Willie Nelson will tip his cap to Country Music Hall of Famer Harlan Howard with his next album, I Don’t Know A Thing About Love. Out on March 3rd via Legacy Recordings, the ten-track collection will pay tribute to the songwriter who once called country music “three chords and the truth.”
Along with the announcement, Nelson shared his take on Howard’s “Busted”. The song was a hit in the early 1960s for both Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, with “Busted” appearing on the latter’s Live At Folsom Prison. The Man In Black also included Howard’s “The Wall” on the setlists of his landmark 1963 shows at Folsom State Prison in California.
In Nelson’s able hands, “Busted” takes on a bluesy crawl with help from longtime Family Band member Mickey Raphael’s harmonica. Willie’s plain-spoken plea for assistance is amplified by swirling organs as the song becomes as relevant today as it was when Howard penned it over 60 years ago.
Throughout his six-decade career, Howard authored songs that became hits for everyone from Patsy Cline to the Kingston Trio. In 1961 alone, after landing a contract with Acuff-Rose Music, Howard had 15 songs on the country music charts and received ten BMI awards, an accomplishment not replicated since. He recorded six solo albums between 1961 and 1981, but his songs made their greatest impact through the vessels of other performers. Waylon Jennings became Howard’s biggest champion, recording 40 of Harlan’s songs (more than any other artist) and releasing the 1967 tribute LP, Waylon Sings Ol’ Harlan. Howard was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997. He passed away in 2002 at the age of 74.
Check out Willie Nelson’s cover of “Busted” from his upcoming Harlan Howard tribute album, I Don’t Know A Thing About Love. The album is available here for pre-order with a full tracklist below. Willie himself is the subject of an upcoming tribute album, One Night In Texas, as well as a documentary set to premiere at Sundance Film Festival this week.
Willie Nelson – “Busted” (Harlan Howard)
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