Willie Nelson to release his 153rd album, The last leaf on the treeon November 1st. The Legacy Recordings LP features a mix of the country icon's performances of songs by Tom Waits, Keith Richards, Beck, the Flaming Lips, Neil Young and Nina Simone, among others, as well as a handful of tracks written by the singer and his son , Micah Nelson, who also produced the album.
The first single from the collection is a cover of Tom Waits' “Last Leaf”, a melancholic meditation by Waits in 2011 Bad As Me album about the autumn of life that speaks to the legendarily tireless spirit and boundless energy of the 91-year-old country icon, already in his six years as a performer. “I'm the last leaf on the tree/ Autumn took the rest/ But they won't take me/ I'm the last leaf on the tree,” Nelson sings in a hushed voice over his signature nylon string guitar that strums through. the song that deals with the adversities of aging.
The collection, Nelson's 76th solo studio album, marks the first time Micah – who performs and produces under the name Particle Kid – has produced one of his dad's albums, although they have appeared together on family LPs such as in 2017 Willie and the boys and 2021 The Willie Nelson Family.
“It's an approach that I really love and have used a lot over the years – I just pour the clay and step back, then maybe add a little more, and then maybe shave down here and make the tracks that way.” said Micah, 34, who said he used a “sculptor's approach” to work on the album on which he played more than a dozen instruments, including guitar, piano and “sticks and branches, logs and dead leaves,” according to a press release.
Micah also created the album cover art and animated the “Last Leaf” video, as well as the album cover art and animation for the “Last Leaf” video with his wife, Alexandra Dascalu Nelson. In addition to the digital, CD and LP editions, Nelson's webstore will also sell an exclusive limited edition version with a lithograph created by Micah.
The choice of “Last Leaf” was fitting according to Micah Nelson, as his father has not previously shied away from dealing with the unstoppable march of time, as well as confronting his own mortality through a series of health scares, including the title track piece of it. album 2018 Last Man Standingin which he lamented watching “my friends check out.” Mika said, “There are little side quests, but that became the threshold — facing death with grace.”
That vibe makes sense with song choices like Warren Zevon's bittersweet ode to eternal love “Keep Me In Your Heart,” as well as another haunting Waits song, “House Where Nobody Lives,” and the Lips' joyous meditation on value of life. “Do you understand?” Another track fitting the theme of fading light was chosen by Nelson's longtime harmonica player Mickey Raphael, Nina Simone's 1967 jazz song “Come Ye.”
In addition to the Nelsons and Raphael, the album also features guest musicians Daniel Lanois on pedal steel, former Doors drummer John Densmore and Senegalese percussionist Magatte Sow.
Listen to Nelson's “Last Leaf on the Tree” and check out the album's tracklist below.
The last leaf on the tree track list:
1. “Last Leaf” (written by Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan)
2. “If It Wasn't Broken” (screenplay by Sydney Lyndella Ward)
3. “Lost Cause” (screenplay Beck David Hansen)
4. “Come Ye” (written by Nina Simone)
5. “Keep Me In Your Heart” (written by Warren Zevon & Jorge Calderon)
6. “Robbed Blind” (written by Keith Richards)
7. “House Where Nobody Lives” (written by Tom Waits)
8. “Are you ready for the country?” (written by Neil Young)
9. “Do you realize?” (written by Wayne Coyne/Steven Drozd/Michael Ivins/David Fridmann)
10. “Wheels” (screenplay by Micah Nelson)
11. “Broken Arrow” (written by Neil Young)
12. “Color Of Sound” (written by Willie Nelson & Micah Nelson)
13. “The Ghost” (written by Willie Nelson)
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/willie-nelson-last-leaf-on-the-tree-covers-lp-tracklist-1235753620/
