Happy birthday, Willie Nelson!
The legendary performer turned 76 years young April 30th. But just because he’s getting older, that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down at all — in fact, it seems like Willie is working harder than ever.
Last month the singer-songwriter released Naked Willie, a collection of songs written and recorded between 1965 and 1974. The recordings are dubbed Naked because they spotlight Nelson’s vocals, guitar, drums, bass and piano … and that’s it.
In making the album, producer Mickey Raphael took special care in stripping the original RCA recordings of backing vocals and orchestral arrangements that, at times, “conflict(ed) with the actual mood or message or meaning of the composition itself.”
Nelson has been touring in support of the record with Billy Bob Thornton. Recently, Thornton chatted with Raphael on the tour bus about working with Willie … and they decided to turn the talks into a podcast series.
You can download the first three episodes of the series exclusively. In them, you’ll hear snippets from Naked Willie and get a sense of Thornton’s enthusiasm for the Nashville scene. (Despite what often makes headlines, he really does have an impressive musical knowledge.)
Check ‘em out, then send Willie a belated birthday card
