Tougher Than Leather (Willie Nelson album)
| Tougher Than Leather | ||||
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| Studio album by Willie Nelson | ||||
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Publication |
1983 |
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| Label (s) | Columbia Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
13 |
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running time |
30:54 |
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| occupation |
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Willie Nelson and Bee Spears |
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Studio (s) |
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Tougher Than Leather is a concept album by Willie Nelson . The country album was released in 1983 on Columbia Records and deals with the subject of rebirth .
History of origin
After a lung collapse in 1981, Willie Nelson was hospitalized for some time, dealing with his own mortality during that time. First he wrote the theme song Tougher Than Leather and conceived the story around this song. The album was eventually recorded at Pedernales Recording Studio in Spicewood , Texas . It was produced by Willie Nelson and Bee Spears. In addition to Spears and Nelson, guitarists Jody Payne and Grady Martin, drummer Paul English, as well as Bobby Nelson on piano, Mickey Raphael on harmonica and Johnny Gimble on mandolin and violin also worked on the album itself . After numerous compilations , duets and various soundtracks, it is the first album with self-written songs since the 1975 album Red Headed Stranger .
concept
The album tells the story of a gunslinger who shoots a young man and is then haunted by the ghost of the dead man's girlfriend. He tries to find it, but dies shortly afterwards of a remorse. The dead man's girlfriend visits his funeral and mourns him. The main character is reborn in contemporary San Antonio . There he meets the also reborn girlfriend of his former victim. The two become a couple, but their love lasts only for a short time: he is convicted of a bank robbery, which he did not commit, and is ultimately executed.
The Convict of the Rose is a cover version by Bob Wills , while Beer Barrell Polka is a traditional folk song. The rest of the songs were written by Willie Nelson, although Summer of Roses was taken from his 1971 album Yesterday's Wine .
Except for the cheerful but instrumental Beer Barrell Polka and Old Fashioned Karma , all songs are in the lower tempo range.
success
The album was a flop compared to Nelson's previous successes, only reaching number 39 on the Billboard 200 . The main reasons for this are to be found in the somewhat inaccessible concept of the story, which confused many listeners. Little Old Fashioned Karma , the album's only single , reached # 10 on the Top Country Singles. She also had the misfortune to compete with the Nelson / Merle Haggard duet Pancho and Lefty (written by Townes Van Zandt ), which was released six weeks after Little Old Fashioned Karma .
Track list
- My Love for the Rose - 0:38
- Changing Skies - 3:03
- Tougher Than Leather - 4:53
- Little Old Fashioned Karma - 3:18
- Somewhere In Texas (Part 1) - 0:54
- Beer Barrel Polka - 2:43
- Summer of Roses - 3:12
- Somewhere in Texas (Part 2) - 0:55
- My Love for the Rose - 0:37
- The Convict and the Rose - 3:52
- Changing Skies - 0:54
- I Am the Forest - 4:17
- Nobody Slides, My Friend - 1:38
In 2003 the album was re-released on the occasion of Nelson's 70th birthday. This version contains liner notes by John Morthland and has been remastered by Al Quaglieri . This version contains the previously unreleased bonus track Summer of Roses / December Days .