| Django and Jimmie | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 2, 2015 | |||
| Genre | Country,outlaw country | |||
| Length | 46:44 | |||
| Label | Legacy Recordings | |||
| Producer | Buddy Cannon | |||
| Willie Nelson chronology | ||||
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| Merle Haggard chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Django and Jimmie | ||||
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Django and Jimmie is the sixth and final collaborative studio album by Americancountry music artistsWillie Nelson andMerle Haggard. It was released on June 2, 2015, byLegacy Recordings. The album was Haggard's final studio album prior to his death ofpneumonia in April 2016, 10 months after its release.
The album was well received by the critics, while it toppedBillboard'sTop Country Albums and reached number seven on theBillboard 200 upon its release.
Django and Jimmie markedWillie Nelson andMerle Haggard's sixth album collaboration. Nelson announced its completion during an appearance onJimmy Kimmel Live! atSouth by Southwest festival on March 20, 2015. The first single, "It's All Going to Pot" was released on April 20 (420 day).[1] The album was in development since at least early 2014.[2]
Produced byBuddy Cannon, the album features fourteen tracks by Nelson and Haggard. The song "Django and Jimmie" is a tribute to musiciansDjango Reinhardt andJimmie Rodgers.[3] Cannon forwarded the title-track to Haggard and Nelson separately. Both were interested by the song, and had talked in previous years about recording a new collaboration album.[4] The preproduction of the album took eighteen months. The parties involved discussed the type of material they wanted to include in the album and co-wrote some of the songs by talking on the telephone. The entire album was recorded in three days.[5] It features a guest appearance byBobby Bare on the tribute song "Missing Ol'Johnny Cash". The release of the album was announced for June 2, 2015.[3]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 73/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rolling Stone |   |
| Uncut | Favorable. |
| American Songwriter |  |
| Paste | 8.6/10 |
| Austin Chronicle | |
| The Wall Street Journal | Favorable. |
| The New Yorker | Favorable. |
| Allmusic | |
The album garnered positive reviews. With 73 points out of 100, the aggregate score websiteMetacritic classified them as "Generally favorable reviews".[6]Rolling Stone rated the release with three stars out of five. The magazine called it a "grab bag" new and older material that relied on Nelson and Haggard's "mythology".[7]Uncut delivered a favorable review, declaring: "Nelson sings like a canary and plays like a dream, Haggard growls like a grizzled jailbird and everyone seems to be having a blast".[8]American Songwriter favored the chemistry between Nelson and Haggard, while it praised Cannon and his "rootsy, loose and homey" approach, while it called the backing band "great".[9]Paste delivered a positive review, declaring: "Just hearing (Haggard and Nelson) make the music they want is plenty".[10]
Austin Chronicle rated the album with four stars out of five. The review remarked the merger of the styles of both artists: Haggard's signature use of theTelecaster and steel guitar; with Nelson's guitar andMickey Raphael's harmonica. It called the rasp on their voices "well seasoned", while it concluded that both "deliver a master class on how country music is supposed to be done".[11]Los Angeles Times wrote a favorable review, that considered "the spirit in (Haggard and Nelson's) voices" the main feature of the album.[12]The Wall Street Journal called it "one of the strongest, most engaging country albums of 2015" and remarked "its fresh, revealing songs, striking harmonies and varying rhythms".[13] On its review,The New Yorker talked about the situation of Country music. The magazine opined that the album was "outlier in a genre that is increasingly fixated on youth", and discussed the disappearance of adult themes and aging in the genre.[14]
Allmusic gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five. It praised Cannon's "sharp ear for material, along with a way with a relaxed groove", while it considered Haggard and Nelson "filled with good humor (and) a delicate balance of fun and sweet".[15]
Upon its release,Django and Jimmie sold 31,000 units.[16] It toppedBillboard'sTop Country Albums; and reached number seven on theBillboard 200, becoming Nelson's fourth top ten album on the chart and Haggard's first.[17] The album has sold 148,000 copies in the US as of May 2016.[18]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Django and Jimmie" | Jimmy Melton, Jeff Prince | 2:53 |
| 2. | "It's All Going to Pot" (featuringJamey Johnson) | Buddy Cannon,Jamey Johnson, Larry Shell | 2:56 |
| 3. | "Unfair Weather Friend" | Marla Cannon-Goodman, Ward Davis | 4:14 |
| 4. | "Missing Ol' Johnny Cash" (featuringBobby Bare) | Merle Haggard | 3:26 |
| 5. | "Live This Long" | Shawn Camp,Marv Green | 3:35 |
| 6. | "Alice in Hulaland" | Cannon,Willie Nelson | 3:01 |
| 7. | "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" | Bob Dylan | 4:10 |
| 8. | "Family Bible" | Nelson | 3:36 |
| 9. | "It's Only Money" | Nelson, Cannon | 3:56 |
| 10. | "Swinging Doors" | Haggard | 2:51 |
| 11. | "Where Dreams Come to Die" | Nelson, Cannon | 3:18 |
| 12. | "Somewhere Between" | Haggard | 3:24 |
| 13. | "Driving the Herd" | Nelson, Cannon | 2:49 |
| 14. | "The Only Man Wilder Than Me" | Haggard | 2:35 |
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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