Take it to the Limit (1983)

Chips Moman and Willie clearly spent a lot of time together in the 1980s. The background on “No Love At All” is over the top. Horns, tambourines, and the kitchen sink. I have no idea what this is.

And then, this is so Willie, he transitions directly into a pure country tune. “Why Do I Have to Choose.” A horn weaving in and out of the guitar and harmonica makes this a bit trippy (or could that be my 8th grade son practicing clarinet in the basement; I can hear him squeaking through the floor and through the earphones of my I-Pod).

Why, Baby, why, did Willie record “Why Baby Why”? I don’t have any info on musicians (the problem with re-issues is they tell you next to nothing about the recordings).

The Big Chill organ on “We Had It All” gives this the nostalgic feel popular in the early 80s. “I can hear the wind blowing in my mind.” That’s Willie. Hearing winds in his mind. The wind of memory and love and time. “I know that we can never live those times again, so I let these dreams take me back to where we’ve been.” But we can live those times again in art, in song. Strings, harmonica, guitar, piano, and Willie’s vocals working together polyphonically to take us back in time.

Willie actually makes “Take It To The Limit” new for me. A song that has become so cliché and worn out can be reinvigorated by Willie’s unpredictable phrasing and timing.

“You can spend all your time makin’ love. You can spend all your love makin’ time.” Seems like Willie does both. He makes love out of time, makes love to time.

Ditto for “Homeward Bound.” I have to retract a statement I made in an earlier blog that no one should re-make Paul Simon tunes. I love this tune so much, but I love how Willie makes it new. And being homeward bound is like being in search of lost time. He wishes he was homeward bound, and yet he’s always on the road running away from home. Staying in his home motel. At home on the road yet longing for home? The Jerry Garcia type guitar riffs on this album transcend the cheaper pop trappings of the production.

“Blackjack County Chains” tells a great story.

“Till I Gain Control Again.” Can you gain control when you are taking it to the limit? Isn’t going home the opposite of taking it to the limit? And why do we have to choose between the road and home? Between going home or going to the outer limits?

“Old Friends” is not the Paul Simon song, but it fits the theme of this album, or the opposite of the theme. Old friends, like homes, provide limits, people and places to return to. They are, by definition, limiting.

“Would You Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone).” Solid, but unremarkable.