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Willie Nelson Tips His Cowboy Hat To Longtime Friend, Merle Haggard, With Cover Of “Somewhere Between”
Pure country perfect, per the usual from the great Willie Nelson.
The country music icon is gearing up to release his 78th career solo studio album (the 155th of his career in total), and this current project will pay tribute to another country music legend, Willie’s friend, the late, great Merle Haggard.
Titled Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle, the album is set to drop in less than a month, on Friday, November 7th, and features 11 country classics penned by the Hag himself. T
The tracklist features a bunch of Merle hits like “Silver Wings,” “Okie From Muskogee,” “Swingin’ Doors,” and many more. Of course, Nelson and Haggard were longtime friends who released a handful collaborative albums together including 1983’s Pancho and Lefty, 1987’s Seashores of Old Mexico, 2007’s Last Of The Breed (alongside Ray Price) and 2015’s Django and Jimmie.
Wille produced the record alongside longtime bandmate, his harmonica player and friend Mickey Raphael, and it was recorded at Nelson’s Pedernales Studios in Austin. It also features the final recordings he did with his sister Bobbie Nelson and drummer Paul English, which makes it that much more special. With Bobbie on piano and English behind the drum kit, the project also features Raphael on harmonica, Kevin Smith on bass and Paul’s brother Billy English on additional drums and percussion.
And today, we got another song from the tracklist, which is Willie’s take on “Somewhere Between,” a son Merle wrote with his ex-wife Bonnie Owens, who he was married to at the time they wrote it.
The song was released in 1967 on Merle’s fourth studio album Branded Man, and features beautiful lyricism that finds Merle reflecting on a relationship that’s full of love, but just won’t seem to really work in the long run:
“I love you so much that I can’t let you go
Sometimes I believe you love me
But somewhere between your heart and mine
There’s a door without any key
Somewhere between your heart and mine
There’s a love I can’t understand
And it’s there for a while then it fades like a smile
And I’m left in the middle again”
It’s a deep cut that certainly deserves more attention, and I’m glad to Willie including it among so many big hits like “Okie From Muskogee,” “Mama Tried” and “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink.”
In the past decade or so, Willie has released many tribute albums for his friends and other music legends he looked up to, dedicating multiple project to the music of Harlan Howard, Ray Price, George Gershwin and Rodney Crowell, in addition to two projects honoring the music of Frank Sinatra. I love that he continues to keep their incredible music alive, and of course Willie can do no wrong in my book, and it’s inspiring to see him continuing to do what he loves most at 92-years-old.
They’ve all been great project, but considering how much I love not only Willie and Merle’s solo music, but the music they did together in the prime of their careers, I know this will be my favorite Willie tribute album yet.
You can listen to “Somewhere Between” here:
“Somewhere Between”
“Workin’ Man Blues”
Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle Tracklist:
1. Workin’ Man Blues
2. Silver Wings
3. Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down
4. Today I Started Loving You Again
5. Swinging Doors
6. Okie From Muskogee
7. Mama Tried
8. I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink
9. Somewhere Between
10. If We Make It Through December
11. Ramblin’ FeverThe post Willie Nelson Tips His Cowboy Hat To Longtime Friend, Merle Haggard, With Cover Of “Somewhere Between” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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