Remember Me, Vol. 1
| Remember Me, Vol. 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Willie Nelson | ||||
| Released | November 21, 2011 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | R&J Records | |||
| Producer | James Stroud | |||
| Willie Nelson chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (65/100) |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Los Angeles Times |   |
| USA Today | |
| Roughstock | Favorable. |
| Democrat and Chronicle | Favorable. |
| Rolling Stone |  |
| Country Weekly | |
| Allmusic | |
| Times Record News | A- |
Remember Me, Vol. 1 is a studio album by country music singer Willie Nelson, released on November 21, 2011. The tracks of the album consist on a selection of country music hits from the last 70 years.
Nelson and Stroud were inspired to record the album while talking about Tex Williams' hit song "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)". Nelson and Stroud elaborated a list of 75 songs that was later narrowed to 32.
The album was released to mixed reviews. It reached number 40 in Billboard's Top Country albums, while it reached number 37 in Billboard's Top Independent albums.
The album consists of 14 tracks picked by Nelson from Billboard's country hits from the last 70 years. Nelson and producer James Stroud decided to record the album to summarize with different hits the history of country music. They were inspired to record the album while Stroud and Nelson were talking about Tex Williams' "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)". Stroud recalled the first time he heard the song, and that he saw his mother smoking while it was being played. Nelson, who liked the anecdote, then suggested to record the album.
Nelson and Stroud had an initially list of 75 songs, that were narrowed to 32. They selected the key, and the ones that could be best applied to Nelson's style. Stroud went to Nashville and cut the tracks with studio musicians, and later travelled to Nelson's Pedernales studio in Austin, Texas to add his voice to the recordings. The 14 songs for the album were extracted from the sessions with Stroud that produced 32 songs, the rest are scheduled to be released in the 2012 release of Remember Me, Vol. 2.
The album was released on November 21, 2011.
Los Angeles Times delivered a positive review: "Willie Nelson wraps his unmistakable vocal cords around 14 country hits spanning 1946 to 1989 [...] This time around, producer James Stroud envelops Nelson’s elastic voice in tasty, staunchly traditional arrangements [...] Nelson reminds us that his deceptively effortless vocal style can still touch the heart".USA Today wrote: "The concept sounds fail-safe: Country's beloved elder statesman applies his iconic dust-dry vocals to 14 classics handpicked from the Billboard charts. But it's tricky to make covers truly engaging. Here, he succeeds much more often than not [...] But overall, he does the canon proud."
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