Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)
was released in the fall of 1981, summarizing a remarkable seven-year stretch of extraordinary success that began when the iconoclastic
Red Headed Stranger
,
Willie Nelson
's first album for
Columbia
, which became a smash hit not long after its 1975 release. From that point on,
Nelson
became an American popular music icon and a fixture at the top of the
country
charts, something that was all the more remarkable because he rarely played it safe: he sang
pop
standards
, jammed like
the Grateful Dead
, recorded tributes to heroes like
Lefty Frizzell
, and did duet albums with both mentor
Ray Price
, and fellow maverick
Leon Russell
. It was a far-ranging, unpredictable body of work, with each individual album retaining its own distinctive character, and
Greatest Hits
manages to pull off the nifty trick of making sense of these records in two records (now one CD) and 20 songs. Sequenced like a set list, not according to strict chronological order, the collection manages to hit all the major singles, but does so judiciously, making sure each of the records and musical moods get equal pay. So, there is no overdose of
Stardust
material, and even album tracks like a moving version of
"Look What Thoughts Will Do"
get a hearing. Consequently, this
is far more than a mere recitation of familiar items. It is something much better -- a rounded, full-bodied portrait of
in all of his idiosyncratic splendor, which is about as much as could be asked from a hits collection. And that's why it's worth having, not just as an introduction, but just as a splendid listen on its own terms. [This version of the album includes bonus material.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine