Willie Nelson
Stardust

By Steven R. Rochlin
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  One of the coolest guys at Woodstock '99 was Willie Nelson. Sunday morning he played a wonderful, much needed set after a night of thrashing to Rage Against the Machine and Metallica. Born April 30, 1933 in Fort Worth, Texas, Willie spent the better part of the '60s writing songs which made other vocalists famous such as Ray Price "Nite Life" and the now legendary Patsy Cline's performance of "Crazy". In the early 70's he joined forces with Waylon Jennings and the then popular "outlaw country" regime. It wasn't until 1975 when Willie finally achieved full crossover success with his performance of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain".

That brings us to this popular crossover album for Willie called Stardust. Stardust was indeed a true turning pint for Willie as it brought about full recognition for his talents as a singer, song writer and guitarist. This album was a sensation receiving many hit songs such as "Georgia on My Mind", "Blue Skies" and the theme song to the Carl Reiner directed movie "All of Me" with comedian Steven Martin and Lily Tomlin. Other popular songs such as "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "Don't Get Around Much Any More" and "Someone to Watch over Me" make this a wonderful album. A total of ten glorious songs fill this 180 gram Classic Records reissue. You know the music but you are an "audiophile" and want to know how this remaster sounds.

Glorious! Much better than the original or CBS Half Speed Master vinyl i have here. While Stardust is indeed well recorded to begin with, Classic Records seems to have brought about much greater definition and resolution to the music on their 180 gram vinyl. As expected, the vinyl grooves are very silent and the music comes forth beautifully. While my prized CBS Half Speed Master was the old King of the Hill, the Classic remaster totally smokes it in every way!

My notes here say that from the tremolo of the electric keyboard to the smoothness of Willie's voice, there is more there there while also having better overall micro and macro dynamics. In fact the music sounds much more natural and fuller with more acoustic bloom. While this is a multi mic'ed, studio album, the music itself is well recorded and wonderfully mixed. With so many great songs on one album this is a must have album for any true music lover.

Enjoyment: 95

Sound Quality: 90