Willie Nelson’s New Album Will Pay Tribute to a Legendary Nashville Songwriter
The prolific Willie Nelson, whose 2022 album A Beautiful Time was named one of Rolling Stone’s best country albums of the year, will release yet another new album: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love arrives March 3 via Legacy Recordings.
I Don’t Know a Thing About Love doubles as a tribute album to the songwriter Harlan Howard, the Country Music Hall of Fame member who once described country music as “three chords and the truth.” Nelson previews the LP with his version of “Busted,” out now. With longtime Family Band member Mickey Raphael’s unmistakable harmonica, “Busted” rolls along with bluesy woe. “I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won’t lay, a big stack of bills that gets bigger each day,” Willie sings, letting the whole world know why he’s busted.
Nelson, who turns 90 on April 29, reunited with producer and collaborator Buddy Cannon for I Don’t Know a Thing About Love. Made up of 10 Howard songs, it’s the latest songwriter tribute album by Nelson. In 2006, he released You Don’t Know Me, a collection of songs by Cindy Walker, and in 2016 dropped Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin.
Nelson is the subject of a new documentary, Willie Nelson & Family, premiering at Sundance Film Festival this week. He’s set to return to the road later in February with a pair of shows in St. Augustine, Florida.
I Don’t Know a Thing About Love tracklist:
1. “Tiger By the Tail”
2. “The Chokin’ Kind”
3. “Excuse Me (I Think I’ve Got a Heartache)”
4. “Life Turned Her That Way”
5. “I Don’t Know a Thing About Love”
6. “Streets of Baltimore”
7. “Busted”
8. “She Called Me Baby”
9. “Too Many Rivers”
10. “Beautiful Annabel Lee”