Willie Nelson - First Rose of Spring

Styles: Vocal, Country
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:26
Size: 97,7 MB
Art: 

(3:41)  1. First Rose of Spring
(4:35)  2. Blue Star
(2:49)  3. I'll Break Out Again Tonight
(3:07)  4. Don't Let the Old Man In
(3:15)  5. Just Bummin' Around
(3:51)  6. Our Song
(4:03)  7. We Are the Cowboys
(3:41)  8. Stealing Home
(4:11)  9. I'm the Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised
(4:34) 10. Love Just Laughed
(3:33) 11. Yesterday When I Was Young (Hier Encore)

Willie Nelson’s 70th solo studio album, released in his 88th year, is a reflection on life experience, love and mortality. If that sounds morbid, it’s not: there’s catharsis in the country legend’s beguiling delivery. The slow-paced title-track opener sets the tone with plaintive harmonica, pedal-steel guitar and tender, but weary, vocals. It’s followed by Nelson and his long-term friend and producer Buddy Cannon’s atmospheric “Blue Star”, which reassures a younger lover that they will meet once again beyond the pearly gates (“And when we reach the heaven’s bright/ I’ll be the blue star on your right”). Subtle harmonising backing vocals, sliding guitar and organ combine beautifully.

Though Nelson laments failed relationships in “Love Just Laughed” (“We can look back and smile and say/ Whatever happened brought us down to today”), it’s not all downbeat. Listen to his cover of the hammond-driven “Just Bummin’ Around” (by Pete Graves) and you’ll feel a surge of jauntiness. Nelson’s first release since winning a 2020 Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance with last year’s “Ride Me Back Home” features just two new songs “Blue Star” and “Love Just Laughed”. On First Rose of Spring, Nelson is more interested in paying tribute to the artists he admires, imbuing their songs with his gravelly emotion. “In this time that I’ve been given/ To fill my life with livin’/ I hope I’ve done the best that I can do”, he sings on “Our Song”. That this is a cover of Chris Stapleton who has hailed Nelson “one of my biggest influences” acknowledges his mutual respect for the younger star and suggests he could be ready to hand over the mantle to his successor. But First Rose of Spring is the work of an artist wwho will never grow old. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/willie-nelson-review-first-rose-of-spring-denai-moore-modern-dread-stream-a9596686.html

First Rose of Spring

---