https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Row-Willie-Nelson-Songbook/dp/B0DGQL45MH?crid=1CARPOAPT4HLY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TkWqU1q2xombHRCcBobp5A.Teg-W31zfudAX-GEq2-VfjrO0ceBLbxAr1zce1H1XAc&dib_tag=se&keywords=029667111720&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1729260945&sprefix=029667111720%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=89cebaea8742f876ad66e6417e5a5f37&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
"…Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground…"
I've had a hard time with some CD entries in the Ace Records Singer-Songwriter Series of cover version compilations – the Paul Williams one of July 2024 for instance had a Kermit The Frog track on it amidst a whole dollop of other Biff Rose, Petula Clark and Seals & Croft schmaltz that does this great reissue label no credit at all (only the opening song "Someday Man" by The Monkees saved that release from the trash can). But I had high hopes for this Willie Nelson set because melody-wise and lyrically – the grizzled old Country Rock buzzard that is WN happens to be (IRS repayment issues aside) one of the great unsung heroes of American songwriting.
When you peruse the 24-cuts offered here which range from an astonishing 1960 45-single by R&B firehouse Little Esther, Tom Jones going naked in 201, right through Bob Dylan doing a 1983 recording eventually issued in 2021 on one of those 5CD Bootleg Volumes and all points in-between – you can kind of work out that artists looking for good tunes reach for this man more often than some other more lauded luminaries.
There is much to wail and weep over - cheatin' lyin' good-for-nuthin' dirty dogs – male and female – with a smell of cheap whiskey on their breaths and one beady eye on the highway by the barroom door. To the details…
UK released Friday, 25 October 2024 - "One In A Row: The Willie Nelson Songbook" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (doing Willie Nelson cover versions) on Ace Records CDTOP 1645 (Barcode 029667111720) is a 24-Track Remastered CD Compilation that plays out as follows (75:58 minutes):
1. Hello Walls – LITTLE ESTHER (March 1964 US 45-single on Atlantic 45-2223, B-side of "Double Crossing Blues")
2. Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground – BOB DYLAN (1983 recording done during the "Infidel" album sessions - first UK issued September 2021 on the 5CD Variant of "Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series Volume 16: 1980-1985" on Columbia/Legacy 19439865802. The Dylan version of this song issued October 1983 as a Non-LP B-side to "Union Sundown" on UK and European 45s is different. Willie Nelson's own original appeared in the movie "Honeysuckle Road" in August 1980)
3. Night Life – B.B. KING (December 1966 US 45-single on ABC Records 45-10889, A-side)
4. Me And Paul – DOUG SAHM And BAND (January 1973 US LP "Doug Sahm And Band" on Atlantic SD 7254 – features Bob Dylan on Blues Harp and Augie Meyer on Piano)
5. He's Not For You – DIONNE WARWICK (October 1976 US 45-single on Warner Brothers WBS 8280, B-side to "I Didn't Mean To Love You")
6. Sister's Coming Home – EMMYLOU HARRIS (from the "Blue Kentucky Girl" album issued April 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3318 – features Tanya Tucker on Backing Vocals)
7. Healing Hands Of Time – VIKKI CARR (from the "The Ways To Love A Man" album issued 1971 in the USA on United Artists UAS 6813)
8. Opportunity To Cry – TOM JONES (from the "Long Lost Suitcase" album issued 2015 in the UK on Virgin V 3141)
9. Family Bible – GEORGE JONES (December 1960 US 45-single on Mercury 71721, A-side)
10. Crazy – PATSY CLINE (October 1961 US 45-single on Decca 31317, A-side)
11. Man With The Blues – DEL McCOURY (from the "A Deeper Shade Of Blue" US CD album issued 1993 on Rounder 0303)
12. Funny How Time Slips Away – SPINNERS (November 1982 US 45-single on Atlantic 7-89922, A-side – Known as The Detroit Spinners in the UK, but the single was not issued there)
13. Good Hearted Woman – THE EVERLY BROTHERS (from the "Pass The Chicken And Listen" album issued 1972 in the USA on RCA Victor LSP-4781)
14. Valentine – THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH (from the "Golddiggars, Headnodders & Pholk Songs" CD album issued October 2004 in the UK on Sony Music UK 518632)
15. One In A Row – TRISH YEARWOOD (from "The Song Remembers When" CD album issued 1993 in the USA on MCA Records MCAD-10911)
16. Pretty Paper – JOHNNY TILLOTSON (Unreleased 1966 recording first issued 1995 on the US CD Compilation "The Christmas Touch" on Varese Sarabande VSD-5550)
17. Three Days – k.d. lang & The Reclines (from the "Absolute Torch And Twang" album of 1989, also issued as a US 45-single October 1989 on Sire 7-22734, A-side)
18. I Let My Mind Wander – RAY PRICE (February 1967 US 45-single on Columbia 4-44042, B-side of "Danny Boy")
19. Pretend I Never Happened – WAYLON JENNINGS (September 1972 US 45-single on RCA Victor 74-0808, A-side)
20. You Took My Happy Away – TIMI YURO (July 1966 US 45-single on Mercury 72601, B-side of "Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long")
21. Are You Sure – KACEY MUSGRAVES and WILLIE NELSON (from the Kacey Musgraves CD album "Pageant Material" US issued June 2015 on Mercury Nashville B0022816-02)
