I’m a classic rock guy, but I’m not getting any younger. Last year about this time I picked up some Johnny Cash and appreciated it.
Now, I think I might appreciate some Willie Nelson. He’s like a cross between Neil Young, Paul Simon, and some other country artist I probably thought I didn’t like.
Is there a beginner’s guide to Willie? A greatest hit compilation? I’m curious.
Any help?
The Redheaded Stranger.
Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits and Some That Will Be
I am partial to “Stardust”
I recommend Shotgun Willie. It was his escape from Nashville, and where he first got to be Willie.
If I’m in doubt about an artist, I go with a best of/greatest hits compilation. He’s got a LOT of good stuff out there that came out after Greatest Hits and Some That Will Be.
I’ve found “Duet” albums are usually good too. At least, I like BB Kings’, Ray Charles’, and Willie’s. Just off the top of my head.
Plus Phases & Stages…
I think of REd Headed Stranger, Stardust and greatest hits compilations.
Leaffan, have you heard any Dwight Yoakum or Steve Earle? Great guitar-oriented country/honky tonk. For Yoakum, I love Guitars, Cadillacs, etc and Dwight Plays Buck and Earles’ first couple, Guitar Town and Copperhead Road are great…
The old stuff is cool but the one I listen to most now is Two Men With The Blues - Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis.
Another good one, in the “Outlaw Country” vein. My favorite from that era is his pal Waylon’s Honky Tonk Heroes.
Willie got back to his roots with Willie and the Wheel. In which Asleep At the Wheel backed him in a set of rocking Western Swing. The legend is that Willie was the one who told Ray Benson he ought to bring his band to Texas; there are lots of legends about Willie.
To which I would add his brilliant spiritual collection Troublemaker. If you were to get 3 albums, it’d be those.
I also recommend Stardust. It’s jazz for people who like a simple, unadorned approach to music, where the musicians let the beauty of the compositions shine through. It’s jazz for people who don’t like jazz, as well as people who do like jazz. Classic, beautiful tunes, lovingly performed.
I know Dwight Yoakum, but am not familiar with his works.
I have Copperhead Road. Marvelous album.
Yeah, that’s a great collection.
Stardust is an excellent album with one minor glitch. I ripped my old CD into Itunes. It was obviously recorded with stereo speakers in mind. When you listen to it with earbuds, various instruments bounce back and forth from ear-to-ear. It annoys me so much I hardly listen to it anymore. Perhaps this is not a problem with a later release.
One For the Road with Leon Russell has a few gems on it, but a few clunkers, also.
Those are the only two I have in my collection. I’m not a big fan of the Whiskey River genre. I read somewhere that Willie is tired of it, too. However, when he performs live, the audience insists on it and if strays from it, the audience gets bored.
“Picture In A Frame” with Willie Nelson and Kimmie Rhodes
You get the best country songwriter ever singing duets with one of the best country singers ever (Willie.)
Willie himself might suggest you buy some BioWillie biodiesel fuel. And probably some pot, too. 
I’m a big fan of two of his albums which came out in the 90’s: Spirit and Teatro. They are gorgeous albums and go together well.
Personally, I couldn’t stand Stardust. Willie’s voice is about the lease suitable voice I can imagine for singing American ‘standards’.
I highly recommend his duet with the dead Patsy Kline, Just Out of Reach. It is, however a single track, not an album. His other best track IMO is You Were Always On My Mind.
I need to check out Spirit; Teatro is an absolutely beautiful album. More than most of the other stuff I’ve heard by him, it’s got a strong Latin music influence. I Never Cared for You is a good example.