Let's Face the Music and Dance

by Willie Nelson

Overview

Once again repeating a pattern that's quite familiar from over the past two decades, Willie Nelson follows up his star-studded 2012 Legacy duet with Let's Face the Music and Dance, an intimate record of standards recorded with his longtime backing band, the Family. Apart from Willie's son Micah, there are no guests here -- just his sister Bobbie on piano, drummer Paul English, Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Kevin Smith on bass, Jim "Moose" Brown on organ, and Billy English batting cleanup on guitar and drum -- and the album sounds as if it were cut in the living room late one night, the bandmembers easing into songs they've always loved but never played. This may include Willie's original "Is the Better Part Over," a neglected tune from the late '80s, but the emphasis is on standards from the Great American Songbook, punctuated by a bit of Western swing and rockabilly (the latter arriving via a cover of Carl Perkins' "Matchbox"). While there's no denying Willie's voice sounds a little ragged -- scars of his 79 years are readily apparent -- it doesn't distract from the lazy, loping pleasures offered here, as the focus is not on the singing but the playing, how the Family is so familiar with their individual idiosyncrasies they sound like one seamless unit, easing from solo to solo, sometimes just enjoying their ragged, relaxed groove. So, there are no surprises on Let's Face the Music and Dance but there don't need to be: it is, as always, a pleasure to hear Willie & the Family play the music they love best. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	04/16/2013
Label:	Legacy / Sony Legacy
UPC:	0887654258526
Rank:	101731

Tracks

1. Let's Face the Music and Dance
2. Is the Better Part Over
3. You'll Never Know
4. Vous Et Moi
5. Walking My Baby Back Home
6. Matchbox
7. Twilight Time
8. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
9. I'll Keep on Loving You
10. I Wish I Didn't Love You So
11. South of the Border
12. Nuages
13. Marie (The Dawn Is Breaking)
14. Shame on You

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Willie Nelson   Primary Artist
Bobbie Nelson   Piano
Paul English   Drums (Snare)
Mickey Raphael   Harmonica
Kevin Smith   Bass (Upright)
Micah Nelson   Churango,Percussion
Billy English   Drums (Snare),Gut String Guitar

Technical Credits

Michel Luneau   Composer
Willie Nelson   Composer
Al Nevins   Composer
Butch Carr   Mixing
Andrew Mendelson   Mastering
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Carl Perkins   Composer
Fred E. Ahlert   Composer
Dorothy Fields   Composer
Mack Gordon   Composer
Vincent Rose   Composer
Harry Warren   Composer
Jacob Sciba   Assistant Engineer
Frank Harkins   Design,Art Direction
Spade Cooley   Composer
Frank Loesser   Composer
Steve Chadie   Engineer
Jimmy Kennedy   Composer
Irving Berlin   Composer
Django Reinhardt   Composer
Claude Francois   Composer
Richard Coburn   Composer
Roy Turk   Composer
Danny Clinch   Photography
Michael Carr   Composer
Buck Ram   Composer
David McClister   Cover Photo
Tom Hawkins   Guitar Technician
Daniel Bacigalupi   Mastering Assistant
Shannon Finnegan   Production Coordination
Morty Nevins   Composer
Joseph Holguin   Assistant Engineer
Christopher Durst   Band Photo
Adam Grover   Mastering Assistant
Jean Bourtayre   Composer
John Selman   Studio Production Coordinator
Buddy Cannon   Producer
Stuart Sullivan   Engineer