Back at the end of the 50s, about when I was being conceived or born or something, Willie Nelson sold the rights to a song called Family Bible for $50. That was his first break in country music; a singer named Claude Gray made Family Bible a top-10 hit, and then he got cuts by Ray Price and Patsy Cline and Faron Young. When Nelson finally recorded the song himself, for RCA in 1971, it seemed like his run had about run out.
Nelson revisited Family Bible for Yesterdays Wine, the first concept album in country music. Which would explain why RCA was reportedly able to sell something less than 10,000 copies of the thing; Columbia had somewhat better luck with Red Headed Stranger in 1975.
You do know why youre here? a deep voice, perhaps Waylon Jennings, asks in the spoken intro to Yesterdays Wine.
Yes. Theres great confusion on earth, Willie answers. The power that is has concluded the following: Perfect man has visited earth already, and his voice was heard. The voice of imperfect man must now be made manifest, and I have been selected as the most likely candidate.
What follows is a brief (remember when LPs ran 30 minutes, and we were satisfied?) suite of gentle, deeply meditative songs which go some distance to explaining the spiritual quest Nelson undertook in Austin a few years later. The title track, as well as Me and Paul, will be familiar, but most of this material has been unavailable for years.
In hindsight, it seems curious that Music Row was so perplexed by the notion of an album that sought to be more than a collection of would-be greatest hits. Or maybe it was just that Willie was the one trying. In any event, Yesterdays Wine is a graceful, simple, peaceful kind of record, and a gem. Doubtless Willie would have liked time to correct some of the rough spots, but thats how they used to run sessions, and its the songs that matter anyhow.
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