Honeysuckle Rose [Bonus Tracks] in Bloomington, MN

The
soundtrack
to
Honeysuckle Rose
is an anomaly in the genre. It is really a collection of songs by
Willie Nelson
and his
Family
band as well as a host of friends like
Jody Payne
,
Johnny Gimble
Amy Irving
Hank Cochran
Jeannie Seely
Kenneth Threadgill
Dyan Cannon
, and
Emmylou Harris
, all of it set in a concert-like atmosphere and performed live in front of an audience. Now it's true that
Nelson
is the hero of the movie, but the movie hardly matters when it comes to the
because it stands so well as a document on its own.
Cochran
's performances are as inspiring as anything he ever did in his life.
's readings of his own tunes like
"Bloody Mary Morning,"
"On the Road Again,"
"Pick Up the Tempo,"
"Heaven or Hell,"
and others are solid, inspired, and rollicking. His versions of tunes written by
Kris Kristofferson
(
"Loving Her Was Easier Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again"
),
Rodney Crowell
"Angel Eyes"
), and
Lee Clayton
"If You Could Touch Her at All"
) blow away the studio versions. And the duets with
Cannon
Harris
Irving
are moving and direct. The sound is much improved on this remastered version with a real bass presence and far less crowd noise during the performances. [A 2003 release added three bonus tracks.] ~ Thom Jurek