Willie Nelson: Songbird

CML call number: CD COUNTRY Nelson
Eric R. Danton wrote in his Hartford Courant blog, Sound Check: "Apparently almost everyone has covered Leonard Cohen's song 'Hallelujah.' … Cohen's version is moving, with a sardonic and pointed edge, as he asks in his deep voice, 'But you don't really care for music, do ya?' [Jeff] Buckley's version is pleading and passionate, as if he's desperate to be heard. Now there's a third version worth adding to the ranks: Willie Nelson's cover, which appears on his new album 'Songbird.' Produced by Ryan Adams and featuring Adams' band, the Cardinals, 'Songbird' features a soul-searing alt-country tune called 'Stella Blue' and a spectacular new recording of Nelson's classic 'Sad Songs and Waltzes' that sounds like vintage Willie rescued from the vaults. It also features 'Hallelujah,' and Nelson's version offers a third way, between Cohen's and Buckley's. Willie's cover is subdued and earnest, and his vocals circle the beat, sometimes a step ahead, sometimes a touch behind, the way a jazzman bends a melody to his own purposes. Cohen's version is still my favorite, but I sure do love the way Nelson's voice handles those lyrics."