Willie Nelson A Beautiful Time LP

Willie is back with his 72nd solo studio album. A full-fledged album of studio material produced with long-time collaborator Buddy Cannon - released on Willie's 89th birthday - shows off just how prolific he continues to be as the album includes some of his finest songwriting and performances in years!

The 14 tracks include 5 amazing Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon compositions, songs from Chris Stapleton and Rodney Crowell (the first single "I'll Love You Till The End Of Time") and a cadre of top Nashville songwriters, plus a couple of plum covers by Leonard Cohen ("Tower Of Song") and The Beatles ("With A Little Help From My Friends") given expert interpretation by Willie.

...A Beautiful Time is very much of a piece with the records that immediately proceed it, albums that also feature Nelson pondering mortality, yet there's a sense of earned wisdom and wry humor that elevates it above such elegantly mellow records as First Rose of Spring....Appropriately for an album fixated on mortality, Nelson embraces his diminished vocal range, letting his breathiness convey bittersweet sentiment along with dry wit. His dusty singing is countered by his robust guitar, his fleet, melodic solos lending a sense of earthy grace to the barroom shuffles and waltzes. Nelson's guitar and voice have intertwined and complemented each other throughout his career yet it's still a marvel to hear him find sustenance and surprises within his music, and that's what makes A Beautiful Time so rewarding: it's no small achievement that Willie Nelson is still deepening his artistry at the age of 89.