Track Listing

1. Dallas
2. San Antonio
3. Streets of Laredo
4. Who Put All My Ex's in Texas
5. Hill Country Theme
6. Waltz Across Texas
7. Travis Letter
8. Remember the Alamo
9. Texas in My Soul
10. There's a Little Bit of Everything in Texas
11. Beautiful Texas

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119665 in Music
• Brand: Nelson
• Released on: 2007-02-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Customer Reviews

Vintage RCA 1960's Willie
Willie's 1960's cuts for RCA are generally underrated as is this album. His voice was as distinctive then as it is today, even more so. His relaxed, yet hesitating style is honest and deep. The gem from the album for me is REMEMBER THE ALAMO, a noble ballad that has a unsettled, dark and fatalistic undertone.

Budget reissue of 1968 RCA LP
"Texas In My Soul" was originally released on RCA Records in 1968. Willie would probably call this a "theme" album rather than a "concept" album since there is no story or narration throughout the songs, but rather a cohesive theme linking the songs. The theme is songs about Texas, and in retrospect the record seems quite prescient given how Texas would serve as a retreat and a source of reinvigoration for Willie just a few years after it was originally released.

At the time of its original release the album was considered by RCA to be a disappointment. The album itself did not chart, and the lone single from the album, "San Antonio", made it no higher than #50 on the Country charts. The production is by Chet Atkins, and, as on most of Willie's 1960s recordings, Willie is treated primarily as a vocalist on the LP. None of the compositions are from Willie's pen, and if Willie is playing guitar on the record he's playing rhythm, not lead, and that rhythm guitar is buried in the mix. Given that, Willie's in fine voice and it's probably safe to assume that Willie approved of the album's theme and the songs contained within.

"Texas In My Soul" has been out of print for years, and this reissue is its first issue on CD as an individual release. (The songs from the album were included as part of the multi-CD Bear Family box Nashville Was the Roughest a few years back.) It's one of the very few RCA LPs to be given a CD release, on which count alone this release could be considered an essential purchase for the Willie Nelson fans out there. It's an enjoyable, though brief, listen and the quality of the audio is superb. I wanted to take off a half star for the cheap quality of the inner liner notes however, but having no half stars on Amazon I wound up taking a full star off the rating.

So, to sum up: long out of print Willie Nelson album from 1968 issued for the first time as an individual CD release. What more needs to be said?! Don't let the chintzy liner notes deter you, this release helps to fill a long neglected gap in the Willie Nelson catalog (his RCA years) and helps to tell part of the story of Willie's longtime love for Texas. Recommended for Willie fans looking to dig a bit deeper beyond the hits.