22. Somebody Pick Up My Pieces – BETTYE LaVETTE (from the CD album "The Scene Of The Crime" US issued 2007 on Anti Records 6873-2)
23. One Day At A Time – THE FLATLINERS (1972 recording first issued 198o in the UK on the LP "One More Road" on Charly CR 30189)
24. My Own Peculiar Way – PERRY COMO (March 1965 US 45-single on RCA Victor 47-8533, B-side of "Dream On Little Dreamer")
The 24-page book does the absolute business by Nelson's legacy – typically indepth and inciteful TONY ROUNCE liner notes – observations on melody and chart history that are coming from a Soul Man who admires and rightly lauds singer-songwriter chops. Every song is poured over, naming the myriad cover versions and artists who probably could not be included on this set due to licensing reasons. There is usually the original US 45-single label, or LP/CD cover art, sheet music, industry adverts (like the promo photo by Polydor for Dylan's "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground" as used in the "Honeysuckle Road" movie), tour posters and every song gets thorough research. DUNCAN COWELL – Ace's resident Audio Engineer (he did almost all the praised Blue Horizon CD reissues too) does the mastering honours – and quality assaults the senses at every angle. To the cover versions…
The compilation opens with a Bert Barns-produced debut 45-single by 50s R&B firebrand Little Esther for her restart stint with Atlantic Records in 1964 – it was tucked away on the B-side and has a dig-the-city groove. Far, far better however is Bob Dylan with an "Infidels" outtake called "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground" that made it on the B-side of some 1983 singles (UK and Europe) in a different form than the one that is used here. A moving ballad/love-song with a typically brilliant lean in the lyric, it is a small wonder that it was not used on the principal album. Whatever way you look at it - "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground" is a huge plus and one of many surprises this understated CD offers.
Along with "Crazy" and "Funny How Time Slips By", Nelson's 1959 composition "Night Life" is probably his most famous song creation – over 100 cover versions and counting (it is almost a Jazz Standard in 2024). Here we get 60ts B.B. King with His Orchestra giving it some angst-shouting Blues while a Saxophone punctuates the right speaker like a hustler in a doorway (great audio as Blues Boy does a short guitar solo). The sound modernises and fills out with the shuffling Country Rock of Doug Sahm – his 1972 take on "Me And Paul" where Harmonica is supplied by none other than Bob Dylan is a shuffle you have heard in every retro band). Time for some soft Soul from Dionne Warwick and with it searching for the truth about a cheating man foolish women return to too often (hers is not a rebuke but a warning). More duped gals need to sleep all day long in "Sister's Coming Home" – Emmylou Harris and her flying band giving it pure Country with Pedal Steel and Fiddle – the fast pace hiding the heartache in this horribly honest Willie Nelson observation. But even the mighty Emmylou is given a fantastic run for her I-will-get-over-you broken-heart money by a shockingly lovely Vikki Carr cover of "Healing Hands Of Time" on a long-forgotten 1972 US album on United Artists.
Rounce is right about the shockingly sparse gravel-voiced Tom Jones stripping back the bleak "Opportunity To Cry" – TJ using only an acoustic guitar and lonesome organ note and his cracking voice in 2015 – it adds a genuinely unexpected poignancy to the track list. We get the wholesome "Family Bible" from Country Giant and uber-Christian George Jones – a tune I admit and despise as cack at one and the same time. But all that is hammered into a defensive corner cringing for dear life by the stunning Patsy Cline classic "Crazy". Rounce announces that there are said to be over 400 versions of this early Nelson penned-winner but truly only Patsy killed it good and proper. Bluegrass warbler Del McCoury gets all Coen Brothers on "Man With The Blues" sounding not unlike an eager-to-earn hustler with a Banjo and a Yodel-voice at a racecourse working punters like closing time is near.
Clever choice is the Brass and Strings Spinners slink of "Funny How Time Slips Away" – a very smooth slice of Soft Soul from 1982 on Atlantic Records. A co-write with Waylon Jennings, Nelson's "Good Hearted Woman" is given a Flying Burrito Bros treatment by The Everly Brothers – another tale of tears and laughter – staying the distance despite promises that will never be kept. But again – another stunner – Paul Heaton and The Beautiful South slaying the gorgeous "Valentine" – such a pretty and moving rendition. While Canadian icon k.d. lang (with her Reclines) paints her fabulous vocal honey all over a bopping "Three Days" – a yesterday, today and tomorrow misery gem from the "Absolute Torch And Twang" album of 1989. Trisha Yearwood too – a beautiful Judds-like delivery on the title track "One In A Row". And on it goes – more discoveries – more surprises…
I would admit that I don't need nor love Johnny Tillotson giving it oohs-and-aahs on the yucky Festive "Pretty Paper" – but the hits far outweigh the misses. "One In A Row: The Willie Nelson Songbook" by VARIOUS ARTIST is a winner. Investigate and once again, congrats to the nerds over at Ace Records…
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