Nelson tackles the Great American Songbook, with covers of tracks by the likes of Irving Berlin, Hoagy Carmichael, the Gershwins, and others. It’s quite a musical departure from his “outlaw country” sound, although it would probably help to have some more of his outlaw country music before coming to this one to better delineate the contrast.
As it is, it’s a nice, delicate set of interpretations, with minimal orchestration, mostly carried along by Nelson’s voice and guitar, with a competent rhythm section that supports rather than gets in the way. The perkier numbers like Sunny Side Of The Street or All Of Me bounce along cheerily, while some of the slower numbers (e.g. Georgia On My Mind, Moonlight In Vermont, some others not about US States) are heartfelt without getting sentimental.
The version of Unchained Melody, for example, really benefits from this stripped-back feel, making you realise how the Righteous Brothers version, iconic is it is, obscures some of the emotion by being so hugely overblown in terms of singing. In this, it’s a little like how Dolly Parton’s original of I Will Always Love You is more powerful for it’s quietitude than Whitney Houston’s top-of-your-lungs cadenzas.
We’ve not really had many Great American Songbook standards since the Fifties, and this is a nice little nostalgic trip. Perhaps having Booker T on production values helps that Fifities-throwback feeling. I may not be very fashionable for 1978, but as a palate cleanser after all that punk and new wave, I was surprised how enjoyable it was.
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