Shotgun Willie

Shotgun Willie was the first album from Willie that I've heard proper, and would you believe me, there wasn't anything I could point to that made me give this album high marks. Yet I always return to it. That might be because of the simplicity of the recording. Willie is obviously a natural when it comes to recording loose country albums, and this album is a testament to that.

It's a bit top-heavy, I can say. Songs 1 through 3 are amazing, but the rest is good, just not... that good. It's not fully blown out outlaw stuff, but a mixture of an "easy-on-the-ears" country sound with a more "edgier" approach.

Without the constraints of going for a clean image, Willie managed to tap into the creative well that yielded a true "no fucks given" album that the world at the time needed.