Willie Nelson - Shotgun Willie [2LP]

Shotgun Willie is the sound of Willie Nelson shaking off Nashville and finding his outlaw voice, presented here as a 180-gram double LP in a gatefold jacket.

Released in 1973, it was his first album for Atlantic, cut largely in New York with Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin producing. After years of polished Nashville sessions that never quite captured him, Nelson finally got to make a record his way, mixing honky-tonk, Western swing and soul with the loose feel of his touring band. It set the stage for the run of classics that followed.

The title track, Shotgun Willie, opens with famously offhand lyrics and a groove that sounds like a band jamming in a Texas dance hall. Whiskey River, written by Johnny Bush, became one of Nelson's signature concert openers, while Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer) pays tribute to Bob Wills with help from Waylon Jennings and Doug Sahm. His aching reading of Leon Russell's A Song for You closes the record on a hushed, soulful note.

It is warm, ragged and full of personality, a turning point for one of country music's true originals. Spread across two discs, these songs sound as lived-in and generous as ever.