Willie Nelson

Event: RECORD STORE DAY 2024
Release Date: 4/20/2024
Label: Rhino Records – R1 726130, Atlantic – 603497827176
Format: 2 X LP
Quantity: 4500
Release type: RSD Exclusive Reissued/Remastered 50th Anniversary Vinyl LP Pressing

Willie Nelson’s 1974 classic, celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2024.
If Shotgun Willie played a bit like a concept album, Phases and Stages was full-blown, tracing the dissolution of a marriage and devoting one side to the wife's perspective, the second to the husband's…. Phases and Stages is easily the equal of its remarkable predecessor, a wonderful set of music that resonates deeply, as deeply as the words.
Make no mistake -- the deceptively relaxed arrangements, including the occasional strings, not only highlight Nelson's clever eclecticism, they also heighten the emotional impact of the album. And this is a hell of an emotional record, where even each side's celebratory honky tonk numbers (the medley "Sister's Coming Home/Down at the Corner Beer Joint" and "Pick Up the Tempo," respectively) are muted by sadness. Then, there are the centerpieces: "Walkin'," where the woman decides it's time to move on; "Pretend I Never Happened," perhaps the coldest ending to a relationship ever written; "Bloody Mary Morning," a bleary-eyed morning-after tale that became a standard; "It's Not Supposed to Be That Way," a nearly unbearably melancholy account of a love gone wrong; and "Heaven and Hell," a waltz summary of the relationship. Any two of these would have formed a strong core for an album, but placed together in a narrative context, their impact is even more considerable. As a result, this is not just one of Willie Nelson's best records, but one of the great concept albums overall.

1. Phases And Stages (Theme)/Washing The Dishes 1:44
2. Phases And Stages(Theme)/Walkin' 4:05
3. Pretend I Never Happened 3:00
4. Sister's Coming Home/Down At The Corner Beer Joint 1:46
5. (How Will I Know) I'm Falling In Love Again 3:30
6. Bloody Mary Morning 2:51
7. Phases And Stages (Theme)/No Love Around 2:21
8. I Still Can't Believe You're Gone 4:15
9. It's Not Supposed To Be That Way 3:30
10. Heaven And Hell 1:53
11. Phases And Stages (Theme)/Pick Up The Tempo/Phases And Stages (Theme) 3:26
12. Phases And Stages (Theme)/Washing The Dishes (Alternate Version) 2:41
13. Sister's Coming Home/Down At The Corner Beer Joint (Alternate Version) 3:58
14. Phases And Stages (Theme)/(How Will I Know) I'm Falling In Love Again (Alternate Version) 4:00
15. Bloody Mary Morning (Alternate Version) 3:40
16. No Love Around (Alternate Version) 1:54
17. I Still Can't Believe You're Gone (Alternate Version) 4:15
18. It's Not Supposed To Be That Way (Alternate Version) 3:16
19. Heaven And Hell (Alternate Version/Duet Vocal) 2:59
20. Phases And Stages (Theme)/Pick Up The Tempo 3:10
21. Phases And Stages (Theme) (Alternate Version) 0:40