Willie Nelson

★★★★

The Willie Nelson Family SONY LEGACY. CD/DL

The Nelsons sing of faith in God and each other.

Spirituality and family are recurring themes in Willie Nelson’s work – the rule-breaking maverick has a strong grounding in tradition. One of his first compositions was Family Bible, which became a country gospel standard, and his band is called The Family. He’s joined here by sister Bobbie on piano and his son Lukas shares lead vocals, while other offspring Paula, Amy and Micah sing back-up – Nelsons all. Half the songs are Willie classics (Heaven And Hell; Laying My Burdens Down), while others are Carter Family, Hank Williams and Kris Kristofferson covers. Highlights include Bobbie’s stately keyboard that undergirds the session with churchlike simplicity. The finest track is Lukas’s high tenor take on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, a hymn to wisdom and humility, its timelessness reinforced as a country song.