In anticipation of the release of his upcoming Bluegrass album, Willie Nelson has shared a new track. On Thursday (September 7), the icon dropped a new rendition of his and Waylon Jennings’ collaboration “Good Hearted Woman.”
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He gives a bluegrass update to the classic tune that now features a prominent banjo where the guitar used to be. Nelson’s voice glows as he sings over a crisp and clean bluegrass melody, She’s a good-hearted woman in love with a good timin’ man/She loves him in spite of his ways that she don’t understand/Through teardrops and laughter they’ll pass through this world hand in hand/A good hearted woman lovin’ her good timin’ man.
“Good Hearted Woman” was co-written by Nelson and Jennings in 1969. It was inspired by an ad Jennings saw about Tina Turner. The pair wrote the lyrics in the middle of a poker game. Jennings first recorded and released the song as a solo single in 1971, his version reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. He and Nelson re-released it as a duet in 1976 that reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart and No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Bluegrass finds Nelson taking a dozen of his greatest hits and fan favorites and giving them a bluegrass makeover in homage to the genre that influenced him as an artist. “Willie’s new album is a salute to the Appalachian old-time string band music which crystalized into a genre and was given a name by Kentucky songwriter/performer/recording artist Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, whose post-war recordings profoundly influenced Willie’s songwriting sensibilities and the direction of American country music in general,” as explained in a press release. “With Bluegrass, Willie uncovers new truths in his own songs.”
The album marks the legend’s first tribute album to bluegrass. It will be released on September 15.
Willie Nelson Bluegrass Track List:
1. No Love Around
2. Somebody Pick Up My Pieces
3. Good Hearted Woman (cowritten with Waylon Jennings)
4. Sad Songs And Waltzes
5. Home Motel
6. You Left Me A Long, Long Time Ago
7. Yesterday’s Wine
8. Bloody Mary Morning
9. Slow Down Old World
10. Still Is Still Moving To Me
11. On The Road Again
12. Man With The Blues
Photo by Pamela Springsteen / Courtesy of Shock Ink
