Phases and Stages (1974)

This album was recorded at Muscle Shoals, famous for its R & B sound. Even as slow as some of the songs are on this concept album, you can still hear more of a funky beat than you get on Willie’s other albums. “The jeans fit a little bit tighter than they did before” is one of my all-time favorite lines, ranking right up there with “Shotgun Willie sits around in his underwear.” Having recently turned 40 myself, I can sympathize with the woman in this song trying to go out honky-tonking and acting like a single person at 40. Johnny Gimble on fiddle continues to impress me. Noticeably absent are Willie’s road band members: Bobbie Nelson, Paul English, Mickey Raphael, and Bee Spears. Funny how the studio musicians and the road musicians are so different. Imagine U2 doing that. Touring without the Edge. “(How Will I Know) I’m Falling In Love Again” with Gimble’s haunting fiddle in the background may be as pretty a song as Willie has in his oeuvre. Not sure why he has all the cheesy Nashville Sound strings in “I Still Can’t Believe Your Gone.” That’s probably the most disappointing version of an otherwise good song that I can think of. There is some fine guitar picking toward the end of the song, but the strings just drown everything out. “It’s Not Supposed to Be That Way” is one of my favorite songs, lyric-wise. “Be careful what you’re dreaming, soon your dreams will be dreamin’ you.” Again, though, the strings ruin an otherwise great song. You need to look elsewhere for better versions of this song without strings. It’s like Charlie Parker with strings. Just wrong. A friend of mine said the album Charlie Parker with Strings killed him. That’s how bad and wrong it was.

Wow. This is really interesting. Tracks 12-21 were recorded in Nashville with Willie’s road band (mentioned above). The “Bloody Mary Morning” version on track 15 is smoking. I like the way the back-up singers kick in during the chorus. It sounds like a live performance. It captures the band’s live sound. I think I like this group’s version of “No Love Around” on track #16 better, too. Still have the syrupy strings on “I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone.” Overall, I think I like Shotgun Willie better, but the previously unreleased tracks 12-21 with the road band are worth re-visiting.