Last week when I wrote about “Pancho and Lefty” I hadn’t realized that the man who made that song famous was having his birthday right around the corner. Today, American songwriter and Outlaw Country Music King Willie Nelson turns 75. NPR’s Fresh Air did a nice piece on Willie today, you can check it out here (audio available after 3 PM EST). They also played a portion of an interview and live set he did with Terry Gross from a few years back, and you can hear the whole thing here.

Willie Nelson will release a live album with acclaimed jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis on July 8th on Blue Note Records. Entitled Two Men With The Blues, the album was compiled from a two-night stand at the Lincoln Center in January of 2007. I got my advance press copy last week, and while the blues ranks kinda far down the list of my favorite genres, the disc is legit, showcasing two masters of American music. Here’s a teaser:

Photo: Al Green and Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson
Photo credit: Ginny Suss

Right now I am clenching my fist and slowly pulling it into my chest, releasing a slow hissing “yesssssssss.” We all know The Rev Al Green lays it down and writes the songs that make the young girls writhe, the cats jive and love thrive, but it’s been a while. However, on May 27th Al Green will release “Lay It Down.” I couldn’t be more ready.

In the video clips, featured guest musicians Corinne Bailey Rae, John legend, Anthony Hamilton, The Dap Kings Horns Section and ?uestLove (who co-produced the album) talk of Mr. Green’s superb vocal and arrangement skills, and from the soundtrack featured in the vid, I’m taking a guess that this will be about A MILLION TIMES BETTER than that overrated Santana record with people like Rob Thomas helping him write material that sounds fresh, yet still retains its classic characteristics…

Conceived as a collaboration between the soul legend and a handful of gifted young admirers from the worlds of contemporary R&B and hip hop, the album is drawn from a series of inspired sessions that yielded the most high-spirited, funky and often lushly romantic songs of Green’s latter-day career….

Al admits, “That’s the only way I know how to work, that’s what I’ve done all my life. You just write it from here.” He taps his heart. “That’s what we do every Sunday. We never write a sermon now. If you can’t preach out of here”–tapping his chest again–”you have nothing to say anyway. It’s all from the heart, this whole album, from start to finish.”

What you just heard was my heart recreating the big bang theory. Eff yes. Check out the video clips if you’re tired of being alone.

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