Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Newly Unearthed Live Performance From Willie Nelson & Leon Russell To See Dual Album Release In March

Artist: Willie Nelson and Leon Russell
Album: Riding the Northeast Trail: The New Jersey Broadcast, 1979
Label: FM Concert Broadcasts
Release date: March 11, 2016

The 1970s was the period of Willie Nelson's greatest commercial success, the decade in which he became one of the leading figures in a new era of country music and an era marked by artistic collaborations with the wider musical community to which he belonged. Having negotiated a contract with Columbia records that gave him complete creative control, Nelson released 'Red Headed Stranger' in 1975, a critically acclaimed, multi-platinum record and the first in a run of three successive albums to hit number one on the Country music chart. Fully embracing the artistic freedom that he had been afforded by his new label, Nelson followed 'Red Headed Stranger' by exploring a series of musical partnerships with his peers in the Outlaw milieu. The first of these was a compilation of older recordings released in '76 and featuring Nelson, Jennings, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser. Entitled 'Wanted! The Outlaws', it became the first country album to sell a million copies and in a sign of the new, cross-over appeal that the Austin scene had found, it broke the top ten on the Billboard pop charts. A 1978 duet album with Waylon Jennings called 'Waylon & Willie' repeated the success of 'The Outlaws' and was critically received as one of the most important country recording of all time.

A year later, 'One for the Road', a joint effort from Nelson and Leon Russell, completed a trilogy of hit collaborations. This concert comes from the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey on the first of April 1979, right around the release of 'One for the Road'. Simulcast on radio by WNEW-FM, Willie Nelson and Leon Russell give an electric performance of their best known work. The concert stands as a fascinating document of both artists during their classic era and the best live record of Nelson's collaborations during the 70s. It's essential listening for fans of both musicians and country music enthusiasts generally, a first rank installment in the Outlaw Country canon, during the movement's heyday.

Riding the Northeast Trail: The New Jersey Broadcast, 1979 Tracklisting:

Disc: 1
  1. Intro
  2. Whiskey River
  3. Stay All Night
  4. Funny How Time Slips Away
  5. Crazy
  6. Night Life
  7. If You'Ve Got The Money I'Ve Got The Time
  8. Sweet Memories
  9. Bloody Mary Morning
  10. Gotta Get Drunk
  11. Shotgun Willie
  12. Time Of The Preacher
  13. Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
  14. The Red Headed Stranger
  15. Instrumental
  16. Heartbreak Hotel
  17. Trouble In Mind
  18. A Song For You

Disc: 2
  1. Come In My Kitchen
  2. Detour
  3. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
  4. Amazing Grace
  5. Uncloudy Day
  6. Instrumental
  7. One For My Baby And One For The Road
  8. Blue Skies
  9. Georgia On My Mind
  10. All Of Me
  11. Stardust
  12. Mama Don'T Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys
  13. I Can Get Off On You
  14. Willie & Waylon
  15. Whiskey River
  16. Instrumental
  17. Good Hearted Woman
  18. Sioux City Sue
  19. White Lightning
  20. One Night Of Love
  21. Truck Drivin' Man
  22. Whiskey River (Reprise)

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