''The Willie Way'' is the 15th studio album by

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

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 ...

. This was also the last album of new material released by RCA Records before Nelson's departure for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

and move to

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Texas.

Background

''The Willie Way'' capped off Nelson's underwhelming seven-year tenure at RCA Records. He never attained the same success as a recording artist that he had as a songwriter, and became more frustrated with not being allowed to use his own band on his recording sessions. Producer

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

adhered to the

Nashville Sound The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruses", "sophist ...

with Nelson, smothering his songs with violins and syrupy background vocalists in an attempt to break him as a national star, but the efforts proved fruitless. By the early seventies the apathy seemed to cut both ways, with author Michael Streissguth noting that ''The Willie Way'' “arrived in stores packaged in the most unimaginative album sleeve ever to come out of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

.” The album includes his first cover of

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

’s “

Help Me Make It Through the Night "Help Me Make It Through The Night" is a country music ballad written and composed by Kris Kristofferson and released on his 1970 album '' Kristofferson''. It was covered later in 1970 by Sammi Smith, on the album ''Help Me Make It Through the ...

,” which Nelson would recut for ''

Sings Kristofferson ''Sings Kristofferson'' is the 23rd studio album recorded by Willie Nelson in 1979 consisting of all covers of Kris Kristofferson songs. It reached #5 on the US Country albums chart, #42 on the US Pop albums charts, and was certified gold in Canada ...

'' in 1979. An overdubbed version of "You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago” would be included as a bonus track on the 20th Anniversary edition of ''

Wanted! The Outlaws ''Wanted! The Outlaws'' is a compilation album by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser, released by RCA Records in 1976. The album consists of previously released material with four new songs. Released to capitalize on ...

Reception

At the time of the album's release ''Rolling Stone''’s Chet Flippo wrote that Nelson “sang with a freshness drawn from his own blues-tinged country style.” Jim Worbois of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

states, “’You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago’ is worth the price of this record alone. Also, Willie's version of ‘Undo the Right’ is easily as good as Johnny Bush's 1968 hit."

Release History

Like most of Willie's RCA albums, this was never issued on any tape format. "The Willie Way" finally saw release on compact disc from Wounded Bird Records in September 2011, as part of a "twofer" with 1966's "

Country Music Concert Country Music Concert is a 1966 live album by country singer Willie Nelson. Recording The album was recorded live at Panther Hall in Fort Worth over two nights in July 1966 with Nelson backed by Johnny Bush on drums and Wade Ray on bass, although ...

". In 2017, reissue label Friday Music remastered and reissued this album, making the album available on vinyl for the first time in 45 years.

Track listing

All tracks composed by

, except where indicated. #"You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago" 2:41 #"Wonderful Future" 2:39 #"

" (

) 3:00 #"Wake Me When It's Over" 3:46 #"Undo the Right" (Nelson,

Hank Cochran Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran (August 2, 1935 – July 15, 2010) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy ...

) 2:21 #"

Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew, is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman. A revised formula was created by Bill Brid ...

" (

Bascom Lamar Lunsford Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a Folklore studies, folklorist, performer of Appalachian music, traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel ...

, Scotty Wiseman) 2:09 #"Home Is Where You're Happy" 3:03 #"A Moment Isn't Very Long" 3:07 #"What Do You Want Me to Do?" 2:31 #"I'd Rather You Didn't Love Me" 2:40

Personnel

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 ...

*Al Pachucki, Les Ladd - recording engineers *Roy Shockley, Mike Shockley - recording technicians *Jimmy Moore - cover photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willie Way 1972 albums Willie Nelson albums Albums produced by Felton Jarvis RCA Records albums