Album Review: Willie Nelson – Naked Willie
Being among the oldest contributors to this blog (born in 52), I am one of the few who remembers hearing Willie Nelson’s recordings on the radio during the period he recorded for RCA (1965-70). Even though he had no major hits while on RCA, Willie was greatly respected as a songwriter and personality. While he may not have received much airplay elsewhere, on WCMS-AM in Norfolk, VA, disc jockeys Russ Cassidy, “Hopalong” Joe Hoppel and “Carolina” Charlie Wiggs gave all of his records plenty of spins.
Readers to this blog know that I am a traditionalist in my country music tastes, but one who also has a taste for classic pop standards and jazz. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I liked Willie’s output while with RCA. During these years, Willie was at his absolute vocal peak (before time and 40 years of marijuana use had reduced his range). He was also, at this time, at his peak as a songwriter. RCA honcho Chet Atkins allowed Willie the freedom to record his own songs and hired the best country musicians to play his sessions (Bob Moore, Jerry Reed, Grady Martin, Jimmy Day, etc.).
The problem is that after making these brilliant country recordings, Atkins applied symphonic strings and the Anita Kerr singers on top of the mix before issuing the records. While I have no objections to the so-called “Nashville Sound” production when applied to Jim Reeves or many other singers, on Willie Nelson it was much like getting dressed in a tuxedo and tails and topping the outfit off by wearing a beanie with a propeller.
Despite the syrup poured over Willie’s recordings, I recognized the hidden gems that Atkins had recorded with Willie and hoped that someday Willie would revisit some of the songs with a more sympathetic backing.
Fortunately, Willie’s long-time harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, felt the same way about these recordings and secured Willie’s blessing to take seventeen of the RCA classics and “unproduce” them, stripping away the layers of strings and background singers, then remixing the band and Willie’s vocals to bring them front and center.
While the changes aren’t always overly dramatic (these were not the primitive recordings that Willie later made for Atlantic, but instead polished professional recordings) and in some cases the effect is subtle, the net effect is to give you what Willie had in mind when recording the songs. Naked Willie (which comes with a booklet featuring amusing photographs of Willie lounging naked in a bathtub–covered with soap bubbles, of course) is a gem forty years in the unmaking.
14 of the 17 songs on this collection were either written or co-written by Willie, the exceptions being “Bring Me Sunshine” (a jazzy number written by Sylvia and Arthur Kent), “Sunday Morning Coming Down ” (Kris Kristofferson) and “Johnny One Time” (Doodle Owens and Dallas Frazier).
All three of the “non-Willie” songs benefit by stripping away the gloss. “Bring Me Sunshine” and “Johnny One Time” were both released as singles in 1968 without any appreciable success. Minus the overdubs, the former is crisper and jazzier, and the latter is far more dramatic. Released as heard here, both might have been bigger hits.
Of the “Willie” songs, “What Can You Do to Me Now?,” “Jimmy’s Road” and “Laying My Burdens Down” benefit the most, allowing the rich nuances of Willies’ vocals to shine through unadorned. But all of the songs benefit, to at least some extent, by Raphael’s “unproduction.”
Willie recorded 11 albums while with RCA so there’s plenty more where this came from. In fact, other than the album cut with Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours, all of Willie’s RCA studio recordings would benefit from a similar treatment. Here’s hoping we get to hear Naked II and Naked III somewhere down the line.
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April 2, 2009
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March 23, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I think the perfect photo for this album would have been Willie soaking in a tub filled with Bio-Willie fuel! OOps, I forgot that Willie is rarely far from a lit doobie, so I could see the potential problem…
I’ll admit to being an extreme heretic in these parts (among many other colorful epithets I’m sure) as I’ve never cared for Willie’s singing voice, although I’ve always thought he was a great songwriter. I’ve never purchased any of Willie’s albums (no, not even “Red Headed Stranger”) as I have no desire to hear his voice for any extended period. I recently won a copy of “Willie and The Wheel” and I like everything about the album except for Willie’s vocals on some tracks that put me off a bit. Like Emmylou Harris, I think Willie makes a great duet partner though. I absolutely love Asleep At The Wheel’s two Bob Wills tribute CDs and consider them far superior to “Willie and The Wheel”. Guess I’d just much rather ride with Bob than Willie! So no Willie for me whether “Naked” or fully clothed for that matter…..
March 23, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I know Willie Nelson is like legendary and a good writer n all, but I always thought he was a really bad vocalist
March 23, 2009 at 7:53 pm
You people blow my mind!
I think Willie sounds best in a sparse environment like this and I’m glad these songs were released “naked.” “Jimmy’s Road” is pretty much great.
March 23, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Interesting album – I may be in the minority in that I love his contemporary vocals, but don’t much care for the style he employs during the period documented here. Of the two Willie Nelson records that I’ve purchased this year, I anticipate I’ll be spending a lot more time with the wonderful Willie and the Wheel. This is still a fascinating release though, and I like quite a few of the tracks.
March 23, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I used to not like Willie’s voice too much, but Ive really grown to love it. It may not technically be the best, but he really is a great interpreter of a song. I’m so used to his voice now that I can hardly recall what my problem was in the first place. This is a good album.
March 23, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Rick, there is a picture of Willie in a tub inside the album notes.
March 23, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Willie’s a Texas…no a National, treasure. Bless Mickey Raphael for stewarding this project.
March 23, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Between this album and Willie and the Wheel, it’s shaping up to be a pretty good year for Willie and his fans.
March 24, 2009 at 2:32 pm
This record is awesome. I love that Mickey captured the funky, uptown R&B country feel of those pre-Red Headed Stranger albums. Phenomenal record, definitely deserves the 5 stars.
