Disco de Willie Nelson: “Stardust [Remaster]”

On this record, Willie proved that his favorite items from "The Great American Songbook" were good enough to survive his distinctive phrasing and country/blues accompaniment organized by his buddy, Booker T., the producer. Mostly mellow, this album gives you 45 minutes of quiet pleasure. The songs were designed for pop, jazz or Broadway treatments, but Willie proved he could do them justice in his own sweet way. I had a boss who purchased this one when it came out in 1978 or so, and played it for me one day. I was barely conscious of Willie back then, but I knew the material from more traditional renditions. While I did not rush out to buy this at the time, it was because it was a tight budget year, not because I didn't like it. Now I've just acquired it, 25 years on, yet both Willie and the songs survive. If you like Nelson, this CD is one of the essentials. If you like "The Great American Songbook" this version of some of the best from that body of work is also essential. Here, Willie invented a style that melds jazz, pop, country, folk, blues and Broadway. Play "Red-Headed Stranger" and follow it with this one, and you have all the evidence one needs that Mr. Nelson is an immortal in the roster of great American music-makers.

I originally got this album when it first came out and liked it immediately, but as sometimes happens, I lost contact with it for whatever reason. I recently became reacquainted with it when I wanted to hear a recording of Kurt Weill's "September Song," and this was one of the two versions I possess. I just let the disc keep playing when I was finished with the Weill, which led to several relistenings. What a delightful album! In a way, it reminds me somewhat of Ray Charles's MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC, in that an artist in one musical genre takes up standards in another. What is remarkable here is how unstrained these performances are; nowhere does Willie seem to be forcing the songs into a mode of performance that they resist (in contrast, say, to a god-awful big band cover I recently heard by Paul Anka of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"-yeah, it was a horrible as it sounds like it has to be). Part of the reason Willie Nelson's covers work so well is that he has never been a typical country western singer. Virtually all other country singers tend to sing all their songs precisely on the beat, even such magnificent singers as Lefty Frizzell and George Jones. But Willie habitually sings every so slightly behind the beat and has always done so. His voice therefore has a flexibility to adapt to these songs that many other singers would lack. That he is able to do so is remarkable in itself. While he has a unique voice, it isn't a great voice. He possesses neither much power nor great range, and yet he is able to do justice to nearly every cut.

Not every cut is a thundering success. "Blue Skies" sounds a bit bland and unexciting, but he is perfectly suited to sing the aforementioned "September Song." The raw, unpolished quality of his voice actually seems to enhance the performance. For the same reason, he shines on "The Sunny Side of the Street." The somewhat rustic quality of his voice brings out aspects of songs like "Moonlight in Vermont" lacking in other versions. And his rendition of "Someone to Walk Over Me" is simply the finest I have heard. He is also outstanding on the album's title track, "Stardust," which isn't terribly surprising, since his voice shares some of the qualities of Hoagy Carmichael's voice, which was one of the least polished in American popular song. In the end, the album represents a marvelous triumph of style over songs that one might have imagines beyond Willie's competence. The best example might be "Unchained Melody." Few songs from the rock and roll era have provided a greater opportunity for a singer to show what kind of vocal chops he or she possesses than this gem, and when one thinks of the ideal singer for the song, one instantly thinks of Bill Medley and the Righteous Brothers, not Willie Nelson. I won't say that Willie makes you forget Bill Medley, but he does create a more delicate, fragile song than the one the listener is used to.

The album was one of Willie Nelson's greatest commercial successes, so in retrospect it is easy to underestimate what a bold venture it actually was. He had steadily been gaining more and more popularity as a performer, and there was no guarantee that he was not going to alienate his base audience by performing these exceedingly non-country songs, even if it was able to inject them with a bit of his own style. But on reflection, perhaps it shouldn't be such a surprise. Willie might be country, but he never fit comfortably into the Nashville scene. Politically he was light years from your typical country performer, and just too untamed and eccentric. But for whatever reason, this remains not merely one of Willie Nelson's finest albums, but one of the most creative reinterpretations of several classic songs from the great American songbook.

Country purists may not like this album, but I love it. It introduced a whole new set of people to the songs of the thirties and forties that make up the majority of the original album. Unchained melody (from the mid-fifties) is very modern by comparison.

I knew very little about most of these songs when I first bought this album on vinyl, but I have since acquired a taste for the music from way back then. According to the liner notes, Moonlight in Vermont is Willie's favorite song. The original singer was Margaret Whiting, and while I now prefer her version, I might never have discovered her music if it wasn't for this album and its sequel, Somewhere over the rainbow.

The rest of this album includes covers of Stardust (Isham Jones, 1931), Georgia on my mind (made famous by Ray Charles, but originally a hit for Frankie Trumbauer in 1931), Blue skies (Ben Selvin, 1927), All of me (two versions both topped the American charts in 1932, one by Louis Armstrong and the other by Paul Whiteman), September song (Walter Huston, 1939), On the sunny side of the street (Ted Lewis, 1930), Don't get around much anymore (Duke Ellington, Glen Gray and the Ink spots all had top ten hits with it in 1943) and Someone to watch over me (Gertrude Lawrence (1927).

Two bonus tracks recorded at the same sessions, slightly more modern, are included here. Scarlet ribbons fits easily with the other songs. I can see clearly now does not really fit. Although it is a brilliant version, it is just a different style from the other songs here. Even so, I'm glad it was included.

Almost all these songs were included on the Australian compilation All the songs I've loved before, which has also been released in Britain. That compilation (which I've already reviewed) claims to include all the songs from this album, but September song is missing (probably by accident). In any case, I bought this before I bought that compilation.

This was a landmark album when released and was a huge seller, deservedly so.

Willie sings these old standards, making them complete, filling them out with a lilt that matches no other. Rich tones and and his soft voice grabs you until you are sucked into a dreamlike world. You'll love these songs listening to them while sitting with your someone special.

If an original recording does not have multichannel tracks to begin with, it is not always possible create the multichannel tracks out of thin air unless they do a lot of playing with the natural accoustics. Honestly, people need to realize that SACD essentially does improve the sound compared to redbook cd. This particular SACD is excellent. Willie's lyrics are clearer, cleaner, and more beautiful than they have ever been before.