Willie Nelson - Songbird

He’s sung everything from reggae to Gershwin, but here Nelson sticks to mostly country-blues—with a just a hint of gospel. Working with prolific young rocker Ryan Adams, who produced this fine collection, the pigtailed septuagenarian tackles Adams’ moody “Blue Hotel,” Gram Parsons’ heartbreaking “$1000 Wedding” and Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah.” But the country legend also revisits a few classics of his own, like “Back to Earth” and “Sad Songs & Waltzes”—something he doesn’t do often enough.