The 500 - #183 - Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #183
Album Title: Red Headed Stranger
Artist: Willie Nelson

Genre: Outlaw Country

Recorded: Autumn Sound (Garland, Texas)

Released: May, 1975
My age at release: 9
How familiar was I with it before this week: One song

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #237, dropping 54 places
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

Album cover for Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger (1975).

As has been documented numerous times in this blog series, I am a huge fan of concept albums -- those records whose individual tracks hold a larger meaning when listened to as a whole. My favourites include 2112 from Rush; The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway from Genesis; Misplaced Childhood from Marillion; and Operation: Mindcrime from Queensryche. A few of my other favourites have even made The 500 list, including The Who's Tommy; David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust; Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy; and Pink Floyd's The Wall.

A selection of concept records from the Progressive Rock genre.

Colour me surprised on learning that concept records had been recorded by country artists. Released in the spring of 1975, Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger was hailed by critics as one of the best from both the outlaw country genre and as a concept record. Rolling Stone Magazine listed it at #26 in its October, 2022, article, The 50 Greatest Concept Albums of All Time. (I covered the outlaw country genre in detail in my 2023 post about Nelson's 1978 record Stardust.)

Album cover for Willie Nelson's Stardust (1978).

Red Headed Stranger tells the story of a preacher, turned fugitive, who is on the run in the American southwest (Texas to Colorado) after killing his wife and her lover. The titular character then wanders aimlessly from town to town in an alcoholic haze of self-loathing, riding a black stallion while toting behind him the pony of his deceased wife. There is plenty of room for metaphoric interpretation based on that image.

A shot from the film adaptation of Red Headed Stranger.  Nelson, as the

titular antihero, riding his stallion while towing his late wife's pony – ,

loaded figuratively and literally with the baggage of his past.

There is a shift at the midpoint of the record. The story could be interpreted as an allegory for "The American Dream". The Stranger continuing his westward quest, seeking a fresh start to his life. He meets a new love in Denver and the music becomes noticeably more upbeat, with some songs written in a buoyant waltz time. The final track is the instrumental Bandera. However, the song that precedes it, Hands On The Wheel, suggests that redemption for The Stranger has been found in the heart of a woman who loves him unconditionally.

"And I looked to the stars,
Tried all of the bars,
And I've nearly gone up in smoke.
Now my hand's on the wheel,
I've something that's real,

And I feel like I'm going home."

Red Headed Stranger absolutely wowed me. I listened to it perhaps a dozen times in the week leading up to this posting. In future, when I talk about my favourite concept records, this album will certainly be among them. There is something stirring and beautiful in the album's simplicity. Much like the wide open vistas so typical in a western movie, Red Headed Stranger is sparse and uncomplicated, with lots of space for contemplation and interpretation -- none of it hurried.

"Some day when we meet up yonder
We'll stroll hand-in-hand again
In a land that knows no parting
Blue eyes crying in the rain."