Willie Nelson

If you haven't guessed by the cover art, sparking up weed on Whiskey River is old hat to the Red Headed Stranger -- he's been making this album for over 10 years. Produced by Don Was and then Richard Feldman, Nelson's twangy reggae actually makes perfect sense. You don't even need sinsemilla to dig it.

Begun a decade ago with super-producer Don Was, Willie Nelson's country-reggae fusion
album was originally intended for Island Records (the label that made its name with Bob
Marley). When Island folded into Universal, the album lost its allies until a former Island
executive landed at Nelson's current label. Unfortunately, the story behind Countryman is
better than its music: With the exception of a folky rendition of the Jimmy Cliff c... More >