Produced by Fred Foster, the man behind such stars as Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, & Kris Kristofferson, You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker is truly a return to form for Willie. The band performing on the record is made up of several of Nashville's premier session players, who successfully capture the spirit and sound of classic country music. All songs were written by Country Music Hall of Fame inductee (1997), Cindy Walker. At 87, she has a long list of writing credits to her name, which include: "Dusty Skies" recorded by Spade Cooley, Bob Wills, & The Sons of the Pioneers, "Cherokee Maiden" recorded by Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, & Mel Tillis, "Warm Red Wine" recorded by Ernest Tubb and George Jones, "You Don't Know Me" recorded by Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Jimmy Dean, Henry Mancini, & many more The single, "You Don't Know Me" was made most famous by Willie's close friend Ray Charles on The Modern Sounds of Country and Western Music. "I loved her music," Nelson says of Walker's catalog of playful saloon songs and heartfelt ballads. "Even before we met I felt like I knew her from listening to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys do her songs. Every night of the week as a teenager I was playing things like "Miss Molly" and "I Was Just Walking Out The Door" somewhere.Though Willie Nelson's thematic albums in recent years have been hit-and-miss, this labor of love is a thorough delight. One Texas legend pays tribute to another and evokes the inspiration of a third, as Nelson puts his stylistic signature on the songbook of Cindy Walker, with arrangements channeling the spirit of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (whose most familiar songs include many of Walker's). Nelson's conversational phrasing refreshes the familiar title track and brings out the soulful depths of heartfelt (and heartsick) balladry such as "Not That I Care." The nimble band features the interplay of Playboys alum Johnny Gimble on fiddle and the legendary Buddy Emmons on steel guitar, under the production of Nashville veteran Fred Foster. Saloon songs such as "Bubbles in My Beer" and "The Warm Red Wine" meet the mythic West of "Cherokee Maiden" and "Dusty Skies" and the weathered resilience of "Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age" and "I Don't Care," as the collection pays testament not only to Walker's range, but to Nelson's interpretive mastery. --Don McLeese
