Willie Nelson To Release New Original Album “A Beautiful Time”

photo: Pamela Springsteen

Willie Nelson may be turning 89 on April 29th. But as we’ve seen over the last few years, he’s not slowing down any time soon. On April 29th, he will also be releasing his latest record called A Beautiful Time, and with a pretty beautiful album cover of Willie Nelson walking down the main drag of his own Western town called Luck on his ranch just outside of Austin—a brilliant sunset dazzling the sky just behind a hill.

Willie released two albums last year: The Willie Nelson Family comprised of many Gospel standards and other greats from the American songbook, accompanied by members of his family and family band, as well as That’s Life, which was a tribute to Frank Sinatra, and is currently in the running for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album via The Grammy Awards.

But A Beautiful Time will be more of an original album from Willie, with five new songs penned by Nelson with his producer Buddy Cannon, as well as original songs written by others to complete the track list, and a few recognizable covers, most notably “With A Little Help From My Friends” from The Beatles, and Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song.”

Songwriter Shawn Camp also contributes a couple of tracks, and Jim “Moose” Brown, Scotty Emerick, and Don Sampson also appear in the songwriting credits for the 14 songs of the Legacy Recordings release. The band for the record includes guitarists Bob Terry and James Mitchell, Jim “Moose” Brown on keyboards, bassist Barry Bales, and drummer Fred Eltringham.

Ahead of the album, Willie Nelson has released the previously unheard song “I’ll Love You Till The Day I Die,” written by Chris Stapleton and Rodney Crowell (listen below).

Though every release from Willie Nelson is cherished these days since we still get to share the sweet Earth with him, sometimes the focus of this late career albums has been more retrospective. A Beautiful Time will be one of the more original collections, and so worth paying extra attention to.

A Beautiful Time is now available for pre-order.



A Beautiful Time Track List:

1. I’ll Love You Till The Day I Die (Rodney Crowell and Chris Stapleton)
2. My Heart Was A Dancer (Willie Nelson and Buddy Cannon)
3. Energy Follows Thought (Willie Nelson and Buddy Cannon)
4. Dreamin’ Again (Jack Wesley Routh and Douglas Graham)
5. I Don’t Go To Funerals (Willie Nelson and Buddy Cannon)
6. A Beautiful Time (Shawn Camp)
7. We’re Not Happy (Till You’re Not Happy) (Shawn Camp and Charles R. Humphrey III)
8. Dusty Bottles (Jim “Moose” Brown, Scotty Emerick and Don Sampson)
9. Me And My Partner (Ken Lambert)
10. Tower Of Song (Leonard Cohen)
11. Live Every Day (Willie Nelson and Buddy Cannon)
12. Don’t Touch Me There (Willie Nelson and Buddy Cannon)
13. With A Little Help From My Friends (John Lennon and Paul McCartney)
14. Leave You With A Smile (Buddy Cannon, Bobby Terry and Matt Rossi)

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