So I have a new candidate for my top ten. I can’t imagine a more consistently good WN album than this one. Mind and time continue to dominate his songs. “The Healing Hands of Time” and “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time” fit into Willie’s Proustian focus on time. “The Sound in Your Mind” and “A Penny For Your Thoughts” are examples of Willie’s focus on thinking, reflection, contemplation. And when Willie gets contemplating, it’s as if he can’t play slow enough. I have heard that Morton Feldman couldn’t get his orchestras to play soft enough, and I can imagine Willie fussing at his band to play slower. Has there ever been a more soft-spoken, slow-singing outlaw? Craziness remains a theme as well, as seen in “I’d Have to Be Crazy” (does thinking too much about time make you crazy?). This may be the most surprising WN song I have encountered on 30 or so albums. There appears to be some backwoods preacher chanting faintly in the background at one point. It startles me every time. It’s almost as if some random sound just wandered into his song like a daydream drifting in and out of his mind. I’ve listened to it half a dozen times today, and I still never know where the lyrics or the tune is going. It never loses its ability to surprise. Like Monk, Willie resists predictability in his phrasing, but this may be his most unpredictable of all. It deals with the same idea as “Crazy,” but it’s more trippy and less lonesome. Almost a wry version of “Crazy.” This album features the standard band: Rex (percussion), Bobbie (piano), Paul (drums), Mickey (harmonica), Bee (bass), Jody (electric guitar), and Willie on acoustic. This, to me, is pure Willie Nelson. The vocals are front and center, there is a full band, but each instrument is clear and distinct. It reminds me of polyphonic music where the different voices interweave but do not blend (as in homophonic music). Maybe I like this because I like keeping my food separate on the plate. I like to be able to see and taste each item individually. My wife likes the live version of the Funny/Crazy/Night Life medley from the 1974 Texas Opry House concert better than the slowed down version on this album, but I disagree. I like both. I marvel at Willie’s boldness in opening the album with the plaintive “That Lucky Old Sun.” And think of what I just wrote there. He makes a bold statement by opening in such a mellow manner. It’s a kind of musical martial arts, juke box judo. Willie has the beatific, beatnik, Buddha smile on this album cover. The cosmic cowboy, the honky-tonk hippie. The music is contemplative in both the intellectual and the spiritual sense. And what is the sound in your mind anyway? Normally we have thoughts and ideas in our minds. But sounds? What does a mind sound like? Sounding the depths. And to my mind, The Sound in Your Mind, at this point, makes my evolving top ten list of WN albums. Here are six I can’t see being dethroned, but we’ll see:
Crazy: The Demo Sessions
Stardust (1978)
Storytellers (1998)
Spirit (1996)
Who’ll Buy My Memories (released in 1991, but recorded earlier)
The Sound in Your Mind (1976)
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I'm glad to read such a positive review of this album and share your opinion wholeheartedly. It's a great album front to back and the medley perfectly brings these early classic up-to-date. I wish this album would've gotten the same exp. & rem. treatment like Red Headed Stanger, Stardust, etc. It surely deserves it.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Goerth
Goerth,
ReplyDeleteDo you have either of the box sets from Bear Family Records in Germany? "It's Been Rough and Rocky Travelin'" (3 cds covering music from 1953-1964) OR "Nashville was the Roughest" (8 cds covering music from 1964-1972). The first one is $82 used on Amazon and the second is $176 used on Amazon. A bit pricey, but I think I will need to get them eventually.
--John
I don't have any of those Bear Family box sets, unfortunately. I've been craving for the Waylon ones for years, but it's a lot of money. I gotta say though that I've never heard anyone regret getting them. Bear Family is a highly respected company and they know what they are doing. So, if you can afford it, I bet it'll be worth it, even if there's lots of familiar stuff. A Bear Family box is supposed to be a fantastic package with detailed info, pics, etc.
ReplyDelete-G.