little schoo ...

) (2:28)

Side two

#" Over the Rainbow" (

E.Y. Harburg Edgar Yipsel Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg; April 8, 1896 – March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" ( ...

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

) (3:33) #"In My Mother's Eyes" (Willie Nelson) (3:06) #"

I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" is a 1935 popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Joe Young. It has been recorded many times, and has become a standard of the Great American Songbook. It was popularized by Fa ...

" (

Fred E. Ahlert Frederick Emil Ahlert (September 19, 1892 – October 20, 1953) was an American composer and songwriter. Early life He received a degree from Fordham Law School, but instead of pursuing a legal career he began work as an arranger, initially ...

, Joe Young) (2:58) #"It Wouldn't Be the Same (Without You)" ( Fred Rose,

Jimmy Wakely Jimmy Wakely (February 16, 1914 – September 23, 1982) was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies ...

) (2:54) #"

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor (poet), Jane Taylor, "The Star". The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in ''Rhym ...

" (Traditional; arranged by Willie Nelson) (2:10)

Personnel

*Willie Nelson -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Freddy Powers - guitar, vocals * Paul Buskirk - tenor guitar, mandolin *

Johnny Gimble John Paul Gimble (May 30, 1926 – May 9, 2015) was an American country musician associated with Western swing. Gimble was considered one of the most important fiddlers in the genre. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 i ...

- fiddle *

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

- bass guitar * Dean Reynolds -

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

;Technical *Bert Frilot - engineer *

Norman Seeff Norman Seeff (born March 5, 1939, in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a photographer and filmmaker. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative ...

- photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1981 albums Willie Nelson albums Columbia Records albums Covers albums Traditional pop albums {{1980s-country-album-stub