Personnel: Willie Nelson (vocals, guitar); Jody Payne (guitar); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Booker T. Jones (keyboards); Bee Spears, Chris Etheridge (bass); Paul English, Rex Ludwick (drums).
Recorded in the Enactron Truck, Los Angeles, California.
Personnel: Willie Nelson (vocals, guitar); Jody Payne (guitar); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Booker T. Jones (keyboards); Rex Ludwick, Paul English (drums).
Arranger: Booker T. Jones.
Willie Nelson has released nearly as many Christmas albums as Elvis, with equally varying results. While his most effective spiritually-oriented recordings are arguably those he made with his pianist sister Bobbie, it's hard to write off PRETTY PAPER. Though this holiday collection finds the Red-Headed Stranger strolling through such Yuletide inevitables as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Frosty the Snowman," this is no Rankin-Bass Christmas special. Any album that features ex-Flying Burrito Brothers bassist Chris Ethridge, legendary R&B keyboardist Booker T. Jones (who also produced) and longtime Nelson compatriot Mickey Raphael on harp is bound to be a substantive effort. And Willie's trademark jazz/country phrasing (on both vocal and guitar) could put a new spin on "Hava Negilah."
