"Willingly" is a duet by American

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 ...

and

Shirley Collie Shirley Collie Nelson (born Shirley Angelina Simpson, March 16, 1931 – January 27, 2010) was an American country music and rockabilly singer, yodeler, guitarist and songwriter. From 1963 to 1971, she was the second wife of country star Willie ...

, produced by

Joe Allison Joseph Marion Allison (October 3, 1924 – August 2, 2002) was an American songwriter, radio and television personality, record producer, and country music business executive. Allison won five BMI performance awards for hit singles he wrote and ...

during Nelson's third session for

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

. Released in March 1962, the album reached number ten on ''

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

Background

Leveraged by his prominence as a songwriter in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, Nelson was signed as a recording artist by

in 1961. Nelson produced two sides in his first session, and an entire album after his second one. While touring with Ray Price as a ''

Cherokee Cowboys The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

'' bassist, Nelson had attended the Nashville disc jockeys convention. Songwriters

Harlan Howard Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002) was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote many popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists. C ...

and

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 ...

visited with Nelson California DJ Biff Collie's hotel room at the

Hermitage Hotel The Hermitage Hotel, is a historic hotel located at 231 6th Avenue North in Nashville, Tennessee. Commissioned by 250 Nashville residents in 1908 and named for Andrew Jackson's estate, The Hermitage near Nashville, the hotel opened in 1910. It wa ...

. There they met Collie's wife,

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

, a fellow Liberty recording artist. During Nelson's second recording session at

Radio Recorders Radio Recorders, Inc. was an American recording studio located in Los Angeles, California. During the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Recorders was one of the largest independent recording studios in the world. Notable musicians recorded at Radio Recorder ...

, in California, Harlan Howard took Shirley Collie to the studio, where Nelson was cutting "

Mr. Record Man "Mr. Record Man" is a song written by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. After writing the song, Nelson moved to Houston, Texas, where due to his financial issues, tried to sell it to Larry Butler. Butler, who rejected to buy the song ...

". After the Collies attended a Ray Price concert at Harmony Park Ballroom, the couple socialized often with Nelson. While in California, Nelson and Collie began an affair.

Recording

Producer

held Nelson's third

recording session at Nashville's Bradley's Barn studio in November 1961. The backing was composed of fiddler and guitarist Ray Edenton, pianist Pig Robbins, drummer Buddy Harman, bassist Bob Moore. The band also featured Ray Price's steel guitarist, Jimmy Day and the Anita Kerr singers. At the persistence of Nelson, Allison added Shirley Collie to the session. Collie sang the lead on "Willingly", with Nelson blending on a high tenor to join her voice. The session also produced the duet "Our Chain of Love", that was used as the flipside of the single.

Release

On its January 1962 review, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' rated the single with four stars with "strong sales potential". The review noted the song as a "pleasant duo blend work on effective country theme with good lyrics". The single was released on March 17, 1962, reaching by May number ten on ''

'' Top country singles.

Chart performance

Footnotes

References

* * * * * {{Willie Nelson singles, state=collapsed 1962 singles Liberty Records singles Willie Nelson songs Songs written by Hank Cochran 1962 songs Song recordings produced by Joe Allison Male–female vocal duets