{"id":4019,"date":"2015-03-23T18:02:25","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T23:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?page_id=4019"},"modified":"2015-05-20T12:33:21","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T17:33:21","slug":"willie-nelson-band-of-brothers-2014","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/music\/willie-nelson-band-of-brothers-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Band of Brothers (2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Willie Nelson, born in 1933 in Abbott, Texas, is \u201crecognized worldwide as an American troubadour and icon,\u201d and has \u201ctranscended musical genres and has remained relevant through five decades for his music\u201d (\u201cWillie Nelson\u201d). He is one of the greatest artists of all time, and his style of music has shaped both Nashville and Texas country over 50 years of producing music. He is one of the founders of Outlaw Country<\/a>, a subgenre that broke off in the 1970s where country artists demanded more creative control over their albums, and Nelson\u2019s albums after this reflected his unique style. He began in Nashville as a songwriter, with songs like \u201cCrazy\u201d and \u201cNight Life\u201d becoming hits. His music deals with \u201clove, heartache, rambling, and music-itself,\u201d something that has stayed the same even in his 2014 album Band of Brothers<\/em>, released at 81 years old (Hermes). His passion for music and conviction for producing the kind of music he wanted to make throughout the years, as well as his charity work and forays into acting, make him still extremely relevant today.<\/p>\n

Willie grew up during the Great Depression singing gospel music, got a guitar at age six, and \u201csoon started writing his own songs,\u201d later joining a local band, Bud Fletcher and the Texans (\u201cWillie Nelson\u201d). He moved to Nashville in 1960, when the Nashville Sound was just beginning, and Patsy Cline turned his song \u201cCrazy\u201d into a huge crossover hit. He worked as a songwriter, and it seemed that he himself could not be a successful singer in Nashville, he could only write hit songs for them. He had a \u201cgritty, road-house sound,\u201d and did not fit the traditional mold of the era, and so, in 1970, he returned to his home state of Texas, joining the growing Austin music scene (\u201cWillie Nelson\u201d). Here he developed a huge local following. His early 70s albums Shotgun Willie<\/em> and Phases and Stages<\/em> did very well on the country charts, but it was his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger<\/em> that had crossover success and made him known nationally.<\/p>\n

Willie Nelson still tours heavily, which is something he really loves to do, often spending hours \u201csigning autographs and meeting people\u201d after a show, showing a \u201cdeep commitment to his fans\u201d (\u201cWillie Nelson\u201d). Lately he has been experimenting in other genres, such as reggae, but Band of Brothers<\/em> is much more traditional Nelson than other recent albums. It is the first album of his in a very long time to feature \u201cpredominantly newly penned songs,\u201d because lately he had been doing covers of his old songs (Deusner). Even on some of the tracks he discusses how he was having difficulty writing and felt \u201cburned out by the writing process for years,\u201d like in \u201cGuitar in the Corner\u201d (O\u2019Neill). Band of Brothers<\/em> is unlike many late in life albums: it is a memoir of his life on the road, unlike other albums of this type like ones by Johnny Cash seek retribution for their sins. It is not inherently happy, because he had hardships from spending a majority of every year on the road in recent years, but it is also something he looks back on very fondly. The track \u201cBand of Brothers\u201d is an \u201code to all of those who have joined Willie at one point or another in his musical journey,\u201d and is a celebratory track about said journey (O\u2019Neill).<\/p>\n

Other tracks on the album deal with very different things. \u201cHard to Be an Outlaw<\/a>\u201d is the most bitter track on the album, and it deals with how new country music being produced in Nashville and played on the radio isn\u2019t country at all, saying \u201cthey go and call it country, but that ain\u2019t the way it sounds\u201d. The song is \u201cdark, dirgelike, and out of place\u201d among the happy songs that make up the rest of the album (Deusner). \u201cThe Wall<\/a>\u201d is a triumphant track about a life on the road, it is an autobiographical song that shows how when Willie reflects on his life, he is happy and celebratory about the immense amount of time he spent on tour. Sure, he talks about hitting the wall, implying how occasionally on tour he would feel like he would not be able to go on, but then he says the wall came down, showing how he overcame obstacles. The album ends with the track \u201cI\u2019ve Got a Lot of Traveling to Do<\/a>\u201d which is Willie looking to the future. If the \u201cfirst 13 tracks are looking back on a pretty amazing life,\u201d this track is showing how Willie still has a lot of years left in him (O\u2019Neill). He is 81 years old, but shows no signs of slowing down, and will probably be \u201ctouring\u2026long after we\u2019re all dead\u201d (Deusner).<\/p>\n

