One for the Road

 (24 customer reviews)

It's worth the price of the entire album just to get one tune: Ridin' down the Canyon. If you've ever lived in the Southwest, this song will give you goose pimples and maybe even bring tears to your eyes. It evokes the romantic beauty of the Sonoran Desert like nothing else I've heard or seen.And if you have a soft spot in your heart for old tunes and the old west, hearing Willie & Leon harmonizing on Sioux City Sue and Don't Fence Me In will make you smile.I had this album on tape many years ago, but somehow lost it. I've mourned the loss ever since. Just now I found the empty cassette box, and realized I might be able to find the album on Amazon. I'm ordering it because it's a treasure chest of rare beauties.

Despite equal billing, this is really a Willie Nelson album with Leon as his special guest. The songs are mostly, if not exclusively, covers of old songs. Many are from the Great American Songbook, but there are others including Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis Presley), Danny Boy (a traditional Irish folk song), I saw the light (Hank Williams) and Wild side of life (Hank Thompson).In typical Willie Nelson style, many of these songs are done in a more laid-back style - this is particularly noticeable on Don't fence me in (the Cole Porter song that was a huge success for Bing Crosby and the Andrews sisters) and Heartbreak hotel. Whether you enjoy these versions will depend on your personal taste. I enjoy them as a contrast to the originals, but the originals are still the best.Willie and Leon are more in keeping with the originals on ballads such as Always (the Irving Berlin classic) and Far away places (one of my favorite Margaret Whiting songs).If, like me, you enjoy Willie's other...Read more

This one should be in the stable of every Willie Nelson fan. It also features Leon Russell, but he is clearly the sideman on this album. It contains many old sentimental favorites (Autumn Leaves,Danny Boy), haunting torch songs ( Because of You, Stormy Weather), and even western ballads (Don't Fence Me In, Ridin' Down the Canyon). The selection of songs is fantastic. One drawback is the age of the album, which has a channel-to-channel vascillation. One assumes this is to approximate true stereo. I had the eight track of this album years ago, and the CD sounds the same, hence four stars instead of five. But-this minor issue is eclipsed by the talent of Nelson and Russell singing together. Fans of the Stardust album will welcome this collection of twenty songs as an asset to their library. I couldn't imagine not owning a copy.