Comments on: Album Review: Willie Nelson – Naked Willie

By: Win a Copy of “Naked Willie” « Country Music Central

Win a Copy of “Naked Willie” « Country Music Central — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:43:21 +0000

[...] The 9513 - Album Review: Naked Willie [...]

By: stewman

stewman — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:57:48 +0000

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.

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:10:03 +0000

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

By: Brady Vercher

Brady Vercher — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:45:48 +0000

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.

By: stewman

stewman — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:34:30 +0000

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?

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:13:55 +0000

“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.

By: stewman

stewman — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:38:28 +0000

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.

By: mikeky

mikeky — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:26:09 +0000

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.

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:37:44 +0000

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.

By: Brady Vercher

Brady Vercher — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:04:21 +0000

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?