Milestones

Willie Nelson

Name: Willie Nelson – Phases And Stages
Item: Phases And Stages
Author: Federico Romagnoli

Phases And Stages

1974 (Atlantic)

outlaw country

by Federico Romagnoli

With 31.5 million certified albums in the US market, Willie Nelson is the best-selling artist country among those who debuted within the the Sixties: not even Johnny Cash e Dolly Parton can withstand the comparison.

Yet his career took off only with great difficulty, and for many years he was considered unsuited to winning over a mainstream audience.

Nelson was born in 1933 in Abbott, a town of three hundred people in the heart of Texas. Abandoned by both parents, he and his sister Bobbie were raised by their paternal grandparents, who passed on to him a love of music. Willie and Bobbie sang in the local church choir and learned to play instruments as children, guitar and piano respectively. Growing up in a rural area of the American South, it was only natural that he'd fall in love with country music, but he also came into contact with jazz, which would go on to shape his approach considerably.

Starting in 1950, when he dropped out of school, Nelson's life turned into something like a novel: he drifted across the United States, criss-crossing it from Washington State to California, from Oregon to Missouri, then back to Texas again. He took on every kind of job imaginable, whether connected to music (radio host, singer in bars and taverns) or not (door-to-door salesman, dishwasher). Left flat broke more than once, to the point of having to beg for train fare, he always managed to get back on his feet.

In 1959 he finally entered the music world for good, thanks to the interest of producer Larry Butler, whom he met at thehonky tonk Esquire Ballroom, in Houston [note 1].

His songs began to win favor with managers and record executives, who pitched them to the country singers popular at the time: between 1960 and 1963 his songwriting produced a string of tracks destined to become classics. They were recorded by the likes of Claude Gray ("Family Bible"), Faron Young ("Hello Walls"), Billy Walker ("Funny How Time Slips Away", soon covered by Jimmy Elledge with even greater success), Patsy Cline ("Crazy") and Ray Price ("Nite Life"). Even Roy Orbison, who despite recording in Nashville at the time had no ties to the country audience, scored a hit with his "Pretty Paper".

Several attempts to establish himself as a singer went nowhere, until in 1962 he managed to reach number 7 on the country chart with "Touch Me", for Liberty Records. That same year also saw the release of his debut album, "...And Then I Wrote", which unfortunately turned out to be a flop. Shortly afterward, Liberty, crushed by financial troubles it would never recover from, shut down its country division.

In 1965 Nelson found a home at RCA Victor, which at the time was the label that embodied the Nashville soundmore than any other, country music with choirs, strings, piano and polished textures, in stark contrast with the style honky tonk that had captivated Nelson as a young man [note 2].

Nelson would never truly feel at ease during his time at RCA, which lasted until 1972 and yielded no fewer than thirteen studio albums. Not only did none of them ever crack Billboard's weekly Top 200, but the singles pulled from them fared no better, managing just two measly Top 20 country placements out of twenty-two releases.

Although in retrospect the records from that period hold up well, at the time his vocal style was probably perceived as out of step with the rest of the local industry: his nasal tone was closer to honky tonk than to Nashville sound, not to mention his jazz-inflected phrasing, with flourishes that often left him ahead of or behind the beat.

In 1969 Nelson switched guitars, buying an acoustic Martin, but fitted it with some electric components salvaged from the Baldwin he had retired. The result was an amplified acoustic, with which he hoped to better emulate the style of French jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Unfortunately, the new guitar wouldn't get its due until after the artist left RCA.

Frustrated by years of failure, even though the label had never dropped him, Nelson withdrew from the music world, only to change his mind a few months later and sign with Atlantic, which had just opened a division dedicated to country music. Among the terms he managed to secure was full artistic control over his own records, something RCA had never granted him.

Unfortunately, the new partnership would last only two albums, "Shotgun Willie" (1973) and "Phases And Stages" (1974), whose modest sales once again led Atlantic to consider the country experiment closed.

