Stardust (Willie Nelson Album)

''Stardust'' is the 22nd studio album by Willie Nelson, released in April 1978. Its ten songs consist entirely of pop standards that Nelson picked from among his favorites. Nelson asked Booker T. Jones, who was his neighbor in Malibu at the time, to arrange a version of " Moonlight in Vermont". Impressed with Jones's work, Nelson asked him to produce the entire album. Nelson's decision to record such well-known tracks was controversial among Columbia executives because he had distinguished himself in the outlaw country genre. Recording of the album took only ten days.

''Stardust'' was met with high sales and near-universal positive reviews. It peaked at number 1 in ''Billboard''s Top Country Albums and number 30 in the ''Billboard'' 200. Meanwhile, it charted at number 1 in Canadian ''RPM''s Country Albums and number 28 in ''RPM''s Top Albums. The singles " Blue Skies" and " All of Me" peaked respectively at numbers 1 and 3 in ''Billboard''s Hot Country Singles.

In 1979, Nelson won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for the song "Georgia on My Mind". Stardust was on the ''Billboard''s Country Album charts for ten years—from its release until 1988. The album also reached number 1 in New Zealand and number 5 in Australia in 1980. In 2012, the album was ranked number 260 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was originally certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1978. In 1984, when it was certified triple platinum, Nelson was the highest-grossing concert act in the United States. By 1988, the album was certified quintuple platinum, and it was later inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame class of 2015.

Background and recording

After the critical and commercial success of 1975's ''Red Headed Stranger'', Nelson became one of the most recognized artists in country music. He replicated this success in 1976, releasing ''Wanted! The Outlaws'' (featuring Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser), which became the genre's first certified platinum album. His 1977 release ''To Lefty from Willie'' peaked at number 3 on ''Billboard's'' Top Country Albums.

By 1977, Nelson had decided to record a collection of American pop standards to follow. At the time, Nelson lived in Malibu, California. While he spent the summer days jogging on the beach, he reminisced about the songs that inspired him to start a career in music and of the influence Frank Sinatra had on him. In a trip to Nashville, he mentioned his plan to Columbia Records executive Rick Blackburn. Blackburn had a negative reaction to Nelson's idea, and he recommended him to focus in writing new material instead. Nelson told Blackburn that his younger audience would not know the songs, while he expected to reach older audiences that did not listen to his music at the time.

Nelson was living in the same neighborhood in Malibu as producer Booker T. Jones. After one of his morning runs, Nelson encountered Jones in the neighborhood and the two of them became acquainted. Nelson was aware of Jones's work with the M.G.'s. He later visited Jones at his home to try some of the material he had in mind for his next album. The two became friends, and Nelson asked Jones to arrange " Moonlight in Vermont" for him. Pleased by the results, he later asked Jones to produce his next album.

Nelson selected his ten favorite pop songs from his childhood, starting with " Stardust". Nelson and his sister Bobbie had sheet music for the song that he had tried to perform with his guitar, but did not like that arrangement. Jones adapted the song for Nelson, who also picked for the album "Georgia on My Mind", " Blue Skies", " All of Me", "Unchained Melody", "September Song", "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "Moonlight in Vermont", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and " Someone to Watch Over Me". Initially, Nelson expressed Jones his doubts about recording "Georgia on My Mind", as he compared his rendition to that of Ray Charles. Jones told him "Ray did it his way, and you'll do it yours". Following Jones's advice, Nelson decided to create his own version of each of the songs, with the support of Jones's arrangements.

Nelson then approached Brian Ahern to use the recording trailer parked at his home in the Hollywood Hills, Enactron Truck Studio. Ahern set up wires leading from the console of the truck to his own house, where the musicians played. The band worked on the songs that were produced using few takes in the living room, while harmonicist Mickey Raphael did his part in a tiled bathroom shower. Jones decided to keep the arrangements sparse, without the use of backup singers or additional strings. It was recorded from December 3–12, 1977.

