Willie Nelson’s New Album is a Family Affair

Willie Nelson’s latest studio album, The Willie Nelson Family, has been announced and as its name implies it’s a family affair. The CD arrives November 19, 2021, on Legacy Recordings. The new album includes compositions written by Hank Williams (“I Saw the Light”), Kris Kristofferson (“Why Me”) and George Harrison (“All Things Must Pass”).

 

Musicians on The Willie Nelson Family are Willie Nelson (lead vocals, background vocals, Trigger); Bobbie Nelson (piano); Lukas Nelson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lead vocals, background vocals); Micah Nelson (drums, bass, background vocals); Paula Nelson (background vocals); Amy Nelson (background vocals); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Billy English (drums); Paul English (percussion) and Kevin Smith (bass).

 

A first single, a new recording of “Family Bible,” was released on Sept. 23, the day of the announcement. One of Nelson’s earliest compositions, the song was penned in 1957, inspired by scenes of Willie’s grandmother singing “Rock of Ages” and reading from the Bible after supper. A struggling young songwriter moving to Houston, Willie sold the song to Paul Buskirk, who enlisted singer Claude Gray to record Nelson’s original songs (including “Family Bible” and “Night Life”).

 

Gray’s single version of “Family Bible” was released in February 1960 and reached #7 on Billboard ‘s Hot Country Singles chart. The single’s success enabled Willie to move to Nashville, where he established his reputation as a songwriter. Willie recorded his own version of “Family Bible” for the first time in 1971, and the song has been a staple in his live performances.

 

Willie’s son Lukas (who fronts his own band, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real) sings lead vocals on two of the album’s tracks– “All Things Must Pass” and A.P. Carter’s “Keep It on the Sunnyside”–while sharing lead vocals with Willie on “I Saw the Light,” “I Thought About You, Lord” and “Why Me.”

 

Four of the performances on The Willie Nelson Family– “Heaven and Hell,” “Kneel at the Feet of Jesus,” “Laying My Burdens Down” and “Family Bible”–are among the last recordings Willie made with his longtime drummer and pal Paul English. 4

Paul and Willie first played together in Fort Worth in 1955; Paul became Willie’s regular drummer in 1966 and an essential member of the Family until he passed away, at age 87, on Feb. 11, 2020.

 

Willie Nelson, Bobbie Nelson, and Chris Barton have co-authored Sister, Brother, Family: An American Childhood in Music, a children’s picture book illustrated by Kyung Eun Han available in hardcover Nov. 9.

 

Nelson’s most recent album was That’s Life, a second collection of standards from the Frank Sinatra repertoire, released Feb. 26, 2021, It debuted at #1 on both Billboard ‘s Jazz Albums chart and the Traditional Jazz Albums chart.

 

The Willie Nelson Family Track Listing

  1. Heaven and Hell (Willie Nelson)
  2. Kneel at the Feet of Jesus (Willie Nelson)
  3. Laying My Burdens Down (Willie Nelson)
  4. Family Bible (Claude Gray, Paul Buskirk & Walt Breeland)
  5. In the Garden (traditional)
  6. All Things Must Pass (George Harrison)
  7. I Saw the Light (Hank Williams, Sr.)
  8. In God’s Eyes (Willie Nelson)
  9. Keep It On the Sunnyside (A.P. Carter)
  10. I Thought About You, Lord (Willie Nelson)
  11. Too Sick To Pray (Willie Nelson)
  12. Why Me (Kris Kristofferson)

For all things Willie Nelson Check out his website: https://willienelson.com/

 

CREDITS: by Best Classic Bands Staff / https://bestclassicbands.com/

Rolling Stones Share New Video For 'Living In The Heart Of Love'

The Rolling Stones recently shared a new music video for their song “Living in the Heart of Love.” The new video was directed by Charles Mehling and shot in Paris. It stars Marguerite Thiam and Nailia Harzoune, showing them partying with friends, drinking, and dancing. Late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts also features in the video, with the clip ending with the words “Charlie is my darling.”

Watts, who performed with the band for 58 years, died on August 24, aged 80. “Living In The Heart Of Love” is the lead song among the nine previously unreleased tracks that will feature on the upcoming 40th anniversary edition of their 1981 album Tattoo You, out October 22nd via Polydor/Interscope/UMe.

 

The previously unreleased songs will be included in the deluxe package’s “Lost & Found: Rarities” disc.

