Rainbow Connection makes its vinyl debut while It Always Will Be returns to the format
Continuing the yearlong celebration of Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday, UMe has added two additional titles to its extensive vinyl campaign of the legend’s UMG catalog. On November 10th, Nelson’s beloved 2001 kid-friendly album, Rainbow Connection, will be released on vinyl for the first time ever and his acclaimed It Always Will Be, previously released as a double LP in 2004, will be reissued on vinyl as a single LP. Both records will be available on 180-gram black vinyl as well as a special limited edition color variant, with Rainbow Connection on 140-gram translucent orange vinyl and It Always Will Be on translucent ruby vinyl.
The vinyl series, which kicked off June 23rd with his 2002 collaborative album, The Great Divide, was followed by 1998’s acclaimed, cinematic, Daniel Lanois-produced Teatro on August 4th in honor of its 25th anniversary. Willie’s 2000 ode to the blues, Milk Cow Blues, was just released on September 15th as a double LP, while 1996’s stripped-back and emotionally raw Spirit will bow on October 20th, just ahead of the American icon’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on November 3rd. The Great Divide and Milk Cow Blues join Rainbow Connection in making their vinyl debuts while Teatro and Spirit return to vinyl due to popular demand after being available in limited capacity but now long out of print.
All albums are available on 180-gram black vinyl in addition to a limited edition color variant on 140-gram vinyl, exclusively available at uDiscover Music and WillieNelson.com. The Great Divide and Spirit have been pressed on clear vinyl while Teatro and Milk Cow Blues are on translucent red vinyl and orange vinyl, respectively.
Rainbow Connection, released in 2001 on Island Records, was initially conceived by Willie as a children’s album but eventually evolved instead into more of a kid-friendly record with adult appeal as he fleshed out the collection with grade school favorites, bedtime tunes he used to sing to his kids, and some more grown-up fare that filled the second half, including covers of country troubadour Mickey Newbury’s “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” and “The Thirty-Third Of August.” The album with a simple, homegrown feel was inspired by his daughter Amy Nelson who fell in love with the Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher-penned song “Rainbow Connection” after seeing Kermit the Frog perform the song in the 1979 classic, The Muppet Movie, when she was just five years old. Eventually, after more than two decades, she convinced her dad to record the timeless song about dreaming which takes on an even deeper meaning and gravitas when delivered by Willie. Co-produced alongside Willie by David Zettner, Matt Hubbard and Amy, who sings on two tracks (her original “Wise Old Me” and Tom Hunter’s “Rock Me To Sleep,” Rainbow Connection includes Willie’s inspired takes on the children’s songs “I’m Looking For A Four-Leaf Clover,” “Ol’ Blue,” “Won’t You Ride In My Little Red Wagon,” “Playmate” and “I’m My Own Grandpa,” which rounds out the first half of the record.
As if transitioning from childhood to adulthood the album grows up as it progresses through life’s journey and ends with a five-song song cycle of decidedly darker themes, including “Playin’ Dominoes and Shootin’ Dice,” “Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way,” which Willie wrote for the album, the harmonica-laden blues “Outskirts of Town,” and the aforementioned Newbury classics. In addition to Amy finally getting her wish of having her dad record one of her favorite songs, Rainbow Connection was nominated for Best Country Album at that year’s Grammy Awards. In 2019, Willie was joined by Kacey Musgraves at the 53rd Annual CMA Awards for a beautiful performance of “Rainbow Connection,” introducing a whole new generation to the beloved song.
Upon its release in 2004 on Lost Highway, Nelson’s 52nd studio album, It Always Will Be, was produced by James Stroud, and includes a poignant, plainspoken cover of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan’s “Picture In A Frame,” a high octane performance of the Allman Brother Band’s “Midnight Rider,” wonderful duets with Lucinda Williams (“Overtime”), Norah Jones (“Dreams Come True”), and Toby Keith (“Tired”), Willie’s daughter, Paula Nelson (“Be That As It May”), and a handful of newly penned originals: the mellow Texas country title track, the mariachi-inflected “Texas” and the somber “My Broken Heart Belongs To You,” among the many highlights.
