Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release God’s Problem Child, Willie Nelson’s new studio album (and ninth for the label), on Friday, April 28th.
An album of all-new recordings, God’s Problem Child adds 13 new songs to the artist’s repertoire, including seven recently written by Nelson and Buddy Cannon, his longtime collaborator and producer. The album is Nelson’s first to debut all-new songs since Band of Brothers (his fourth Legacy release) reached #1 on the Billboard Country chart and #5 on the Billboard 200 in 2014.
Nelson’s seventh Legacy collection, Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin is currently in the running for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. The album debuted at #1 on both the Top Current Jazz chart and the Top Traditional Jazz chart following its release in February 2016. Nelson has won 11 Grammys over the course of his career.
God’s Problem Child, available on CD, 12″ vinyl LP or digitally, arrives just in time for Willie’s 84th birthday (April 29). Exclusive fan product offerings can be purchased at at PledgeMusic.
The album’s title track, penned by Jamey Johnson and Tony Joe White, includes vocals by both writers and the legendary Leon Russell (on what may be Russell’s very last recording). An old friend and musical cohort, Russell was the first person to put his signature on “Trigger,” Willie’s mythic guitar.
An album that reflects on mortality while marveling at the beauty and absurdity of it all, God’s Problem Child finds Willie Nelson at one of the creative peaks of his career, writing and singing with the seasoned wit and wisdom that can only come from the kind of life he’s living. One of Nelson’s new songs, “Still Not Dead,” pokes fun at the many exaggerated reports of his demise he’s heard over the years while “Delete and Fast-Forward” is Willie’s unabashed analysis of the 2016 United States elections and how to deal with the aftermath.
God’s Problem Child opens with Nelson’s performance of “Little House On The Hill,” a song written by Lyndel Rhodes, Buddy Cannon’s 92-year-old mother. Last October, a video of Lyndel hearing Nelson singing her song for the first time, became an internet viral sensation.
In keeping with the album’s subtext of memory and mortality, God’s Problem Child closes with “He Won’t Ever Be Gone,” a song written by Gary Nicholson that pays tribute to Nelson’s outlaw country comrade, Merle Haggard. Haggard’s last album was 2015’s Django and Jimmie, a musical collaboration with Willie Nelson.
CD | LP
1. Little House On The Hill (Lyndel Rhodes)
2. Old Timer (Donnie Fritz / Lenny LeBlanc)
3. True Love (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
4. Delete And Fast Forward (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
5. A Woman’s Love (Mike Reid / Sam Hunter)
6. Your Memory Has A Mind Of Its Own (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
7. Butterfly (Sonny Throckmorton / Mark Sherrill)
8. Still Not Dead (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
9. God’s Problem Child (Jamey Johnson / Tony Joe White)
10. It Gets Easier (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
11. Lady Luck (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
12. I Made A Mistake (Willie Nelson / Buddy Cannon)
13. He Won’t Ever Be Gone (Gary Nicholson)