"Phases And Stages", the subject of this article, was written entirely by Nelson without any collaborators, and it would remain his last album with this distinction until "Spirit" (Island, 1996).

The album was produced by Jerry Wexler, the man who had brought Nelson to Atlantic. Wexler was one of the most celebrated producers in the American music industry, but up to that point he had worked outside of country, mainly in soul: among his protégés were giants of the caliber of Ray Charles, Ben E. King, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin e Dusty Springfield. Nonetheless, he had no trouble adapting to Nelson's style — indeed, he was the one who finally allowed him to fully emerge, giving him free rein right from the choice of musicians to involve.

The record was cut at the famous Muscle Shoals studio in Sheffield, Alabama. Unsure about the results of the sessions, Nelson even tried re-recording it on his own, but Wexler eventually convinced him to keep the original version.

Like "Shotgun Willie" before it, the album is considered part of the outlaw country [note 3] movement, of which Nelson, if not one of its originators, was at least among its inspirations: consider that Kris Kristofferson — whose 1970 debut album arguably inaugurated this aesthetic — regarded him as his own point of reference as a songwriter.

It was therefore only natural for Nelson, once freed from RCA's constraints, to fall in with a movement that held his aloof, commercially frustrated persona in the highest regard.

"Phases And Stages" is usually cited as concept album and as such praised for its innovative scope, but in reality it concept album have defined country music since the immediate post-war years: Merle Travis's "Folk Songs Of The Hills" (1947), Hank Thompson's "Songs For Rounders" (1959) and Ray Price's "Nite Life" (1963) are just a few of the genre's great classics.

Nelson's record, however, isn't centered on a single subject, but on a story. Side one tells of a divorce from the wife's perspective, while side two recounts it from the husband's. So if it isn't the first concept album, it may well be the first country operathe story is so detailed it could easily be adapted into a film.

To reinforce the narrative and cast himself as a troubadour, Nelson wrote a brief interlude titled "Phases And Stages (Theme)", repeating it several times throughout the tracklist, always lasting between 20 and 30 seconds. The lyrics read:

Circles and cycles, phases and stages,

and scenes that we've all seen before,

let me tell you about them again

The theme is based exclusively on voice and acoustic guitar, but every time it reappears, although the words don't change, the performance features small variations, further proof of its jazz-like attitude.

The woman's story brings into focus a figure demoralized by domestic routine and her husband's infidelity ("Washing The Dishes"), who makes the decision to end the relationship and leave home ("Walkin'"), leaving him a note asking him to forget her ("Pretend I Never Happened"). Once back home at her mother's, she goes back to frequenting bars as she did before her marriage ("Sister's Coming Home / Down At The Corner Beer Joint") and falls in love with another man, though she continues to harbor doubts about her future because of the memory of her previous relationship ("I'm Falling in Love Again").

Nelson approaches the female figure with a progressive touch, highlighting how American society, at least in rural and suburban areas, humiliated her role, while at the same time allowing men lascivious behavior that would have been deemed unacceptable had the roles been reversed. "Washing The Dishes" is the most emblematic song in this regard:

Washing the dishes, scrubbing the floors,

taking care of someone who doesn't care anymore,

she learns to hate all the things she once loved doing,

like washing his shirts and never complaining,

except about the red stains on the collars.

Ironing and crying, crying and ironing,

taking care of someone who doesn't care anymore,

one day she'll be gone

The moment of realizing the marriage can't be saved is also painted with great dignity, in "Walkin'":

After carefully considering

the whole situation, I find myself with my back against the wall.

Walking is better than running away, and crawling gets you nowhere.

And if the question is guilt, the truth is the answer, I've only lied to myself.

There's nothing worth saving, except each other,

and before you wake up I'll be gone

The side dedicated to the husband tells of his decision to leave Los Angeles, where the couple lived, to return to rural Texas, where he was born and raised ("Bloody Mary Morning"), stressing among other things how country folk, once they end up living in the poor neighborhoods of big cities, face considerable difficulty adjusting, subjected to rhythms and situations they're not used to, often falling victim to alcoholism, debt and hardship.

