Countryman (album)

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Countryman
Studio album by Willie Nelson

Publication
(s)

August 2, 2005

admission

1996-1997, 2004

Label (s) Lost Highway

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

Country , reggae , gospel

Title (number)

12

running time

36:15

occupation see cast

production

Don what

Studio (s)

Ocean Way Studios , Los Angeles & Studio of the Legends, Jamaica

chronology
It Always Will Be
(2004) 		Countryman You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker
(2006)

Countryman is a 2005 music album by Willie Nelson . It was released on August 2, 2005 by Lost Highway . In addition to the typical Nelson country , the album also features various reggae and gospel songs .

History of origin

The idea of ​​an album that would combine country with reggae came about in the mid-1990s during a brainstorming session with music producers Don Was and Chris Blackwell from Island Records . Most of the songs were recorded in 1996 and 1997 at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles . When work on the album was almost finished, however, there were problems with Island Records, which were in financial difficulties and were swallowed by Universal Music . However, they showed no more interest in the album, so that it was on hold for several years. When a label was finally found with Lost Highway that could and wanted to release the album, Richard Feldman finished the work that had been started. The new recordings were made in the Studio of the Legends in Jamaica .

Music genre

Much of the album consists of songs that Willie Nelson had written earlier. He was assisted in songwriting by Ray Price on I've Just Destroyed the World and Hank Cochran on Undo the Right . There are also two cover versions of Jimmy Cliff with The Harder They Come and Sitting in Limbo and a cover version of Johnny Cash with I'm a Worried Man . The latter is a duet with Toots Hibbert . In keeping with the theme of the album, Nelson mixes his typical country style with gospel sounds and influences from reggae.

Cover

The album cover shows a leaf from a hemp plant . Willie Nelson is an avowed marijuana user . The album was released in a digipak , the packaging is in the pan-African colors , which should also represent the connection to reggae. However, a tamer version of the cover was also available in stores, which only showed a palm tree.

Track list

All Willie Nelson songs except where noted.

  1. Do You Mind Too Much If I Don't Understand - 2:46
  2. How Long Is Forever - 3:19
  3. I'm a Worried Man (feat. Toots Hibbert ) ( John Cash , June Carter Cash ) - 2:31
  4. The Harder They Come ( Jimmy Cliff ) - 3:36
  5. Something to Think About - 3:12
  6. Sitting in Limbo (Jimmy Cliff) - 2:39
  7. Darkness on the Face of the Earth - 2:15
  8. One in a Row - 3:31
  9. I've Just Destroyed the World (Willie Nelson, Ray Price ) - 2:42
  10. You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago - 2:59
  11. I Guess I've Come to Live Here - 2:23
  12. Undo the Right ( Hank Cochran , Willie Nelson) - 2:30

reception

The album was rated only 2.5 out of five stars by Allmusic's Steve Legett . He said the album wouldn’t contain good country or good reggae. Maybe the 1995 album was a good idea, but the compositions wouldn't work today. Stephen M. Deuser from Pitchfork also rated the album rather poorly with 3.8 points out of 10 and described the album as half-baked. He highlighted Nelson's version of The Harder They Come as positive . Barry Walters from Rolling Stone awarded two (out of five) stars and also only praised the one track.

success

The album peaked at number 46 on the Billboard 200 . It reached number 6 in the special charts for country albums and even number 1 in reggae albums. No singles were extracted from the album.

occupation

  • Craig Allen - Art Direction, Design
  • Sweet Pea Atkinson - vocals
  • Dan Bosworth - guitar
  • Sir Harry Bowens - vocals
  • Kim Buie - Executive Producer
  • Santa Davis - drums
  • Richard Feldman - guitar, producer, engineer, mixing
  • Pam Hall - vocals
  • Jim Herrington - Photography
  • Randy Jacobs - guitar
  • Wayne Jobson - guitar, production coordination
  • Donald Ray Mitchell - vocals
  • Rik Pekkonen - Engineer
  • Mickey Raphael - Harmonica
  • Stephen Stewart - keyboards, engineer
  • Robby Turner - Dobro , Hawaiian guitar
  • Norris Webb - keyboards
  • Tom Weir - Mixing

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Countryman . Review by Steve Legett at Allmusic . Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b Review by Barry Walters. rollingstone.com , June 20, 2005, accessed August 4, 2013 .
  3. ↑ a b Review by Stephen M. Deuser. Pitchfork Media , July 24, 2005, accessed August 4, 2013 .