As Streissguth asserts, “In late 1967, Willie, in his bleating, wistful way, had recorded a set of starkly beautiful ballads, including the classic ‘Sweet Memories,’ written by Mickey Newbury, but RCA appeared flummoxed in response, slotting them in an album called Good Times next to syrupy Nashville Sound material recorded at earlier sessions.” Like Nelson, Newbury wrote atmospheric, poetic songs, which were at odds with the slick hit singles that Nashville manufactured. Tellingly, one of the two covers songs on the album was “ Sweet Memories,” a song composed by Mickey Newbury, a singer-songwriter who, like Nelson, would express dissatisfaction with his debut RCA album Harlequin Melodies and blaze a trail of independent recording in defiance of Nashville that would serve as a template for the Outlaw movement in the seventies. One side is very sparse instrumentally, while the other side has three different people providing arrangements.” Two older songs, "Permanently Lonely" and "Did I Ever Love You," had been covered previously by Timi Yuro, the latter as a duet with Nelson. It is very ballad heavy, with Jim Worbois of AllMusic noting, “This is kind of an odd record. I should have known better, but the truth is it took me a long time – all of the sixties, in fact – to finally see the light.” Recording and Composition Īfter recording an LP of cover songs, Good Times contains almost all Nelson compositions, including three written with his wife Shirley. I knew it, but, blinded by ambition, I accepted the formula. As the singer later explained, “Because Chet was convinced I could be a superstar, it was hard to walk away from his operation.Yet his way of producing, for all its technical wonders, fenced me in. In a bid to break Nelson as a major recording star, producer Chet Atkins had employed many of the recording techniques that had worked for other stars on the label, but as the sixties neared a close it was becoming plain to Nelson that the Nashville sound simply did not suit his own musical instincts. Arrangements were by Anita Kerr, Bill Walker and Ray Stevens.Īlthough Nelson enjoyed a loyal and enthusiastic following in Texas, his record sales at RCA remained underwhelming. Good Times is the eighth studio album by American country music singer Willie Nelson, released in 1968.
0 kommentar(er)
