# Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger LP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857 "2017-07-22T01:59:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/1 "2017-07-22T01:59:59Z")
I’ve never been much of a Willie fan. Used to make sport of him, in fact. I also strongly dislike most country music. I remember when this album came out. I remember that it was heavily promoted, large in-store displays, prominent ad space in Rolling Stone. At the time I was too consumed with Aerosmith, Lou Reed, Black Sabbath, etc. Anyway, I randomly thought of the album last week and decided to give it a listen. I found it pleasantly sparse, very interesting, and quite enjoyable. I listened again and liked it even more the second time. So, after a week or so of pretty heavy rotation, my affection for it has grown. I’m not sure how sustainable its enjoyment is - often, when I like something immediately, I find that it lacks staying power - but for now I’m having a damn good time with it. I am interested to hear others’ thoughts on the album. Go ahead and spout off about Willie’s musical output too (good or bad). mmm ETA: I just read that _CMJ New Music Monthly_ referred to it as “the Sgt. Pepper’s of country music”. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/2 "2017-07-22T02:37:29Z")
Madame Pepperwinkle is a big, big Willie Nelson fan. She thinks _Red Headed Stranger_ is his 2nd Best album. (The first is his album of songs by Gershwin that came out last year. YMMV.) I’m indifferent to him myself, but that album isn’t at all hard to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/3 "2017-07-22T10:52:05Z")
As a rocker, I got enough of a feel from the good players I knew that Willie was the real deal, just like they’d be in awe of Chet Atkins even though his arrangements were corny). I’ve never deeply dug in, but had that and Stardust and a few other of his albums in the fabric of my life. His singing is idiosyncratic, but musical and authentic. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/4 "2017-07-22T14:26:23Z")
It’s always been one of my many favorites. Willie’s idea of stringing songs together with interludes to tell a story was fascinating. “You can’t blame a man for killin’ a woman / Who’s tryin’ to steal his horse” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/5 "2017-07-22T14:29:20Z")
One of my favourites of any genre. Interesting narrative running throughout. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/6 "2017-07-22T14:32:21Z")
I think his “Night Life” is one of the greatest songs of the century, of any genre. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/7 "2017-07-22T14:44:02Z")
His “Stardust” album hit the spot even more strongly than “Red Headed Stranger”. Every song. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/8 "2017-07-22T16:51:26Z")
_The Red Headed Stranger_ is a fabulous record, it’s probably the jewel of that period in Willie’s career. If you like it, you should probably give _Phases and Stages_, and my personal favorite, _Shotgun Willie_ a listen. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/9 "2017-07-22T19:31:45Z")
It’s a great record. Carla Bozulich (from Ethyl Meatplow and The Geraldine Fibbers) did a reinterpretation of the whole album (well, most of it) back in 2003. I personally love her version too. Here’s her doing bits live: [Carla Bozulich's Red Headed Stranger -- Live at Schuba's 2002 - YouTube](https://youtu.be/jqdSyO9chU8) And the Amazon link for the album: [Amazon.com](https://www.amazon.com/Red-Headed-Stranger-CARLA-BOZULICH/dp/B0000AISL7) ---
**Author:** ![Pippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5a626/32.png) [@Pippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pippers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-lp/791857/10 "2017-07-23T02:25:06Z")
Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson are two of the best song/story writers in America. The Redheaded Stranger is a perfect example of stringing lyrics together with a plunking guitar and having magic happen.