Funny How Time Slips Away (with Faron Young)

Country music fans of course have lots of things to be thankful to Willie Nelson for. One area that is often overlooked when the praises begin rolling out is some of his recording projects from the '80s. At that point, Nelson had achieved massive commercial success with a project his record label had apparently fought him tooth and nail against releasing. This was the album of standards entitled Stardust, and after it had sold more than a million copies, the honchos at Columbia basically decided to let Nelson do whatever he wanted, within reason. With the intensity of a thirsty bricklayer diving into a six-pack after a hard day, Nelson went right to work putting out duet projects with some of his favorite traditional country singers, most of whom had been having trouble getting albums out at all as the country audience shifted to disco. The charming photography reveals Nelson in a jean jacket while Faron Young has on a tux. Judging musicians from their clothing has never been useful, however, and this is no exception. The two really have a lot in common, above and beyond the fact that Nelson wrote Young's biggest hits, many of which are reprised here. Both men come from the hard-edged Texas country scene, so the tracks tend to have a honky tonk quality. And both performers have skirted the line of acceptability in country by doing songs that are considered too "depressing." This album includes more than one side's worth of numbers written for Young by Nelson as well as performances of songs that are heavily associated with Young, such as the kicking "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young." In terms of material here, there is nothing really suprising — but the performances are outstanding, featuring such superb pickers as pedal steel guitarist Buddy Emmons and fiddler Johnny Gimble. Considering the restrictive atmosphere in Nashville studios when some of these songs were done the first time around, a case could even be made that these tracks are improvements over the originals, considering the clear recording quality and the more relaxed interplay of the musicians. A main attraction is hearing these great singers trade verses, an experience that could convince skeptical listeners of the relation between country and jazz. Some of the duo projects with Nelson fell flat, such as the ill-fated one with Roger Miller. But this baby is a winner all the way.