Still life in the old Willie
Reporter: Dawn Marsden
Date published: 08 June 2010
BEATS:
US country singer Willie Nelson likes to try his hand at as many musical styles as possible.
The 77-year-old Texan has just released his new album “American Classic” and he will showcase new tracks when he takes to the stage at the Manchester Apollo on Thursday.
As a Nashville artist in the 1960s, Nelson himself penned more than a few tunes that have arguably become American classics themselves, including “Crazy”, “Night Life” and the sublime “Funny How Time Slips Away.”
But that was just the prologue for the iconic singer-songwriter who would redraw the borders of country music in the 1970s after moving back to Texas and settling in the musical melting pot of Austin.
Along with fellow traveller Waylon Jennings, Nelson was labelled the outlaw of the genre, but he was more visionary than rebel, especially with the way he attracted rock fans to take a closer look at country.
He scaled even greater chart heights by singing with Julio Iglesias on “To All the Girls I Loved Before”.