After three songs mourning the loss of his wife ("No Love Around", "I Still Can't Believe You're Gone", "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way"), the man reflects on his newfound bachelor life, alternating moments of despair with others in which he seems able to come to terms with it ("Heaven And Hell"). In the final track, "Pick Up The Tempo", however, the excess and dissolution that led to the end of the marriage resurface, and the man is evidently unable to keep them in check.

The music finally lets Nelson's acoustic guitar style shine, an unusual take on traditional country with jazzy, pairing them with the skill of top session players like Fred Carter Jr. and Pete Carr (who trade off between electric and resonator guitar), John Hughey (pedal steel guitar) and Johnny Gimble (fiddle and mandolin). For the rhythm section Wexler picks two of his own associates: David Hood (bass) and Roger Hawkins (drums), musicians with no ties to the country industry, coming from the rhythm and blues scene, as well as keyboardist Barry Beckett.

The great creative freedom allows for the birth of hybrid, unusual songs, such as “Pretend I Never Happened,” a blend of bluegrass and folk rock, “Sister's Coming Home / Down At The Corner Beer Joint,” a modernization of the country boogie of Hank Snow [note 4], “Bloody Mary Morning,” which sounds like a speeding-up of progressive country by John Hartford (note also the vocal inflection, which recalls Hartford's on the classic “Gentle On My Mind”), the piano waltz “Heaven And Hell” and the choralhonky tonk “Pick Up The Tempo.” A tracklist of remarkable variety, far removed from the commercial conventions of early the Seventiescountry, unthinkable for the Nelson of the Rca years.

Released in March 1974, “Phases And Stages” once again fails to chart, and the artist finds himself without a record deal: not even Wexler's backing can convince label executives to attempt a renewal. After moving to Columbia, starting with the album “Red Headed Stranger” (1975), his commercial fortunes will explode suddenly and unexpectedly: from that point on he will rack up one triumph after another for at least a decade, becoming one of the central figures of American culture.

In June 1976, riding the wave of his subsequent albums, “Phases And Stages” too will draw some attention from the public, reaching a modest number 187 on the Billboard chart. To this day, according to Rhino, it has sold around 400,000 copies: far from the five million that the artist will rack up with “Stardust” (Columbia, 1978) or the four million of “Always On My Mind” (Columbia, 1982), but enough to make it a cult title. Critics unanimously consider it one of the masterpieces of Seventies country.

[note 1] The honky tonk are bars where country music is regularly played, often featuring dedicated spaces for dancing and live performances.

[note 2] From the honky tonk a specific strand of country music took its name, particularly widespread during the Forties and Fifties. Thehonky tonktied to traditional country and characterized by the sound of guitar steel e fiddle (the fiddle of folk music) was gradually supplanted, starting from the mid-Fifties, on one side by rockabilly and on the other precisely by Nashville soundconsidered more appealing to urban audiences.

[note 3] Toward the end of the the Sixties what would later come to be known as progressive countryemerged. This is the strain of country that not only rejected the dictates of Nashville soundbut also absorbed the progressive counterculture of folk rock, Bob Dylan first and foremost. Theoutlaw country is a direct offshoot of it, according to many even a subcategory: on one hand it increases the infiltration of sounds foreign to country – whether coming from rock, folk, or, as in Nelson's case, jazz – and on the other it is built on the celebration of an imaginary figure somewhere between the outlaw, the drifter and the proletarian hero, often down on his luck.

[note 4] Il country boogie, also known as hillbilly boogiehad its golden age between 1945 and 1951: as the name suggests, it was a fusion of country music and boogie-woogie. Canadian Hank Snow was one of its leading names, as well as one of the acknowledged godfathers recognized by Nelson.

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13/08/2023

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Federico Romagnoli, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition