A Beautiful Time Explained

A Beautiful Time
Type:	studio
Artist:	Willie Nelson
Cover:	Willie Nelson - A Beautiful Time cover.png
Released:	April 29, 2022
Studio:	The Tracking Room (Nashville, Tennessee) East Iris (Nashville, Tennessee) Blackbird (Nashville, Tennessee) Pedernales Recording (Spicewood, Texas) Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre:	Country
Length:	49:19
Label:	Legacy Recordings
Producer:	Buddy Cannon
Prev Title:	The Willie Nelson Family
Prev Year:	2021
Next Title:	I Don't Know a Thing About Love
Next Year:	2023

A Beautiful Time is the 72nd solo studio album by Willie Nelson, released on April 29, 2022, on his 89th birthday. Produced by Buddy Cannon, the album includes original songs by Nelson, as well as covers of the Beatles and Leonard Cohen.^[1]

On February 10, 2022, Nelson released the single "I'll Love You Till the Day I Die" a song written by Chris Stapleton and Rodney Crowell.^[2]

A Beautiful Time won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards while Crowell and Stapleton's lead single "I'll Love You Till the Day I Die" was a nominee in the Best Country Song category at the same awards.^[3]

Critical reception

A Beautiful Time received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 84 out of 100 based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic praised the record's "earned wisdom and wry humor", concluding that "it's still a marvel to hear him find sustenance and surprises within his music". Liz Thomson of The Arts Desk called the album "classic Nelson" while No Depression, though acknowledging that the remote recording meant that the musicians performed without "other players to bounce off", praised Nelson's vocals and guitar playing and gave their verdict that it "is a delightful album from beginning to end".^[4] Veteran critic Robert Christgau ranked it as the fourth best album of 2022.^[5]

Personnel

Performance

• Barry Bales – upright bass
• Jim "Moose" Brown – piano, B-3 organ, synthesizer, Wurlitzer
• Buddy Cannon – background vocals
• Melonie Cannon – background vocals
• Chad Cromwell – drums
• Fred Eltringham – drums, percussion
• Kevin "Swine" Grant – upright bass
• Mike Johnson – steel guitar
• Catherine Marx – Wurlitzer, piano, B-3 organ
• James Mitchell – electric guitar
• Willie Nelson – lead vocals, Trigger
• Mickey Raphael – harmonica
• Bobby Terry – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar, bass, piano
• Lonnie Wilson – drums, percussion

Production

• Buddy Cannon – production
• Tony Castle – recording, mixing
• Steve Chadie – recording
• Shannon Finnegan – production coordinator
• Andrew Mendelson – mastering

Other personnel

• Frank Harkins – art direction and design
• Pamela Springsteen – photography

Charts

Chart (2022)! scope="col"

Peak position
Australian Country Albums (ARIA)^[6]	8

Notes and References

1. News: Corcoran, Nina. February 10, 2022. Willie Nelson Announces New Album A Beautiful Time, Shares New Song "I'll Love You Till the Day I Die": Listen. Pitchfork. February 10, 2022.
2. Hudak, Joseph. Willie Nelson Records Songs by Chris Stapleton, the Beatles for New Album 'A Beautiful Time'. February 10, 2022. Rolling Stone. February 10, 2022.
3. News: 2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List. November 15, 2022. November 15, 2022. Grammy.com.
4. Web site: Heselgrave . Doug . ALBUM REVIEW: Humor and Humanity Run Through Willie Nelson's 'A Beautiful Time'. No Depression . April 28, 2022 . en.
5. Web site: Christgau. Robert. January 25, 2023. Dean's List: 2022. And It Don't Stop. Substack. March 11, 2023. subscription.
6. Web site: ARIA Australian Top 40 Country Albums. Australian Recording Industry Association. May 9, 2022. May 11, 2022.