This album is one of only three Nelson albums to ever crack the Billboard Top 10, and this could be due to his large fanbase. While Blake Shelton was famously quoted as saying that \u201cold farts\u201d don\u2019t buy country music anymore, which is why the genre is changing, the fact that Willie Nelson\u2019s new album reached number one is testament that this is just not true. With his latest albums, Willie joins a \u201cresurgent crowd of country music greats\u201d who have had major chart successes recently, like Dolly Parton, and Johnny Cash towards the end of his life (Trigger). There is a new trend in country music where older artists who have not been as successful in recent years are releasing albums that end up producing major sales, and young people who previously did not listen to these artists are starting to. Another reason for the release of this album is that Willie\u2019s 2013 album was titled \u201cTo All The Girls\u2026\u201d, and was comprised completely of duets with female country stars. This album, on the other hand, is somewhat dedicated to men, with the title of \u201cBand of Brothers\u201d. It is Willie celebrating his life on the road and thanking everyone who has been along for the ride with him.<\/p>\n

The album is a response to all the tours Willie has gone on throughout the year, usually playing about \u201c150 to 200 dates a year,\u201d and especially the heavy touring he endured to promote Band of Brothers<\/em>. His life and career have been very long and unique, with acting, charity work, and forays into other genres of music. Only one of the songs, \u201cHard to Be an Outlaw,\u201d deals with country music at the time, the others are just Willie writing about his great and interesting life. He still sings about love with an \u201cold-school approach to country songwriting,\u201d and it reflects his very interesting love life through the years (Deusner). His voice has \u201cgained new grain over the years\u201d but continues to remain \u201cindelibly creaky\u201d in his signature singing style (Deusner, Hermes). Overall, the album deals with universal themes: friendship, love, and hardship.<\/p>\n

\n

Tracks<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cBring it On\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cGuitar in the Corner\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cThe Wall\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. \u201cWhenever You Come Around\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. \u201cWives and Girlfriends\u201d<\/li>\n
  6. \u201cI Thought I Left You\u201d<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cSend Me a Picture\u201d<\/li>\n
  8. \u201cUsed to Her\u201d<\/li>\n
  9. \u201cThe Git Go (feat. Jamey Johnson)\u201d<\/li>\n
  10. \u201cBand of Brothers\u201d<\/li>\n
  11. \u201cHard to Be an Outlaw\u201d<\/li>\n
  12. \u201cCrazy Like Me\u201d<\/li>\n
  13. \u201cThe Songwriters\u201d<\/li>\n
  14. \u201cI\u2019ve Got a Lot of Traveling to Do\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Works Cited<\/p>\n

    \u201cWillie Nelson.\u201d Bio<\/em>. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 9 March 2015.<\/p>\n

    Deusner, Stephen M. \u201cWillie Nelson Band of Brothers.\u201d Pitchfork<\/em>. Pitchfork, 20 June 2014. Web. 1 March 2015.<\/p>\n

    Hermes, Will. \u201cBand of Brothers.\u201d Rolling Stone<\/em>. Rolling Stone, 19 June 2014. Web. 9 March 2015.<\/p>\n

    O\u2019Neill, Darren. \u201cAn Excellent Album That Shows Willie Can Still Write A Great Song.\u201dAmazon<\/em>. Amazon, 17 June 2014. Web. 9 March 2015.<\/p>\n

    Trigger. \u201cWillie Nelson Hits #1 with New \u2018Band of Brothers\u2019 Album.\u201d Saving Country Music.<\/em> Saving Country Music, 25 June 2014. Web. 22 March 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Willie Nelson, born in 1933 in Abbott, Texas, is \u201crecognized worldwide as an American troubadour and icon,\u201d and has \u201ctranscended musical genres and has remained relevant through five decades for his music\u201d (\u201cWillie Nelson\u201d). He is one of the greatest … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"parent":18,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4019","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4019"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4914,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4019\/revisions\/4914"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}