POPCORNER
Red-headed, but no stranger
by Seth Rogovoy(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Sept. 5, 1996) -- "We don't run, we don't compromise, we don't quit, we never do," sings Willie Nelson on "We Don't Run," a song off his latest album, "Spirit" (Island). The line could well serve as the motto for the 63-year-old musician who some call a country singer and others consider simply one of America's greatest cultural icons. For if there is one thread that runs throughout Nelson's 40-year career in music, it is his refusal to make concessions and his longstanding commitment to answering only to himself.
Nelson performs next Wed., Sept. 11 in the Night Shift Cafe's outdoor, Courtyard Series at Mass MoCA in North Adams. Tickets are available at Strawberries outlets or by calling 663-7646.
It is Nelson's unforgiving spirit of independence that got him branded an "outlaw" in the 1970s, when after years of being ignored by the Nashville establishment, he struck out on his own, and in so doing revolutionized country music with albums like "Red Headed Stranger" and "Phases and Stages." Their spare production and rootsy values flew in the face of the bland, corporate country sound then prevalent. Then, in a move that had record company executives scratching their heads if not questioning his sanity, Nelson insisted on following up these efforts with "Stardust," an album of pop and jazz standards. They balked, he insisted, he won, and the result was Hoagy Carmichael and Irving Berlin enjoyed chart-topping country hits and Nelson had a hit album on the pop charts for over two years.
Nelson's career is full of such ironies. He is a prolific recording artist and songwriter with over 100 albums to his credit, yet he can't seem find a home with one record company. In the last four years alone, he has had albums out on Columbia, Rhino, Liberty, Justice, Scotti Bros. and Island. He is also a movie star of sorts, having appeared in "Electric Horseman," "Honeysuckle Rose," "Thief," "Song-Writer" and "Redheaded Stranger," often playing roles resembling himself. Yet in the last 10 years, he is perhaps best known for two other accomplishments: as the prime organizing force behind the annual "Farm Aid" concerts that raise money for American family farmers, and for his long-running battle with the Internal Revenue Service over an outstanding tax bill of some $9 million. (He settled up with the I.R.S. in 1993.)
All of this, of course, is beside the point, as his new album, self- produced at his home studio in Austin, Texas, makes clear. Recorded sparely with just acoustic fiddle, guitar and piano backup, the album harkens back to the simplicity of "Red Headed Stranger." It is an intimate work full of country-laced, folk-, pop- and gospel-flavored originals, with Nelson's signature guitar licks and his haunting, conversational baritone mixed way out front where it belongs. It suggests that, if Nelson hasn't quite settled down -- after all, this is a man who wrote the perplexing lines, "Still is still moving to me" -- he has taken the time to think about matters of the spirit as much as matters of the heart.
Spotlight
Folk legend Pete Seeger headlines the all-day, 1996 Housatonic River Festival this Sunday, Sept. 8, at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge from noon to 6. The bill also features an all-star cast of Berkshire musicians, including singer-songwriter Bernice Lewis, David Grover -- who has a long history of sharing stages with Seeger dating back to his days backing Arlo Guthrie in Shenandoah -- gospel singer Vikki True, country outfit Out of the Blue, Cliff Brodeur and Bowey the Clown. The festival, sponsored by the Housatonic River Initiative, will also feature food, children's activities and dancing. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for children, and are available at Jamie's Appliance World, Mail Boxes Etc. and Wood Brothers Music in Pittsfield, Apple Tree Books in Lee and Tune Street in Great Barrington. Proceeds from the festival will go the Housatonic River Initiative's educational programs. The Rockwell museum will also offer half-price admission for the day. For more information call 499-6112.
Backstage bits
African percussion master Babatunde Olatunji will be bringing his Drums of Passion ensemble to Kripalu in Lenox next Saturday, Sept. 14, at 7:30. Call 448-3185 for more information....What a coup getting Modern Jazz Quartet founder John Lewis and composer/trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to play "For the Books: An Evening of Standards to Benefit the Lenox Library," on Oct. 12 at Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood. One senses the magical workings of the invisible hand of Music Inn co-founder Stephanie Barber behind the program....
Female singer-songwriters Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega have new albums due out next month. Advance listens to them reveal that in both cases they feature some of the best work of their careers....
Rhino Records is releasing a two-CD anthology of Warren Zevon songs next month. "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Warren Zevon Anthology" will include 44 tracks, including three previously unreleased soundtrack recordings and songs from his Hindu Love Gods album recorded with members of R.E.M. That band is also coming out with new music in a few weeks.
[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Sept. 5, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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