Matt Nine days after the release of Willie’s “You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker” in 2006 Cindy Walker passed away aged 87. She was one of Country music greatest song writers whose career spanned six decades with some of her greatest songs recorded by Bob Wills, Jim Reeves, Webb Pierce, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Roy Orbison with quite a few more that could be added. Her songs were honest, frank, direct with a touch of double meaning at times and most important of all, they were truly original. Of all the recent albums released by Willie Nelson since 2000 this one is still his finest effort. Perhaps it is the familiarity of the tunes for him as he has played and known many of them since his early teenage days long before “Crazy” in the late 1940’s and many of his own heroes in Country music played them in their repertoire as well and with all this familiarity “Willie took to it, like a duck to water”.

Western Swing is one of the main components of the album’s construction and why not start with one of her co written Bob Wills songs “Bubbles In My Beer” and of course it’s a fiddle that gets things underway for this shuffle being primarily guitar backed with Willie vocals right out front but the next song that follows almost steals all the limelight being the beautiful double meaning ballad “Not That I Care”. “Take Me In Your Arms and Hold Me” is another ballad originally recorded by Eddy Arnold followed by more Western Swing with “Don’t Be Ashamed Of Your Age” and next was another massive one for her being the ballad “You Don’t Know Me” where even Elvis and Ray Charles had a crack at but it was Jerry Vale who pulled in the hit. The co-written Bob Wills songs, “Sugar Moon” and “Cherokee Maiden” give more of that Western Swing with “Miss Molly” added and that fiddle accompanied with Honky Tonk piano keeps them motoring along. “I Don’t Care”, “The Warm Red Wine” are more of Cindy’s classics with the beautiful Western themed “Dusty Skies” with one exquisite Harmonica solo inserted by Charlie McCoy perhaps being with “Not That I Care” one of the albums best tracks. More Swing with “It’s All Your Fault” follows with one more gem to finish proceedings up being the lovely ballad “I Was Just Walking Out The Door”.

Cindy Walker had sent Willie Nelson a song she had wrote specifically for him just prior to this album but never recorded and instead he decided to take on many of her Classics . Hopefully she managed to hear it prior to her death as she had been ill for a while by then and maybe for her it was a WC Handy moment as well, just as when he first heard Louis Armstrong”s Plays WC Handy and a tear came to her eye also, for the great renditions that Willie recorded in tribute.