Credits: By RTTNews Staff Writer

Hear John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen Duet ‘Wasted Days’

John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen have collaborated on a new song titled “Wasted Days.” The track is the debut single from Mellencamp’s forthcoming album, due for release in 2022.

 

On “Wasted Days,” the legendary musicians offer up a jangly, acoustic tune dripping with nostalgia. The country rock-tinged track sees Mellencamp and Springsteen taking turns with lead vocal duties, at one point wondering: “How many days are lost in vain / Who’s counting down these last remaining years? / How many minutes do we have left?”

 

Both musicians join forces for the track’s chorus: “Wasted days, Wasted days / We watch our lives just fade away to more wasted days.” The song’s lush musical arrangement, including mandolin, accordion, drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitars, further add warmth and vulnerability to the track. Listen to “Wasted Days” below.

 

Rumors of Mellencamp and Springsteen working together have been running rampant for months. In April, Twitter was abuzz after the two men were spotted having lunch together in Bloomington, Ind. (where Mellencamp lives). A month later, Mellencamp officially confirmed the collaboration. “Bruce is singing on the new record and is playing guitar,” he told Billboard during Clive Davis’ virtual 2021 Grammy gala.

 

Mellencamp’s as-yet-untitled 2022 album will be the 25th studio LP of his career, following 2018’s covers album Other’s People’s Stuff. Earlier this year, the rocker released a teaser for the release, featuring a new song titled “I Always Lie to Strangers.” At that time, Mellencamp also indicated that he was eyeing a return to touring in 2022.

 

Springsteen, meanwhile, most recently released his album Letter to You in 2020.

CREDITS: Corey Irwin / https://ultimateclassicrock.com/

Watch Led Zeppelin perform in Japan back in 1971

In 1971, the stadium-shaking, diaphragm wobbling rock band Led Zeppelin travelled to East Asia for their first Japanese tour during what was an exciting time to be young in Japan. After the US occupation of the country in the years immediately following the Second World War, the country was divided. But, by the 1970s, a sense of optimism was in the air. A new generation had come of age and looked forward to a bright future.

 

That sense of optimism is abundantly clear from this footage of Led Zeppelin’s performance at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan venue. Japan was changing. By the late ’60s, it had absorbed the consumer culture of America and was looking to establish itself as an uber-modern nation. Led Zeppelin’s performance is symbolic of a fascinating period in Japanese history, during which it was metamorphosing from a fractured nation to one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world.

 

As Jimmy Page recalled, when Led Zepellin arrived in Tokyo, they were struck by the sheer momentum of the place: “It was a city with such a new vision towards the future,” Page began. “The technology boom was really going on, even then… It seems odd now with Nikon everywhere, but at the time they were just really breaking the market, and you could get cameras over here really, really inexpensively, and hi-fi and little cine cameras… We came here and went away loaded with cameras and I started documenting the rest of my travels with Led Zeppelin for a bit.”

 

The archival footage below captures the band’s show of their 1971 Japanese tour. It’s clear that they felt the need to prove themselves to the crowd, playing with an energy and frantic virtuosity you would expect of a finale rather than an opening number. Indeed, Page goes so hard during ‘Heartbreaker’ that he has to pause to re-string his guitar. Aside from that, the band didn’t pause for a moment’s breath. Instead, they powered through the setlist in under 40 minutes, ending with one of the most intense versions of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ on record. The crowd was so taken by Led Zeppelin’s performance that the band had to pause during ‘Communication Breakdown’ to avoid starting a riot.

 

The unrestrained mood of the band’s first show on Japanese soil would set the tone for the entire tour. Before one notable gig, John Bonham punched Robert Plant in the face following an argument. But, as the band’s manager, Peter Grant, explained, this was not the only incident on the tour: “There were rows. One bloody amazing one happened in Japan when Robert came off stage with a split lip. It was over some dispute over some money from some tour. He still owed Bonzo some petrol money for 70 quid or something, but that’s how it was.”

This footage grants us access to one of the most memorable tours in Led Zeppelin’s career. Their shows in Tokyo were followed by a benefit concert in Hiroshima – a city devastated by a nuclear bomb 26 years earlier. As an expression of gratitude, Hiroshima’s mayor granted Plant, Page, Jones, and Bonham with the city’s medal. But that was all to come.

CREDITS:

Sam Kemp / https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/