Willie Nelson: Red Headed Stranger

Continuing my focus on the music of 1975, today’s selection is from album #4 on my Top 20 list, and the best Country album of the year (I would argue this is the best Country album ever recorded). The 1970s saw Willie Nelson branch out very quickly from his 1960s songwriting style into a more progressive, modern, conceptual vision of country music. His 1974 album Phases and Stages started his move toward this new style, but it was his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger that solidified his standing as an American music icon. 50 years later, and this album is recognized as one of the greatest country albums ever recorded. It has been included in the National Recording Registry and anyone who understands the evolution of American music in the 20th Century knows that this album presents a timeless combination of country music styles from across the decades. Most country albums of the 1960s and 70s were released with one or two slickly produced Nashville sound singles and 8 to 10 tracks of forgettable filler. Red Headed Stranger does not follow this model. Produced using minimal instrumentation, none of the songs, even the hit single “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain,” sound like a single. This is a true concept album that demands to be heard in its entirety. It is interesting that 1975 saw two Americana songwriting legends (Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson) record albums that still sound timeless. Music from 1976 on was about to change dramatically, and Blood on the Tracks (Dylan) and Red Headed Stranger stand together as a perfect bookend to everything that came before.

I won’t attempt to detail the background information of the album. You can read about that here.

If you are interested in other years, check out my Year in Review series.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

• Best of 1975