Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be) was released in the fall of 1981, summarizing a remarkable seven-year stretch of extraordinary success that began when the iconoclastic Red Headed Stranger, Willie Nelson's first album for Columbia, became a smash hit not long after its 1975 release. From that point on, Nelson became an American popular music icon and a fixture at the top of the country charts, something that was all the more remarkable because he rarely played it safe: he sang pop standards, jammed like the Grateful Dead, recorded tributes to heroes like Lefty Frizzell, and did duet albums with both mentor Ray Price and fellow maverick Leon Russell.
'Don't Let Your Son Grow Up To Be A Cowboy' brings together early work by the underground New Wave outfit Jazzateers, a session that was recorded for Postcard Records but had all but been forgotten by time. "Wasted" is a throughline to the emergent indie rock of the time, intended to be the very last single Postcard Records would put out, and produced by the renowned Edwyn Collins, of Orange Juice fame. 'Don't Let Your Son Grow Up To Be A Cowboy' often shows off Jazzateers at their rawest and most immediate.
That's What I Call Country Classics '70s is an installment in the popular NOW series and the 5th in the Country Classics series. The project is a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. NOW That's What I Call Country Classics '70s includes country superstars including Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Don Williams, and many more.
It sat on the top of the country charts for 11 weeks and went double platinum, making it one of the biggest hits in either Waylon Jennings' or Willie Nelson's catalog. Years after its initial 1978 release, Waylon & Willie remains one of their biggest-selling albums, but its perennial popularity has more to do with their iconic status – something this album deliberately played up – than the quality of the music, which is, overall, merely good. Released in early 1978, a few months after Jennings' Ol' Waylon spent 13 weeks on the top of the charts in the summer of 1977, thanks in part to the hit single "Luckenbach, Texas" featuring a chorus sung by Nelson, the album was intended as a celebration of the peak of outlaw, but in retrospect, it looks like where the movement was beginning to slide into predictability, even if both singers are more or less in command of their talents here.