It's Magic (2007)

This is another of Willie’s “favor” albums. That is, an album where he pays back an old friend by recording with him. In this case, the friend is Don Cherry. The title track appears on the compilation “Joy.” I have reviewed that track on the blog for “Joy,” so I’ll start here with track #2, “What a Wonderful World.” Don Cherry is no Louis Armstrong, but Willie’s vocals are strong. If I could edit out Don Cherry and the syrupy strings, Willie’s vocal tracks would be worth the price of admission here, but I don’t think I’ll be revisiting this album much. “Summer Wind” is all Don Cherry. No sign of Willie. Skip it. “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” opens with Willie. “She’ll laugh when she gets to the part that says I’m leaving, ‘cause I’ve left that woman so many times before.” Funny how time and lovers slip away. Willie has more than fifty ways to leave his lovers. Best track on the album so far. This is not a bad duet, despite the sickening strings. Willie’s theme of time figures prominently here. In “Green Green Grass of Home” Willie waxes nostalgic for home along with the harmonica. His vocals are actually worth checking out on this track. An interesting Johnny Cash-like talking part in the middle. An interesting counterpoint to “On the Road.” The age old battle between home and road. “Again” is a fitting song for Willie to sing. When the “now and the here” disappear. “We’ll have this moment forever, but never again.” Now what can that mean? It will never happen again, and yet we have TIVO’d it in our memory, so we can replay it forever. So we don’t have it but we do. The paradox of time and memory. Followed, of course, by a version of “Sweet Memories.” Willie’s vocals are strong, but the syrupy setting and Don Cherry’s vocals detract from the overall effect. I prefer the other versions I have of this song. “You’ve Changed” is another fitting tune. The dream is that our love would never change. Permanent love. Yet “your kisses now are so blasé.” This track is all Don Cherry, though. No sign of Willie. A shame because I would love to hear Willie sing this one. Funny how time slips away. Funny how people change. “After the Lovin’” opens with Willie. Willie complains that he can’t express his love except in a song. “And I know that my song isn’t saying anything new, but after the lovin’, I’m still in love with you.” Which runs counter to so many of Willie’s song where he’s not in love with her after the loving, and he hits the road running in search of other loves. Here time doesn’t slip away, and he does love her forever, as promised. In this case, a promise is not just a lie in a better disguise. “Try to Remember” continues the focus on time and memory. Willie’s either trying to remember or trying to forget or both at the same time. “Try to remember the kind of September…” Of course Willie would remember September. That bittersweet, melancholy month of Autumn. He dwells on the sadness, wiggles and worries it the way you would a sore tooth. It yields a sadistic pleasure. “Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow.” Not sure what he means by “follow” here. Follow what? Follow your memory back in time from December to September? The strings cloy, but the lyrics, and Willie’s choice of songs, are revealing of Willie’s overall philosophy, which makes this album worth owning. In “Give Me the Simple Life,” Willie sings:

I don't believe in frettin' and grievin';

Why mess around with strife?

I never was cut out to step and strut out.

Give me the simple life.

Some find it pleasant dining on pheasant.

Those things roll off my knife;

Just serve me tomatoes and mashed potatoes;

Give me the simple life.

A cottage small is all I'm after,

Not one that's spacious and wide.

A house that rings with joy and laughter

And the ones you love inside.

Some like the high road, I like the low road,

Free from the care and strife.

Sounds corny and seedy, but yes, indeed-y;

Give me the simple life.

I think Willie wants to believe these lyrics, and maybe he does for brief moments, but it’s a hard sell in light of his many songs about the road. The restlessness. Again, the call of home versus the call of the road. The twin siren songs pulling him apart. “I used to have a heart, now I have a song.” Maybe that’s what happened from all this pulling. These lyrics do, however, confirm his hakuna matata philosophy of avoiding worry and strife at all costs and always looking on the sunny side like Dr. Pangloss. “Portrait of My Love” may push me over the edge with the cheesiness of the strings. And this one is all Don and no Willie, and thus not for me. Despite Willie’s strong vocals, I can’t recommend this album. That last track killed something in me.