THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For his latest album, Willie Nelson and band recorded fresh interpretations of 10 classic compositions penned by the legendary American songwriter Harlan Howard, an early musical contemporary of Willie’s who famously defined a great country song as “three chords and the truth.”
In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote many popular songs and enduring standards for a variety of artists. In 1961 alone, he had 15 compositions on the country charts, which earned him 10 BMI awards. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and, in 1997, was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Howard died in Nashville in 2002, at age 74, and was buried in Nashville City Cemetery.
With the release of I Don’t Know A Thing About Love, Nelson brings his own perspective to the abiding musical legacy of Howard with sublime studio performances of 10 compositions including the album’s first single Busted. Written in 1962, Busted is the saga of a dirt-poor farmer bemoaning his overdue bills, crop failures, and other financial woes while maintaining a sense of hope for the future.
The upbeat and catchy melody of Busted ironically underscored some potentially bleak content making the song a hit in 1963 — first for Johnny Cash with The Carter Family on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart (No. 13) and then, memorably, a Top 10 smash for Ray Charles on the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 4). Charles and Nelson recorded a live version of Busted on Ray’s 2005 duets album Genius & Friends. John Conlee hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart with his cover of Busted in 1982.
2023 promises to be a banner year for Nelson, who turns 90 on April 29. Wille Nelson & Family, a new five-part film documentary series directed by Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman, recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In addition, Nelson was nominated for four Grammy Awards from three separate projects, winning Best Country Solo Performance for the title track from Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver and Best Country Album for A Beautiful Time.
Featuring cover art by Willie’s son Micah Nelson, I Don’t Know A Thing About Love was produced by longtime collaborator Buddy Cannon. The band includes Nelson (Trigger, lead vocals), Larry Paxton (bass, tic tac bass), Lonnie Wilson (drums), Bobby Terry (acoustic guitar, electric guitar), James Mitchell (electric guitar), Mike Johnson (steel guitar), Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Jim “Moose” Brown (piano, synthesizer, B3 organ, Wurlitzer), Wyatt Beard (background vocals) and Melonie Cannon (background vocals).”
