# Willie Nelson: What should I buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224 "2013-09-07T03:16:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/1 "2013-09-07T03:16:31Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/2 "2013-09-07T03:38:38Z")
The Redheaded Stranger. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/3 "2013-09-07T03:56:37Z")
Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits and Some That Will Be > **[Amazon.com: Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be):...](https://www.amazon.com/Willie-Nelsons-Greatest-Hits-Some/dp/B0000DG00C)** > > Amazon.com: Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be): 0775662279087: Willie Nelson: CDs & Vinyl ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/4 "2013-09-07T04:49:20Z")
I am partial to “Stardust” ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/5 "2013-09-07T05:49:49Z")
I recommend _Shotgun Willie_. It was his escape from Nashville, and where he first got to be Willie. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/6 "2013-09-07T06:43:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/7 "2013-09-07T07:06:07Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > The Redheaded Stranger. Plus _Phases & Stages_… ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/9 "2013-09-07T11:41:09Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/10 "2013-09-07T13:59:37Z")
The old stuff is cool but the one I listen to most now is _Two Men With The Blues_ - Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/11 "2013-09-07T14:13:02Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I recommend _Shotgun Willie_. It was his escape from Nashville, and where he first got to be Willie. Another good one, in the “Outlaw Country” vein. My favorite from that era is his pal Waylon’s [Honky Tonk Heroes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/12 "2013-09-07T14:16:13Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I think of REd Headed Stranger, Stardust To which I would add his brilliant spiritual collection **Troublemaker**. If you were to get 3 albums, it’d be those. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/13 "2013-09-07T14:22:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/14 "2013-09-07T14:34:56Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > 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… I know Dwight Yoakum, but am not familiar with his works. I have Copperhead Road. Marvelous album. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/15 "2013-09-07T14:40:38Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits and Some That Will Be > [Amazon.com: Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be): CDs & Vinyl](http://www.amazon.com/Willie-Nelsons-Greatest-Hits-Some/dp/B0000DG00C) Yeah, that’s a great collection. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/16 "2013-09-07T15:04:09Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/17 "2013-09-08T04:08:38Z")
“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.) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/18 "2013-09-08T04:12:54Z")
Willie himself might suggest you buy some [BioWillie biodiesel fuel](http://biowillie.com/bw/). And probably some pot, too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/19 "2013-09-09T18:38:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/20 "2013-09-10T19:23:12Z")
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_. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224/21 "2013-09-10T19:24:26Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > 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. 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](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmdwsLtNx2E) is a good example. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelson-what-should-i-buy/668224.md?page=2)