“Well its a bloody mary morning…” – Willie Nelson plays some spicy live licks
The wife and I went out for brunch this morning at a great spot just down the road from our London flat. This joint is renowned not just for their extensive and very tasty brunch fare, but also for their take on everybody’s favorite morning time potent potable: The Bloody Mary. Each of the three I had for breakfast was equally delicious.
The bloody mary is not only one of my fave drinks, it is one of my fave Willie Nelson songs. I have attached two versions here for you. The first is an absolutely SCORCHING live version by Willie and his Family Band (circa 1974). The cut comes from the 2006 collection called, The Complete Atlantic Session. Do yourself a favour and read this review from allmusic on the collection.
This collection is comprised of the studio records he recorded for Atlantic: Shotgun Willie & Phases & Stages (my two fave Willie sets). Each album has some bow-down quality outtakes included. The third CD is an unreleased live set called, “Live at the Texas Opry House”. You NEED to listen to this. It is one of my Top 10 fave live albums of all time. If you think you know Willie Nelson (for good or ill)…think again.
This set altered my view of Willie. This man was born to play live…did you know he could fast-pick like this? Listen for his solo at 1:28. If “hot shit” had a definition in Webster’s Dictionary, it would read: Willie Nelson and Trigger. Trigger is Willie’s guitar he has used for many a year (looks it!).
Have a listen to the live Bloody and then the album cut from, “Phases and Stages”.
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I can’t get enough Willie. I actually haven’t heard that live album, because out of all of the Willie that I have (and I’ve got a ton), I don’t have that box set. It’s been sitting on my purchase list for quite a while, and after reading this, it seems like I might need to bump it up on the priority list!
@addictedtovinyl Yes, Matt. Just when you thought a whole Ton o’ Willie was enough…this tiger crawls in your tank. If anyone wants a download of this live set…just say please.
Please!I’ve got a live Willie set I post too.