Album number 73: Just in time for the 20th anniversary of his death (and just before his own crazy 90s party) Willie Nelson proves Harlan Howard with I Don’t Know A Thing About Love his well deserved tribute.
A Beautiful Time was perceived last year primarily as a very formidable farewell album. But while the nicest thing is that Willie Nelson’s story is by no means over, closes I Don’t Know A Thing About Love even went a little further in this respect: following all, Harlan Howard was the one who gave Nelson his first job (at Pamper Music) gab.
From the extensive repertoire of the country songwriter legend, the probably even greater legend Nelson has now taken ten songs and recorded them with his grandiose backing band under the direction of Buddy Cannon.
During the production of the record (like last time in this constellation) the subjective blemish is buried, because once once more Cannon’s sound seems too sterile and smooth for Nelson’s voice (here and there almost smooth-ironed), which is why a more economical instrumental approach presumably the emotionally more immediate option to the material would have been where I Don’t Know A Thing About Love so now sometimes occurs too much designed for entertainment.
Especially in the first third of the record, in the two lively and lively pieces that come along Tiger by the Tail and Excuse Me (I Think I’ve Got a Heartache) (interestingly also the two numbers co-written by Buck Owens), this is particularly noticeable, especially since the predictable sequencing here alternately inserts two fine nostalgic-romantic floating numbers – The Chokin‘ Kind and quite grandiose Life Turned Her That Way are by the way also exemplary for the kitschy sentimentality that Cannon generally smoothly tailors to the aesthetics of the clean body, and above all in the hit of the dignified title song pounder as well as the comfortably babbling finale Too Many Rivers and Beautiful Annabel Lee even flirting with the lard.
With a peaceful harmonica and a nonchalantly jingling piano, Nelson and Co. create a pleasing country comfort zone. Streets of Baltimore is exemplary calm and shows fabulously relaxed musicians leaning back, who almost tend towards a cool jam in the casually strolling busted with bluesy groove, meanwhile She Called Me Baby swaying flippantly with his somewhat too frontal chorus in the bar.
However, not enough really wants to stand out from the soulful, but also incidentally accompanying, through and through routine whole – the most outstanding thing is the rather grandiose artwork by Micah Nelson, despite all the love.
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