This album is a keeper! I took it out of the library and have renewed it and now it's overdue so I'm ordering one. There's not a dud cut on the disk. Highly recommended.

This is essential Willie Nelson,featuring twenty songs from Willie's early days in Nashville, notably the R.C.A. recordings,of which Nelson was known more as a songwriter than an established singer. These songs favor more on the country sound with Jimmy Day on steel, featuring,I Gotta Drunk,Yesterday's Wine,Sweet Memories,Bloody Mary Morning, and a cover of Ernest Tubb's,Waltz Across Texas, slightly better than Tubb's version,and there's the timeless,Night Life,and Funny How Time Slips Away. Willie is in pretty good form on these recordings, his singing style has changed through the years - more polished. These songs best describe the real Nelson of this time period {60's} - as Willie once said it before traveling to Nashville "now I have something to sell", I Gotta Get Drunk,is worth the price of admission alone,an R.C.A. recording and out of print. Another early Willie Nelson essential,recorded with the Texas Troubadours,WILLIE NELSON SINGS COUNTRY FAVORITES,cheap and available at Amazon.

Willie Nelson's RCA years are probably my favorite of his lengthy career. I LOVE Willie's music. This one 'The Essential Willie Nelson' (not to be confused with the 2-disc Columbia release), is a nice 20-song sampler of his best RCA recordings from 1964 to 1971.

If you want a cheap, nice retrospective of Willie on RCA, than check out 'Platinum & Gold Collection.' I recommend that one if you're on a budget as well. But, this set is for those who want to explore Willie's RCA sides more.

You get his finest early sides. 'Hello Walls,' 'The Night Life,' 'Funny How Time Slips Away,' and one of my personal favorites, 'The Party's Over.'

It's also interesting to hear the original 'Bloody Mary Morning.' The version I know and love appears on the 'Phases and Stages' record. I may actually like the original better than the classic album version.

You also get another one of my personal favorites on this set, 'Me And Paul.' This is a classic country song, and it fits perfectly on any Willie collection.

If your new to Willie Nelson's RCA sides, either this or 'Platinum And Gold Collection' will fit perfectly. However, if you want to get his very best RCA sides and you want them in one piece, look no further.

This is highly recommended for any Willie Nelson fan. These classic early recordings just can't be beat! And the sound quality is excellent as well. ENJOY!!!

This is a good cd but there are better Willie cds out
there (Spirit, Red Headed Stranger) for a person who is
looking for their first Willie cd. This is a great cd
for die-hard Willie fans who are looking to broaden their
collection. Compare it with Willie's more famous works and
you will see how bad Nashville was to Willie. The best
tracks on this work would be the earlier versions of songs
the are still featured in Willie's concerts or were re-done
by him later in his career (Me and Paul, Yesterday's Wine,
Bloody Mary Morning) The "Gotta Get Drunk" track is my
favorite on the disc.

I only wish you could advise me if this CD can be obtained in CDG for Karaoke singing.