Willie Nelson: Crazy: The Demo Sessions

By GRAHAM REID

(Label: * * * *)

There are many Nelsons out there: the outlaw country singer, MOR entertainer just a haircut short of a Vegas engagement, crazy ol' dope-smokin' Willie, Tex-Mex Willie ...

So I declare right off my preference for this kind of Willie, the singer-songwriter in the studio - half the songs are just him sitting with his guitar - exploring the nuances of his lyrics, distinctively dragging his voice behind the beat, keeping it simple.

This is a collection of one-take studio demos from the early 60s, a number coming in under the two-minute mark and most pretty melancholy. Along with a band version of the title track, which Patsy Cline took to number two on the country charts, there's also a bleak solo version of Permanently Lonely, the cautionary Are You Sure?, and his working drawings for songs (such as Darkness on the Face of the Earth which appeared on the recent Teatro) which he would later revisit.

The band tracks sometimes crackle with energy or engage in melancholy steel guitar (the moving Something to Think About), but the best here is in the introspective solo tracks. Either way, it's Willie for willing.

Label: Elite