Willie Nelson - Phases and Stages - VINYL LP

Restock inventory available. Willie Nelson's 1974 classic, celebrating it's 50th Anniversary in March, just prior to RSD. If Shotgun Willie played a bit like a concept album, Phases and Stages was a full-blown one, tracing the dissolution of a marriage and devoting one side to the wife's perspective, the second to the husband's... Phases and Stages is easily the equal of it's remarkable predecessor, a wonderful set of music that resonates deeply, as deeply as the words. Make no mistake - the deceptively relaxed arrangements, including the occasional strings, not only highlight Nelson's clever eclecticism, but they also heighten the emotional impact of the album. And this is a hell of an emotional record, where even each side's celebratory honky tonk numbers (the medley InchSister's Coming Home/Down at the Corner Beer JointInch and InchPick Up the Tempo,Inch respectively) are muted by sadness. Then, there are the centerpieces InchWalkin',Inch where the woman decides it's time to move on; InchPretend I Never Happened,Inch perhaps the coldest ending to a relationship ever written; InchBloody Mary Morning,Inch a bleary-eyed morning-after tale that became a standard; InchIt's Not Supposed to Be That Way,Inch a nearly unbearably melancholy account of a love gone wrong; and InchHeaven and Hell,Inch a waltz summary of the relationship. Any two of these would have formed a strong core for an album, but placed together in a narrative context, their impact is even more considerable. As a result, this is not just one of Willie Nelson's best records, but one of the great concept albums overall. 140g black viny