Also available in a 3-pack with ALWAYS ON MY MIND and RED HEADED STRANGER.

This is a Hyper CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser.

Personnel: Willie Nelson (vocals, guitar); Jody Payne (guitar); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Bee Spears (bass); Paul English, Rex Ludwig (drums).

Recorded at January Sound Studio, Dallas, Texas in 1975. Originally releases as Columbia (34695). Includes liner notes by John Morthland.

This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser.

In 1950, Lefty Frizzell exploded onto the honky-tonk scene with the double-sided hit "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time"/"I Love You a Thousand Ways." For the next two years, he and Hank Williams were country's biggest stars. Then business troubles and the arrival of rock & roll conspired to bring down Lefty's career, and he had only sporadic hits between 1953 and his death in 1974. His influence, particularly on Merle Haggard, was immense.

Nelson, like Frizzell a freewheeling Texan with a gift for elegance that many mistake for simplicity, was likewise smitten. On this album, Nelson and Family give their laid-back, soulful treatment to ten of Frizzell's honky-tonk classics, mining not only the gold of Frizzell's early career but the later, overlooked periods as well. Throughout, pianist Bobbie Nelson and harmonica player Mickey Raphael provide stellar support, and Willie sings passionately and well. Oddly, "If You've Got the Money," which later appeared on Willie's GREATEST HITS...AND SOME THAT WILL BE, is not included here.

Rolling Stone (9/4/03, p.146) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...[Nelson] leans into the songs with a bluesy feel, giving emotional drama to [the album's] weepers....If Nelson's original intent was to remind listeners of his forbear's breathtakingly artistry, he accomplished his goal."

Entertainment Weekly (5/30/03, p.117) - ...Nelson [cozies] up to country music's master of melancholy, delivering heartbreakers like 'Always Late' and 'I Never Go Around Mirrors' with deep understanding..." - Rating: B+

Q (10/03, p.128) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Nelson's 1977 tribute to honky tonk hero 'Lefty' Frizzell gave the country pioneer's songs new depth..."