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| Texas in My Soul | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1968 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | Chet Atkins | |||
| Willie Nelson chronology | ||||
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Texas in My Soul is the seventh studio album bycountry singerWillie Nelson. It was an earlyconcept album that aimed to pay tribute to theState of Texas. The original album artwork features theAlamo, along with threeSan Antonio construction projects completed in 1968: theTower of the Americas,HemisFair Arena and theHemisFair monorail system.
By 1968 Nelson had recorded a string of albums forRCA but none had sold in vast quantities. Although he remained very popular in his home state of Texas, and was highly regarded inNashville for composing hits like “Crazy” and “Hello Walls,” his success as a songwriter did not translate as a commercial recording artist. Nelson felt hamstrung by Nashville's recording practices, feeling the soul of his songs were being buried under background vocalists and strings.[1] According to Nelson, who continued touring with his own band during this time, it was RCA head and producerChet Atkins who came up with the idea of recording an album dedicated to Texas: “Back in Nashville, Chet Atkins was still racking his brain, trying to find ways to get my records to sell. He came up with a concept,Texas in My Soul, that had me singing songs about my home state. Not a bad idea...But when I tried to use my road band in the studio, Chet said no.”[2]
Unsurprisingly, the album pays tribute to Texashonky-tonk legendErnest Tubb with three of his compositions, including the standard “Waltz Across Texas” as well as “There’s a Little Bit of Everything in Texas” and the title track. "Texas in My Soul" was written in the late 1940s byErnest Tubb andZeb Turner, along with an uncreditedJustin Tubb, Ernest's eleven-year-old son. While singles were cut and released byTex Williams andHank Penny, Ernest never recorded the song. Nelson, who cited Tubb as a primary influence, had also appeared on Tubb's syndicated show dozens of times throughout the sixties. "Dallas" was co-written by Dallas-based music promoterDewey Groom, who owned and operated theLonghorn Ballroom in Dallas, where Nelson regularly played. It was the first song since "Big D" to make that city sound appealing, with references toLove Field airport, theNorth Central Expressway, and some of the prettiest women in the world, at a time when the city was still regarded negatively as the city wherePresident Kennedy had been assassinated.[3] "TheHill Country Theme" was written byCindy Walker forTexas Hill Country-bornLyndon B. Johnson, who wasPresident of the United States at the time. The song was adopted as Johnson's official theme song.Arthur Fiedler and theBoston Pops recorded a symphonic version of the song which was included on one of theirRCA Victor albums.
While the sound was still a ways off from the one Nelson would cultivate as part of the Outlaw movement in the seventies, the concept played to his strengths, asAllMusic's Mark Deming observes: "While a few of the songs here are real clunkers (the opening track, 'Dallas,' is especially dire), Nelson seems to be having fun with 'Who Put All My Ex's in Texas' and 'Texas in My Soul,' while delivering 'Waltz Across Texas' with commendable feeling, and though the musicians here aren't as simpatico as the core of players Nelson would tour and record with through the '70s and '80s, these sessions seem to suit Nelson's musical personality better than most of his recordings for RCA Victor." According to his bookWillie Nelson, biographer Joe Nick Patoski cites theTexas in My Soul sessions as when Atkins finally put his foot down regarding members of Nelson's band playing on his records:
"San Antonio" which was composed by San Antonio steel guitar player Jerry Blanton, who performed with George Chambers and the Country Gentlemen, became Nelson's sixthRCA Victor single, peaking at #50. Chambers and his band had recently backed up Nelson for four weeks inLas Vegas.
AllMusic: "Not a great album,Texas in My Soul at least devotes itself to something Willie is passionate about, and is good throwaway fun four decades later."
| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
