Willie Nelson: Live at the US Festival

Willie Nelson was at a career peak when he appeared at the Apple-sponsored 1983 US Festival. Nelson was 50 years old at the time, coming off a stretch in which works like The Red-Headed Stranger and Stardust (one of the first and best examples of a contemporary artist interpreting the Great American Songbook) had established him as a leader of country music's so-called “outlaw” movement and a potent commercial force. This 23-song show is typical, a career-spanning set that includes Nelson-penned standards (“Crazy,” “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Night Life”), more recent hits (“Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “On the Road Again,” “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground”), a few chestnuts (“Georgia on My Mind, “ “All of Me”), and an uninspired and technically questionable guest appearance by fellow outlaw Waylon Jennings—whose two duets include “Good Hearted Woman,” which Nelson had performed by himself just three songs earlier! Surprisingly, considering the size of the venue (the brand new amphitheater at the Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, CA) and the magnitude of the event, the concert itself is somewhat perfunctory. But the material is good, and the band, featuring Mickey Raphael on harmonica and Nelson playing up a storm on his battered old acoustic guitar, is tight and strong; indeed, once they get rolling, their extended jams come off rather like a country version of the Grateful Dead. Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, this is recommended. [Note: also newly available is Waylon Jennings: Live at the US Festival.] (S. Graham)