March 24, 2009 at 6:35 pm
This website is getting more predictable than Rolling Stone. I can ,before clicking on the review, know exactly what the # of stars will be. Willie is an all timer, but he’s 77 and some of last few records have been not up to par to his classics. So what do those deserve 7 stars? I think there needs to be some context. Too many 5 star reviews on this site
March 24, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Stewman,
Have you heard this record?
Also, I reviewed Willie’s other 5 star record this year “Willie and the Wheel” and tried to be very clear exactly why I thought the record was 5 stars and specifically pointed out that it does measure up to his classics.
Also, if you’ve read the review of his record you know that this record features songs and vocal recordings from Willie in his prime, so I don’t see how him being 77 figures into things.
Furthermore, I reviewed the Kenny Chesney produced “Moment of Forever” for this site last year and only gave it 2 and a half stars, precisely because it was sub-par.
You’re welcome to your opinion, but if you could tell us
A. Willie Nelson records we’ve given 5 stars to – that you’ve heard- that you feel don’t deserve them and why.
B. Other records we’ve given 5 stars to – that you’ve heard- that you feel don’t deserve them and why.
you would show that your opinion is an informed, thought out, and worthwhile one.
March 24, 2009 at 7:04 pm
While there has been a few more five-star reviews than usual lately, stewman, Paul provided plenty of context for this record. First off, this isn’t a typical project and secondly, Willie didn’t record these songs at the age of 77 (however, that would have been quite the accomplishment considering he’s only 75). Furthermore, this is Paul’s first official review for the site and the ratings will be applied differently by different reviewers.
Willie did garner a five-star review for his project with Asleep at the Wheel, but a different writer wrote that review and it was a pretty special project. Perhaps you can guess how many stars Moment of Forever received before clicking on the link?
March 24, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I really enjoyed this album, too. I love the sound of Willie’s voice, and his unique phrasing. I agree, I hope there are Willie II and III down the road.
Stewman, Willie’s 75; turns 76 next month.
March 25, 2009 at 9:26 am
willie nelson’s voice is comforting. say what you will about his tone, timbre, phrasing, etc. it still sounds comforting to me. to paraphrase emmylou harris, if america had an actual voice, it would be willie nelson’s.
i think ‘naked willie’ is a knockout record. mickey raphael did a great job in unproducing it. :) so does it get 5 stars? oh, yeah. it’s stellar work all around.
by the way, willie’s new studio record (a jazz cd) will be out in august on blue note records. it’s called ‘the nearness of you’ and it’s with various jazz artists (joe sample being one of them). i think norah jones duets on a track, also.
March 25, 2009 at 11:38 am
Im definitely not getting on Paul. This is a great site and serves a tremendous purpose in the Country (and other great genres) world. Keep up the great work and maybe I came across too harsh. I was not a huge fan of the Asleep at the Wheel record, and was just getting a little unsure of what 5 stars was starting to mean, as its probably the 5th or 6th review ive seen recently.
I think all of us look back at our Top 20 all time favorite albums and say “those are 5 star” while other ones have some flaws or one-or-two filler/skip over tracks deserve 4 or 4 1/2. That’s my only concern. This site is a true voice and I want to keep it that way.
March 25, 2009 at 12:13 pm
“This site is a true voice and I want to keep it that way.”
I’m doubtful that giving a quality Willie album five stars in any way threatens the integrity of a country music blog.
March 25, 2009 at 12:34 pm
True. But too many 5 star reviews may make questions what is truly 5 stars. Willie is obviously a known commodity, but its the less known artists that the reviews can really help.
The NY Times probably gives 2 4-star ratings a year to local restaurants. Granted this is all personal preference but it does make for interesting debate.
Does this mean Dailey and Vincent’s new record is equivalent to Honky Tonk Heroes?
March 25, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Stewman, I agree that 5-star ratings should be reserved for special albums, but I think they only need to achieve a certain level of excellence to be deserving. Even then, trying to create a hierarchy based on rating isn’t going to work very well, especially with multiple authors. I believe we only handed out 2 last year and 4 so far this year.
March 25, 2009 at 11:10 pm
I have many (although not all) of Willie’s albums and he can be terribly inconsistent, although several recent albums have been quite good. I didn’t write a review of the Willie – Wynton Marsalis album but if I did I would have given it four stars as there were a few tracks that didn’t come off that well. I’ve heard the John Rich-produced album and I thought the 2.5 stars given elsewhere on this site was generous. If I had written a review of WILLIE AND THE WHEEL, I would have given it five stars as well (but then I love Asleep At The Wheel, whom I went to see last week). On the other hand, the last Willie (solo) album I would have given five stars to before this would have been ME AND THE DRUMMER, issued way back in 2000
Getting back to NAKED WILLIE, this isn’t your usual album project – in many ways it is a “Best of Willie – Revisited” of the RCA years, with Mickey Raphael picking out his favorite tracks from the period. Had I been compiling this collection,I would have picked 16 of the songs Mickey did, dropping “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and replacing it with “Good Times” – that’s how impressed I was with Mickey Raphael’s song selections
March 26, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I think I made this reference because of Rolling Stone. They STILL give 5 star reviews to U2, Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, etc..It’s almost laughable. while some of the albums are solid (IE Magic by Springsteen would have probably gotten 3 1/2 from me) none of them are close to 5 stars. The only album by an “aging” artist in the past 10-15 years that I would have given 5 stars,in a Rolling Stone environment, would have been Dylan’s Time Out of Mind.
I do think it makes a reader slightly skeptical. That was my only real concern.
That being said, whoever reviewed the Lost Trailers album should definitely be writing comedy because it was one of the funniest pieces of text ive read in many a moon.