The executives of Columbia Records were not convinced that the album would sell well, because the project was a radical departure from Nelson's earlier success with the outlaw movement. The album spanned pop, jazz and folk music styles, in addition to country. Nelson's contract with the label granted him total creative control of his works. Nelson's decision of not using a photograph of himself for cover of the recording was further criticized by Columbia, but dismissed by the singer. The cover art featured a painting of the Pleiades constellation made by Susanna Clark. The executives of Columbia then decided to release fewer copies of the album.

Release and reception

''Stardust'' was released in April 1978. The album started to sell well and Columbia reversed its decision and issued more copies of it. The release peaked at number 1 on ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums, and number 30 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Meanwhile, the songs "Blue Skies" and "All of Me" peaked at number 1 and 3 respectively on ''Billboard's'' Hot Country Songs. ''Stardust'' was certified platinum in December 1978 and it was named ''Top Country Album'' of the year for 1978. It charted at number 1 in Canadian ''RPM's'' Country Albums, while charted at number 28 in ''RPM''s Top Albums.

On its August 14 issue, ''Newsweek'' featured Nelson on the cover with the title "King of Country Music". On the number, Nelson was interviewed by Pete Axthelm. Nelson became the highest-grossing concert act in the United States. In 1979, he won a Grammy Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "Georgia on My Mind". In 1979, "September Song" peaked at number 15 in ''Billboard''s Hot Country Singles. ''Stardust'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200, and the album charted 540 weeks (ten years) on Top Country Albums. On January 19, 1991, Stardust logged its 551st and final week on the Billboard Country Album Chart. In 1980 the album ranked at number 1 in New Zealand top albums, while it ranked at number 5 in Australian top albums.

In 1984, ''Stardust'' was certified triple platinum, earning US$2.1 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Later it was also certified quadruple platinum in 1990, and quintuple platinum in 1988. It was ranked by ''Rolling Stone'' at number 260 in The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Contemporary reviews

''Stardust'' received positive reviews from most publications, both on its original release and for its various reissues. ''Rolling Stone'' welcomed the release as it considered that "For all the sleek sophistication of the material, Stardust is as down-home as the Legion dance". The reviewer continued "these tunes have become part of the folk music of exurban America. And that's the way Nelson plays them—spare and simple, with a jump band's verve and a storyteller's love of a good tale". Of Nelson's performance, the publication said: "he's displaying the tools of a journeyman musician's trade—worn smooth and polished by constant use—and when he lays them out this way, they kind of look like works of art."

''Billboard'' delivered a favorable review. The publication felt that it was an "Unusual pairing of artist and producer", while it added that it "works well". It remarked Nelson's "distinctive, soft vocal style", while it considered that "All of the material seems well suited to his easygo indicationing style as Nelson backs himself with guitar and gets help with guitar, drums, keyboards, bass and harmonica". ''Texas Monthly'' also favored the album, but noted the difference with previous Nelson recordings: "Stardust blends the stark economy of Red Headed Stranger with an underlying current of church spiritualism. More often than not it works. Though the selections are all at least twenty years old, the songs withstand the test of time. Occasionally Willie's voice seems to crack, I do miss the more familiar hard-bitten whine that accompanies his usual fare like "Whiskey River". But nonetheless this is a sterling effort".

The ''Los Angeles Times'' favored the album, for the reviewer the tracks represented "a warmly refreshing merger of earthy rural vocals and sophisticated urban songs". It called Nelson's performances "spare, sincere, soft and warm enough to invite comparisons with Crosby and Sinatra". The review concluded that the release showed that Nelson was "also at home in more conventional pop streams" and that he "knows not only how to create good music, he knows where to find it-and how to bring it out in all its sublimity". The ''Chicago Tribune'' stressed Nelson's decision to record classic tunes, as the review noted that he "directs the attention of his throng of young fans" to music "for his own (or an older generation)" . It compared his vocal performances to that of his own repertoire numbers "Night Life" and "Crazy". Meanwhile Jones's production was considered "appropriately simple, clean and respectful of both songs and singer". The ''New York Daily News'' deemed it an "interesting and enjoyably flavored album". ''The Pittsburgh Press'' mentioned Nelson's phrasing that resulted in "a pure, plainly pretty sound". On its review, the Gannett News Service

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