A Classic & Unreleased Collection (volume 2) (1995)

Tracks 1-4 on disc two in this collection can also be found on “The Complete Atlantic Recordings.” Track 5 can be found on “Singin’ with Willie.” Tracks 6-16 can also be found on “The Complete Atlantic Recordings,” but tracks 17-20 are worth the price of the collection. I have not found these tracks from the “Sugar Moon” album anywhere else. Johnny Gimble kills me on fiddle. “I’m a Fool to Care” is as good as anything on “Stardust,” maybe better. The liner notes say the “Sugar Moon” album was recorded in the mid 1980s and that it is stylistically related to Willie’s 1981 “Over the Rainbow” album. I think “Sugar Moon” may be Willie’s first Preservation Hall style New Orleans jazz album. He has horns blasting away like Louis Armstrong and his Hot Fives. I think “Sugar Moon” makes my untenable top ten. It’s right up there with “Stardust.” Another hidden gem that should be better known.