Willie Nelson Announces 153rd Album Last Leaf On The Tree
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Willie Nelson is 91 years old. Ninety-one. He’s been a living legend for well over half his life, and he’s continuing to earn that reputation here in his tenth decade of life. Today Nelson has announced Last Leaf On The Tree, his 153rd album, which has the very autumnal release date of Nov. 1.
For Last Leaf On The Tree, Nelson’s son Micah deployed the Rick Rubin/Johnny Cash method, curating a range of songs for his father to cover in addition to some new originals. Beck’s “Lost Cause” is on there, as is the Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” The album also features tunes from Nina Simone, Neil Young, Keith Richards, Warren Zevon, Sunny War, and Micah’s band Particle Kid.
“Last Leaf,” the album’s poignant opener and title track of sorts, is out today. It’s a Tom Waits cover, and it finds Nelson ruminating on his own perseverance in a mirage-like style that reminds me of the endcap epics on Bob Dylan’s great Rough And Rowdy Ways. Listen below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Last Leaf”
02 “If It Wasn’t Broken”
03 “Lost Cause”
04 “Come Ye”
05 “Keep Me In Your Heart”
06 “Robbed Blind”
07 “House Where Nobody Lives”
08 “Are You Ready For The Country?”
09 “Do You Realize??”
10 “Wheels”
11 “Broken Arrow”
12 “Color Of Sound”
13 “The Ghost”
14 “Lookin’ For Trouble”
Last Leaf On The Tree is out 11/1 on Sony.
Editor’s note: This post originally referred to “Last Leaf” as a Willie Nelson original. We regret the error.