Willie Nelson - Willie Nelson & Family (VMP)

VMP country record of the month for Dec 2023

Sound-wise, 1971’s Willie Nelson & Family is no different than the 11 studio albums that precede it: They are awash in the Countrypolitan sound, with strings, horns and backing singers. But the version of ‘’Sunday Mornin,'' complete with its guitar solo — one of the first on Nelson’s legendary Trigger guitar — feels like the first act of defiance and a statement of intent. ‘’If Kris Kristofferson can do this, I can do it too,'' Nelson seemed to be saying.

Within 18 months, he’d be in New York making Shotgun Willie, free to follow his muse wherever he went, cementing Kristofferson’s outlaw country jump off point. And that’s why Willie Nelson & Family is such an interesting artifact: It’s the last album Willie made in his ‘’Before'' timeline; it’s the point where he started putting it all together and asserting his creative ideas in tangible ways.

Tracklisting:

A1. What Can You Do To Me Now? 
A2. Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
A3. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry 
A4. Fire And Rain 
A5. Kneel At The Feet Of Jesus 
B1. I'm A Memory 
B2. Yours Love 
B3. I Can Cry Again
B4. That's Why I Love Her So 
B5. Today I Started Loving You Again