Countryman

Among the most unusual entries in the string of genre experiments Willie Nelson undertook in the 2000s, Countryman contains a juxtaposition of elements that should not cooperate. Dub, reggae and ska versions of country songs, complete with pedal-steel solos and vocals from one of the most wizened voices of the American South? And yet it works. Nelson’s deeply felt but casual singing style is right at home in the world of Jamaican rhythm. There are stellar interpretations of early Nelson songs like “Undo the Right” and “Darkness On the Face of the Earth,” but even better are the songs he wrote specifically for this project, especially the opener, “Do You Mind Too Much If I Don’t Understand.” Johnny Cash’s “I’m a Worried Man” is well suited to the reggae treatment, and the recording makes a partnership out of Nelson’s casual delivery and Toots Hibbert’s impassioned vocalizing. Any remaining walls between country and reggae are completely demolished on the acoustic version of “The Harder They Come,” a sing-along that belongs equally to a campfire in the Old West and the beaches of Montego Bay.