Stardust (Willie Nelson album)

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Stardust
Studio album by Willie Nelson

Publication
(s)

1978

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

Country

Title (number)

10

running time

37 min 05 s

occupation

production

Booker T. Jones

Studio (s)

Brian Ahern's Mobile Recording Studio , Los Angeles

chronology
There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight
(1978) 		Stardust Face of a Fighter
(1978)

Stardust is a cover album by country singer Willie Nelson . It was published in 1978 and produced by Booker T. Jones .

History of origin

In 1977, Willie Nelson surprised those in charge at Columbia Records with the announcement that they would record a pure cover album with pop songs from the 1950s. Rick Blackburn tried to dissuade the successful country singer as he saw no commercial potential for the album. Nelson, now at the height of his career, could ignore the warnings as his contract gave him complete creative control. Nelson replied to the objections: “Why be predictable?” (For example, “Why be predictable?”).

With Booker T. Jones, formerly organist of the soul and instrumental music group Booker T. & the MG's , he also chose an unconventional producer for his project, because Jones was more specialized in R&B . Together they compiled a list of ten standards in the style of Ray Charles' first steps. In addition to the production, Jones also took on several organ and piano passages on the album.

In the retrospective, Willie Nelson described the collaboration as a must. Nelson wasn't sure in which direction the music should go and needed a "guiding hand" in the studio. Willie Nelson played a large part of the songs together with his then live band in Brian Ahern's recording studio in Los Angeles. As a guest musician, Nelson's sister Bobbie Nelson performed , who knew some of the songs from her work as a lounge pianist. Mickey Raphael played the harmonica.

The album cover shows a blue starry sky drawn by Susanna Clarke, the wife of the Texan songwriter Guy Clark .

Success and reception

Nelson did not replay the songs unchanged, but turned the pop songs into country music without completely reinterpreting the original. The album finally established Nelson as a spearhead of the outlaw movement . When the album was released in 1978, it was able to build on the success of his previous albums. Three singles made it to number one on the country singles chart and the album reached number one on the country album charts and number 30 on the US Billboard 200 charts. A re-release in 1983 put the record back in the country album charts.

Overall, the album stayed on the Billboard charts for two years and on the US country charts for ten years. The album went platinum five times , sold over five million copies in the US and is Nelson's most successful album. In 1979, Willie Nelson received a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his interpretation Georgia on My Mind .

Track list

  1. Stardust ( Hoagy Carmichael , Mitchell Parish ) - 3:53
  2. Georgia on My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell ) - 4:20
  3. Blue Skies ( Irving Berlin ) - 3:34
  4. All of Me ( Seymour Simons , Gerald Marks ) - 3:54
  5. Unchained Melody ( Hy Zaret , Alex North ) - 3:50
  6. September Song ( Kurt Weill , Maxwell Anderson ) - 4:35
  7. On the Sunny Side of the Street ( Dorothy Fields , Jimmy McHugh ) - 2:36
  8. Moonlight in Vermont ( John Blackburn , Karl Suessdorf ) - 3:25
  9. Don't Get Around Much Anymore ( Duke Ellington , Bob Russell ) - 2:33
  10. Someone to Watch over Me ( George Gershwin , Ira Gershwin ) - 4:03

Single releases

Georgia on My Mind was the album's first single. The original was recorded by Frankie Trumbauer , the most famous version is by Ray Charles . Nelson's version took the top spot on Billboard Country Songs . Hoagy Carmichael , one of the authors of the play, was able to record his first hit in the country charts at the age of 79.

Blue Skies , the second single from the album, comes from Irving Berlin , who, like Carmichael, was still alive and had his first number one hit in the country charts at the age of 90.

All of Me , the third release, also rose to number 1 on the country charts. The original from Louis Armstrong was interpreted by Willie Nelson in the style of Django Reinhardt .

September Song , originally written by Kurt Weill for the musical Knickerbocker Holiday , reached number 15 on the country charts.

Re-releases

In 1999 the album was released with two bonus tracks in CD format.

  1. Scarlet Ribbons (J. Segal, Evelyn Danzig ) - 4:30
  2. I Can See Clearly Now ( Johnny Nash ) - 4:18

In 2008, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary, Sony BMG Music Entertainment released the album as a double CD edition with 16 tracks from other Nelson releases ( More from the Great American Songbook ), which also fit into the concept of Stardust .

  1. What a Wonderful World ( George David Weiss , Bob Thiele )
  2. Basin Street Blues ( Spencer Williams )
  3. I'm Confessin '(That I Love You) (D. Dougherty, E. Reynolds, A. Neiburg )
  4. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter ( Fred E. Ahlert , Joe Young )
  5. The Gypsy ( Billy Reid )
  6. Mona Lisa ( Jay Livingston , Ray Evans )
  7. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive ( Johnny Mercer , Harold Arlen )
  8. Ole Buttermilk Sky (Hoagy Carmichael, Jack Brooks )
  9. That Lucky Old Sun ( Haven Gillespie , Beasley Smith)
  10. Little Things Mean a Lot (E. Calisch, C. Stutz)
  11. Cry ( Churchill Kohlman )
  12. You'll Never Know ( Mack Gordon , Harry Warren )
  13. Tenderly ( Jack Lawrence , Walter Lloyd Gross )
  14. Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler )
  15. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) (Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen)
  16. Angel Eyes ( Earl Brent , Matt Dennis )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Booklet of the 2008 re-release of Stardust via Sony BMG
  2. ↑ Stardust in the All Music Guide
  3. ↑ a b Chart positions in the All Music Guide
  4. ↑ Search on the official website of the Recording Industry Association of America
  5. ^ Grammy Awards in the All Music Guide