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Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger perhaps is the strangest blockbuster country produced, a concept album about a preacher on the run after murdering his departed wife and her new lover, told entirely with brief song-poems and utterly minimal backing. It's defiantly anticommercial and it demands intense concentration -- all reasons why nobody thought it would be a hit, a story related in Chet Flippo's liner notes to the 2000 reissue. It was a phenomenal blockbuster, though, selling millions of copies, establishing Nelson as a superstar recording artist in its own right. For all its success, it still remains a prickly, difficult album, though, making the interspersed concept of Phases and Stages sound shiny in comparison. It's difficult because it's old-fashioned, sounding like a tale told around a cowboy campfire. Now, this all reads well on paper, and there's much to admire in Nelson's intimate gamble, but it's really elusive, as the themes get a little muddled and the tunes themselves are a bit bare. It's undoubtedly distinctive -- and it sounds more distinctive with each passing year -- but it's strictly an intellectual triumph and, after a pair of albums that were musically and intellectually sound, it's a bit of a letdown, no matter how successful it was.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - E. Arnold, Composer, Lyricist - W. Fowler, Composer, Lyricist - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Carl Stutz, Composer, Lyricist - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Edith Lindeman, Composer, Lyricist - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - Fred Rose, Composer, Lyricist - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - Carl Stutz, Composer, Lyricist - Phil York, Engineer - Edith Lindeman, Composer, Lyricist - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - William Bradbury, Composer - Charlotte Elliott, Lyricist - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - L. W. Gilbert, Composer, Lyricist - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - Hank Cochran, Composer, Lyricist - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - Scott Wiseman, Composer, Lyricist - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - B. Callery, Composer, Lyricist - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Jody Payne, Guitar, Mandolin - Bucky Meadows, Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Billy English, Drums - Bobbie Nelson, Piano - Bee Spears, Bass - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica - Phil York, Engineer - Joseph M. Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Album review
Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger perhaps is the strangest blockbuster country produced, a concept album about a preacher on the run after murdering his departed wife and her new lover, told entirely with brief song-poems and utterly minimal backing. It's defiantly anticommercial and it demands intense concentration -- all reasons why nobody thought it would be a hit, a story related in Chet Flippo's liner notes to the 2000 reissue. It was a phenomenal blockbuster, though, selling millions of copies, establishing Nelson as a superstar recording artist in its own right. For all its success, it still remains a prickly, difficult album, though, making the interspersed concept of Phases and Stages sound shiny in comparison. It's difficult because it's old-fashioned, sounding like a tale told around a cowboy campfire. Now, this all reads well on paper, and there's much to admire in Nelson's intimate gamble, but it's really elusive, as the themes get a little muddled and the tunes themselves are a bit bare. It's undoubtedly distinctive -- and it sounds more distinctive with each passing year -- but it's strictly an intellectual triumph and, after a pair of albums that were musically and intellectually sound, it's a bit of a letdown, no matter how successful it was.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 15 track(s)
- Total length: 00:33:47
- Main artists: Willie Nelson
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Columbia Nashville
- Genre: Blues/Country/Folk Country
(P) 1975 Sony Music Entertainment
Distinctions:
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