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Mixing Country, Blues & Soul for a special duo

When one thinks of the country legend Willie Nelson teaming up and performing with someone, Waylon Jennings is probably the first name to come to mind. Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Leon Russell might be some others. Even John Mellencamp or Bob Dylan falls into a category easily imaginable. Seeing that Willie has a DVD that has him sharing the stage with Ray Charles may seem a bit unusual, but it works.

The Willie Nelson Special With Special Guest Ray Charles is actually a combination of performances. The show begins with Willie’s band, including his sister on piano for “On the Road Again” & “Always On My Mind.” Close up shots of Willie’s multi-autographed road-weary acoustic guitar with an extra hole worn through the top by years of picking makes a musician wonder how he still gets a great tone out of the beloved instrument.

Next up is Ray Charles on piano as Willie throws around a few jokes and banters with the Blues & Soul legend. They perform a combination of songs from Willie & Ray’s careers: “Angel Eyes,” “Seven Spanish Angels,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Georgia On My Mind” and “Mountain Dew.”

The clothes and band change up once more “My Window Faces South,” “There Will Be Another You,” “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” in which Willie tosses out a joke about Julio Eglasias, “Without A Song,” “Who’ll Buy My Memories” and ending with “Whiskey River.”

These shows were filmed at the Austin Opry House in 1985. Everyone’s clothes and hair look dated except Willie. He hasn’t changed and probably never will, which is why we love him. He’s a charismatic and talented performer and his charm shines through as he duos with Ray, who always seems to have a big smile and ready to perform.

The DVD is only an hour long, has no special features and not even a booklet. Although there is footage in between the songs showing some rehearsal time with Ray and Willie as well as Willie visiting his hometown of Abbott, TX. The disc is full screen and offers both DTS Digital Surround Sound and Dolby Surround 5.1 audio.

Any Willie or Ray fan will love this DVD, but I highly recommend it to people who aren’t as familiar with the music of one of these two musicians. It’s a great pairing and a different sound and take on songs that you are familiar with.

*Special Note, the DVD I have shows Willie onstage with a black background. The image is just like the picture above, but the background is black in case you get in the store and start wondering if you have the wrong DVD or not.

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