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To Lefty From Willie

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Willie Nelson

 
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To Lefty From Willie
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Further proof of traditional country music's unending appeal

  • We Say...

    Review by Billy Altman

    Having helped turn the country-music establishment upside down in the first half of the 1970s via the Texas-based "Outlaw" movement led by him and longtime pal Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson used his ascendancy to long-in-the-making superstardom in the mid '70s to try and reacquaint audiences with numerous bedrock country traditions that the Nashville gatekeepers had all but buried during the previous decade with their pop-obsessed crossover dreams. One of those traditions was honky-tonk, the barroom- and dancehall-friendly music honed to near perfection in the early 1950s by the iconic Lefty Frizzell. Arguably the single most influential vocalist in all of country music history, Frizzell was also a gifted songwriter who authored many of his biggest hits, and Nelson's triumph here is getting beneath the lyrics and melodies of these old familiar tunes and getting to their essential core. Whether light (the boot-scootin' "If You've Got The Money I've Got The Time") or heavy (the haunting "Look What Thoughts Can Do"), nostalgic ("Mom And Dad Waltz") or fatalistic ("That's The Way Loves Goes"), Nelson simultaneously makes these well-worn classics his own while also paying clear, heartfelt tribute to one of his spiritual mentors. And by the way: This album reached number two on the country music charts in 1977 — proving Willie's point about the artistic value, and unending appeal, of traditional country music.

  • They Say...

    Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

    The remastered and expanded edition of To Lefty From Willie, truly one of Willie Nelson's classic recordings, is worth the cash for a number of reasons. The first is that it features as its lone bonus track an absolutely killer rendition of "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" from a different recording session. It's live in the studio and blows away the version of Willie and Family Live. Another is that the sound brings a warmth to this set that was missing from the shrill transfer of the set when it first appeared on CD. Finally, and most importantly, this remaster presents yet another opportunity for fans and those who may be discovering Nelson for the first time to become acquainted with two of the most kindred spirits in the history of country music. Nelson and Lefty Frizzell were made for each other. Frizzell composed songs that were meant to be sung. Their meanings came out in the grain of the singer's voice, and this was certainly true on his own recordings. Nelson, who arguably has the most recognizable male voice in the history of the music with the possible exception of George Jones, turns Frizzell's words into emotions before sending them out into a microphone. These narratives, broken love songs, memories, and ruminations on the blessings and hardships of life are living entities in Nelson's interpretations. "Mom and Dad's Waltz" has no false sentimentality. "I Love You a Thousand Ways" is a declaration without boasting. "Always Late With Your Kisses" is sung with a kind of stunned resignation and heartbroken longing that is taking place in the present in the protagonist's very being. "I Never Go Around Mirrors" is one of the most soothing honky tonk songs ever recorded -- especially when the subject matter is so wrenching. Nelson takes the edge off, but as a result the song becomes even sadder. The acceptance in "That's the Way Love Goes" is one where the reward for patience is still one that can be squandered with a false move and one in which that false move can never be known. The way Nelson turns the chorus in on itself and makes it a statement of undying love irregardless of the circumstances or whatever comes next underlines the uniqueness of Frizzell's lyric. The album proper ended with Nelson performing a song by Jimmy Buffett and Jerry Jeff Walker. The reason is not clear, but it feels like Frizzell might have written it, and Nelson delivers it in the same phrasing he uses for all of the Frizzell tunes. To Lefty From Willie is known as the great lost Nelson record, and though it did get to number two, it remains one of his least well-known outings but is certainly one of the best.

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