Let's Face the Music and Dance (Willie Nelson album)

Let's Face the Music and Dance is the 61st studio album by American country singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. Nelson's second album under his contract with Legacy Recordings, it was released on April 16, 2013. The album produced by Buddy Cannon featured a collection of standards that Nelson and his sister Bobbie played throughout their careers.

Let's Face the Music and Dance
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 16, 2013 (2013-04-16)
StudioPedernales Recording (Spicewood, Texas)
GenreCountry, Rock, Jazz, Pop
Length48:17
LabelLegacy Recordings
ProducerBuddy Cannon
Willie Nelson chronology
Heroes
(2012)
Let's Face the Music and Dance
(2013)
To All the Girls...
(2013)

Recording

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Composed of pop, jazz, rock, and country music standards, the set also included a new version of Nelson's original "Is the Better Part Over" from his 1989 album A Horse Called Music. The album was recorded at Nelson's Pedernales studio in Austin, Texas, was produced by Buddy Cannon and later mixed by Butch Carr at Budro Music Repair Shop in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] The album focuses in his musical relation with his sister, Bobbie, as the standards were played by them during their childhood and throughout their musical career.[2]

Release and reception

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The second album by Nelson under his contract with Legacy Recordings, it was released on April 16, 2013.[1][3][4]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [6]
The Austin Chronicle     [7]
Exclaim!          [8]
Daily RecordFavorable.[9]
PopMatters          [10]

Allmusic rated the album with three stars out of five, Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the musicality, describing Nelson and The Family's sound as "one seamless unit".[6] The Austin Chronicle also rated the album with three stars out of five, and referred to Nelson's upcoming birthday, calling it "An exquisitely contemplative turn into 80".[7]

Meanwhile, Exclaim! praised Nelson's guitar playing and described the band as a "small combo playing songs as timeless as (Nelson's) wonderfully idiosyncratic voice".[8] Daily Record also favored his guitar playing as well as voice, also remarking Nelson's tendence to feature covers, instead of original songwriting in his recent recordings.[9] Popmatters rated the album with seven stars out of ten. The review praised Nelson's coordination with the band, describing the record as "a welcome effort; it’s comfortable, graceful, and uniformly pleasant".[10]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let's Face the Music and Dance"Irving Berlin3:23
2."Is The Better Part Over"Willie Nelson2:39
3."You'll Never Know"JC Young, Mack Gordon3:32
4."Vous Et Moi"Django Reinhardt3:23
5."Walkin' My Baby Back Home"Roy Turk, Fred E. Ahlert3:42
6."Matchbox"Carl Perkins2:40
7."Twilight Time"Buck Ram4:07
8."I Can’t Give You Anything But Love"Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields3:45
9."I’ll Keep On Loving You"Moon Mullican3:38
10."I Wish I Didn’t Love You So"Frank Loesser4:18
11."South Of The Border"Jimmy Kennedy; Michael Carr3:51
12."Nuages"Django Reinhardt3:37
13."Marie (The Dawn Is Breaking)"Irving Berlin3:07
14."Shame On You"Spade Cooley2:25
Total length:48:17

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart (2013) Peak
position
US Billboard Top Country Albums 16[11]
US Billboard 200 49

References

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  1. ^ a b "Legacy Recordings Set to Release Let's Face The Music And Dance, The New Album From Willie Nelson and Family, on Tuesday, April 16". Legacy Recordings. The Sacramento Bee. January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Dukes, Billy (March 6, 2013). "Willie Nelson Shares Stories, Inspiration Behind 'Let's Face the Music and Dance' Album – Exclusive Video". Taste of Country. tasteofcountry.com. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  3. ^ "Willie Nelson - Let's Face the Music and Dance". CMT.com. Country Music Television. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  4. ^ Stromblad, Cory (January 18, 2013). "Willie Nelson Sets Release Date for New 'Let's Face the Music and Dance' Album". Taste of country. tasteofcountry.com. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  5. ^ "Let's Face the Music and Dance by Willie Nelson". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  6. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Let's Face the Music and Dance". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Freeman, Doug (April 12, 2013). "Willie Nelson Let's Face the Music and Dance (Sony Legacy". Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Schneider, Jason (April 12, 2013). "Willie Nelson & Family Let's Face the Music and Dance". Exclaim!.ca. Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 2013-04-30. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  9. ^ a b Biese, Alex (April 21, 2013). "Willie Nelson at 80: 'Let's dance'". Daily Record. Gannett, Inc. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Leftridge, Steve (May 6, 2013). "Willie Nelson and Family: Let's Face the Music and Dance". PopMatters. PopMatters Meida, Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  11. ^ Jessen, Wade (April 25, 2013). "Casey Donahew Band Brings 'Red Dirt' Sound To Top 10". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 6, 2013.