Willie Nelson – Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle Music CD

Review

"We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee," Willie Nelson sings through a cloud of irony thicker than the haze on his tour bus.

America's biggest nonagenarian stoner is, of course, singing Merle Haggard's anti-marijuana screed "Okie from Muskogee." And the joke is nearly as delicious as hearing Bobbie Nelson and Paul English playing alongside Willie once again.

All of this happens on Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle. It's Nelson's 78th solo studio LP and features 10 additional Haggard compositions and the final recordings of drummer English, who died in 2020, and Little Sister Bobbie, who died in 2022.

The result is an otherwise-impossible Family band reunion. And the joy is palpable as Willie calls tinkling piano solos with "play it, Little Sister," answers her on Trigger and sings behind the beat of English's lightly brushed signature snare.

Harmonica blower Mickey Raphael adds plaintive textures to the songs he co-produced with Nelson and the pair wisely included playful studio banter to accompany such titles as the Grateful Dead-adjacent "Mama Tried," "Workin' Man Blues," "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down," "Mama Tried" and "Somewhere Between."

Come for the irony. Stay for the memories

— Kristopher Weiss, Relix

Product Details

Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle is Willie Nelson's 78th solo studio album and 155th album overall. It features Willie's new interpretations of classic songs written by Merle Haggard, the latest in Nelson's storied history of focusing entire albums on a single songwriter's or artist's work. 

Nelson and Haggard were longtime friends and collaborators who released three collaborative albums together: 1983's Pancho and Lefty, 2007's Last of the Breed (alongside Ray Price), and 2015's Django and Jimmie. Eleven of Willie's favorite Merle compositions were handpicked for the album. 

Nelson's new performances include songs from various parts of the legend's career, from tracks off of Merle's first #1 Country album, 1966's Swinging Doors ("Swinging Doors," "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down") and late 60s career defining hits ("Mama Tried," "Okie From Muskogee") to 70s classics (the heart-breaking holiday track "If We Make It Through December," the southern-rock tinged "Ramblin' Fever") and Merle's #1 honky-tonk classic from 1980 "I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink."

Produced by the artist with longtime collaborator Mickey Raphael, the album was recorded at Nelson's Pedernales Studios in Austin and features the final recordings he did alongside longtime Family band members "Sister Bobbie" Nelson and Paul English. Constants in Nelson's personal and professional world longer than anyone, Sister Bobbie on piano and English on drums are joined by Raphael on harmonica, Kevin Smith on bass, and Paul's brother Billy English on drums and percussion.