Willie Nelson – Countryman

Artist: Willie Nelson

Title: Countryman

Label: Lost Highway

Rating: 5/10

CORPORATE LINE: After nearly a decade of gestation, Willie Nelson’s long-lost, and first, reggae set is at last complete. The seed of this project took root in late 1995, sprung from the mind of famed producer Don Was. Nelson and his manager Mark Rothbaum flew to Jamaica to meet with Island Records president and founder Chris Blackwell. Don had been speaking with both Blackwell and Nelson about the prospect of creating a reggae-infused country album and both men were intrigued. Blackwell was the ideal collaborator. Not only was he the person who introduced rock audiences to the world of reggae but likewise introduced them to Bob Marley. As a versatile, well-connected music aficionado, he could realize this marriage of country and reggae the way few others could.

In fact, the two genres are compatible in many ways, and not as distant stylistically as one might initially imagine. Toots Hibbert proved it with his triumphant version of “Country Roads” and the renown reggae group the Melodians were the first to turn the gospel/bluegrass classic “Rivers of Babylon,” (also previously covered by Willie) into a full-on reggae classic. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that reggae is sometimes referred to as Jamaica’s “country music,” being that both forms have drawn similar lyrical content from everyday matters and share a foundation in spiritual and gospel music. Countryman is Willie’s impassioned tribute to the upstroke sound of Jamaica, an irie voyage to the land of dub and dreadlocks. Willie takes a handful of his own classics and filters them through a reggae prism, peppering them with his nylon acoustic guitar, pedal steel, dobro, harmonica and the familiar comforts of country, while bringing drums and bass to the forefront, yard style.

So, after a journey lasting over a decade, Willie’s Jamaican vision at last sees the bright light of day. While it’s just one in a long line of hyphenated hybrid projects the versatile genius has created over the years, this Countryman feels, by the sound of it, genuinely comfortable amid the island breezes of Jamaica.

THE GREAT:
“The Harder They Come” – Nelson’s redux of the Jimmy Cliff classic is one of the few tracks worth holding onto.

THE AVERAGE:
“I’m A Worried Man,” “The Harder They Come,” and “Darkness On The Face of the Earth” – All are nice to listen to however they aren’t exactly what you’d want to hear over and over again. It’s a shame—these tracks have the tendency to sound like classics because of Nelson’s gruff voice and yet they don’t have the foundation to back it up.

“Something To Think About” – Seems completely out of place.

THE BAD:
Some come close.

FRANKLY: The tracks are highly produced and that makes Nelson seem out of place. When you think of Reggae slick production isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Nelson’s voice does seem to fit the mold but the rest seems out of context. Most of the album sounds like Willie recorded it in one place and the music was done somewhere else. Without the consistency it’s hard to really get into the songs.

+ Rae Gun