Rainbow Connection in Bloomington, MN

The cliche about children's albums by "adult" artists is that they're for grownups too. In this case, that's literally true, as Willie Nelson cannily conceived RAINBOW CONNECTION as a "family album" that moves chronologically from childhood concerns to more adult considerations (and compositions). The disc kicks off with the beloved title song, which hails from the famed kids' show SESAME ST., eventually moving through everything from the multi-generational confusion of the comic "I'm My Own Grandpa" to to the me-and-my-dog ballad "Ol' Blue."

Though this album has a homemade feel accentuated by the sparse, mostly acoustic arrangements (Nelson is often accompanied by only two other musicians), Willie adds a bit of Western Swing flavor and jazzy guitar licks to "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover" and "Won't You Ride in My Little Red Wagon." The "adult" song cycle that ends the album includes the rounder's tragedy "Playin' Dominoes and Shootin' Dice," the classic blues "Outskirts of Town," and two songs by country troubadour Mickey Newbury. The first is "I Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was in)," on which Nelson diplomatically pretends ignorance of the tune's drug metaphors. The second is the album-closer "The Thirty-Third of August," a mature song of intense self-examination that is the perfect ending to this all-ages song cycle.