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(More customer reviews)With close to 100 years of performing under their collective belt buckles, country music legends Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Ray Price have certainly earned the right to enjoy a quiet life of retirement.
Turning 70 on April 6, Haggard is the youngster. Willie will celebrate his 74th on April 30. Price is the elder statesman, having hit mile marker 81 in January.
Rather than easing into their twilight years, however, the three superstars just wrapped up a whirlwind tour, covering 15 cities in 17 days, and releasing their new 2-CD set, "The Last of the Breed."
Write it down. This CD will rake in a trophy case full of honors. There's not a bad cut out of the 22 classics that made it onto the set list, although some may be disappointed by the omission of hits like "Night Life," "For the Good Times," "Pancho and Lefty," and "Okie from Muskogee."
There are some real gems on the new CD."Heartaches by the Number," the Mickey Newbury song that became one of Price's first hits in 1959, features smooth supporting vocals by Vince Gill.
Haggard and Nelson's poignant cover of Lefty Frizzell's "Mom and Dad Waltz" is haunting and will make you stop whatever you're doing to listen and remember those who have gone on.
Price and Nelson tip their hat to Hank, Sr. covering "Lost Highway," Williams' hit written in 1948 by Leon Payne. Price and Nelson seem most comfortable together and just when you think it can't get any better, the Jordanaires, Elvis' beloved backup singers, chime in with pitch-perfect harmonies. Goose bump time, for sure.
There's a touch of jazzy blues in "I Gotta Have My Baby Back," with each musical master taking a phrase or two. The cover of Floyd Tillman's tune is one of the nicest little surprises, tucked in at the conclusion of disc one.
If there was any doubt about Price's staying power as a pure singer, his work on this cut puts it to rest. He's smooth, suave and the king of cool. Nothing against Merle and Willie, but the years of hard-living show up in each note they sing. Price must have gone to bed early during his years on the road, because his pipes are still strong and silky.
Cindy Walker's song "Going Away Party," originally recorded by Bob Wills, is enjoying a recent revival. These men owe a lot to Wills, the King of Western Swing, and the prolific Ms. Walker, who died last year in her hometown on Mexia. Willie released a CD called "You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker" last year.
This cut is a great way to honor two of country music's most influential artists. Having Johnny Gimble's fiddle and the Jordanaires' backup makes the cut sheer perfection. Walker and Wills would be proud.
"Why Me," the 1972 Kris Kristofferson song, is a tour de force. Willie and Merle delivery is captivating. Kristofferson makes a brief appearance, too. Listening to these men sing, knowing their much-publicized histories of wine, women and more than a few brushes with the law, just deepens the heart and soul of the melody. It's a haunting moment not soon forgotten.
"The Last of the Breed" will go down in the history books as one of the best collections ever to have been laid down in a recording studio. It will clean up at the Grammys and will take all comers at the Country Music Association's big annual awards bash. Write it down.
Enjoy!
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Last of the BreedLet's be clear: Last of the Breed is a story - actually, anovel, if not an epic - unto itself. The title sums it up pretty well: Onthese two discs three classic performers, Ray Price, Willie Nelson, andMerle Haggard, band together on songs they've known and loved for years.Their contributions don't need elaboration. Each is a legend. All threehark back to a time that's in some ways gone. When you consider the livesthey've lived, the world that formed them as artists, and even thelandscapes they knew as they began playing in beer joints and backwaterclubs long ago, then the truth of those four words, Last of the Breed,comes clear.Look a little closer, and they take on another reference, to the songs aswell as to the giants who celebrate them here. Whether drawn from deep inthe tradition, back from the well of Gene Autry, Lefty Frizzell, and FloydTillman, or picked from the more recent catalogs, this music conveys afeeling that might be mistaken for nostalgia but is in fact a timelesseloquence.They don't write or sing `em like this anymore.
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