The always prolific Willie Nelson is about to release his 72nd studio album and, for the first time in three years, it contains original compositions.
Willie’s last two albums were salutes to George Gershwin and Ray Price (both 2016) full of covers. You have to go back to 2014’s Band of Brothers for an album that contains an original Nelson composition, a bit too long for one of the great songwriters of the country tradition.
God’s Problem Child contains thirteen tracks, seven of which were composed with Nelson’s longtime writing partner Buddy Cannon. Other writers include Sonny Throckmorton, Mark Johnson, Gary Nicholson and Donnie Fritz among others.
The title song was written by Jamey Johnson and Tony Joe White who both sing on the track along with Leon Russell in what would be his last recorded performance.
An album that reflects on mortality while marvelling at the beauty and absurdity of it all, God’s Problem Child finds Willie Nelson at one of the creative peaks of his career, writing and singing with the seasoned wit and wisdom that can only come from the kind of life he’s living. One of Willie’s new songs, Still Not Dead, pokes fun at the many exaggerated reports of his demise he’s heard over the years while Delete and Fast-Forward is Willie’s unabashed analysis of the 2016 United States elections and how to deal with the aftermath.
God’s Problem Child opens with Willie’s performance of Little House On The Hill, a song written by Lyndel Rhodes, Buddy Cannon’s 92-year-old mother. Last October, a video of Lyndel hearing Willie singing her song for the first time, became an internet viral sensation.
In keeping with the album’s subtext of memory and mortality, God’s Problem Child closes with He Won’t Ever Be Gone, a song written by Gary Nicholson that pays tribute to Willie’s outlaw country comrade, Merle Haggard. Haggard’s last album was 2015’s Django and Jimmie, a musical collaboration with Willie Nelson.
God’s Problem Child will be released on CD, vinyl and through digital download sites.
The track list:
Little House On The Hill (Lyndel Rhodes)
Old Timer (Donnie Fritz / Lenny LeBlanc)
True Love (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
Delete And Fast Forward (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
A Woman’s Love (Mike Reid / Sam Hunter)
Your Memory Has A Mind Of Its Own (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
Butterfly (Sonny Throckmorton / Mark Sherrill)
Still Not Dead (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
God’s Problem Child (Jamey Johnson / Tony Joe White)
It Gets Easier (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
Lady Luck (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
I Made A Mistake (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
He Won’t Ever Be Gone (Gary Nicholson)
