Nelson has Crowell covered

"Oh What A Beautiful World" (his 154th album, according to Texas Monthly's interactive All Willie Nelson Albums Ranked list and 77th solo studio album) premieres Nelson's interpretations of 12 songs written or cowritten by Rodney Crowell.

The two Texas singer-songwriters' careers have often intersected, beginning with Crowell first hearing Nelson's earliest songs on the radio and seeing his shows in Houston in the mid 1960s. Nelson first recorded a Rodney Crowell song in 1983 and last did so 40 years later for 2024's "The Border."

The first single is the title, featuring Crowell himself in a duet with Nelson.

Originally appearing as the closing track on Crowell's 2014 "Tarpaper Sky," "Oh What A Beautiful World" evokes the poignancy of passing time.

Nelson's disc includes early tracks like 1976's "Banks Of The Old Bandera" (recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker) and 1981's "Shame On The Moon" (a hit for Bob Seger), '90s tracks like "What Kind Of Love," (co-written by Will Jennings based on a Roy Orbison melody) and "Stuff That Works" (co-written with Guy Clark), early 2000's cuts written for hit albums by Keith Urban and Tim McGraw, four cuts from Crowell's 2010s albums and a cut released as recently as 2021.

Longtime musical collaborator Buddy Cannon produced. Players included Bobby Terry (acoustic guitar, steel guitar, electric guitar), James Mitchell (electric guitar), Jim "Moose" Brown (B-3 organ, piano, Wurlitzer), Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Fred Eltringham (drums, percussion) and Glenn Worf (bass, upright bass) with background vocals by Wyatt Beard, Melonie Cannon, Buddy's daughter, and Cannon.

The track list is:
1. What Kind Of Love (written by Rodney Crowell, Will Jennings & Roy Orbison)
2. Banks Of The Old Bandera (written by Rodney Crowell)
3. The Fly Boy & The Kid (written by Rodney Crowell)
4. Forty Miles From Nowhere (written by Rodney Crowell)
5. I Wouldn't Be Me Without You (written by Rodney Crowell)
6. Making Memories Of Us (written by Rodney Crowell)
7. Oh What A Beautiful World with Rodney Crowell (written by Rodney Crowell)
8. Ope Season On My Heart (written by Rodney Crowell & James Slater)
9. Shame On The Moon (written by Rodney Crowell)
10. She's Back In Town (written by Rodney Crowell)
11. Still Learning To Fly (written by Rodney Crowell)
12. Stuff That Works (written by Rodney Crowell & Guy Clark)