Two of Nelson’s best LPs weren’t issued on vinyl upon their initial release
Willie Nelson’s 1998 album Teatro stands as one of his latter-day best. It’s an immersive, transcendent listening experience produced by Daniel Lanois that features Emmylou Harris on haunting background vocals and finds Nelson reimagining songs like “Darkness on the Face of the Earth” and “My Own Peculiar Way.” Remarkably, it wasn’t issued on vinyl upon its initial debut and only appeared as a platter during a 2015 Record Store Day release.
Now, a new campaign in honor of Nelson’s recent 90th birthday will rerelease Teatro and 1996’s Spirit on vinyl, as well as issue the 2000 blues project Milk Cow Blues and 2002’s The Great Divide on vinyl for the first time.
All four albums will be released on 180-gram black vinyl, along with limited edition color versions on 140-gram vinyl: Teatro on translucent red vinyl, Milk Cow Blues on orange vinyl, and The Great Divide and Spirit on clear vinyl. The records are available at uDiscover Music and WillieNelson.com and will arrive via a staggered rollout. The Great Divide drops first on June 23, Teatro on Aug. 4, Milk Cow Blues on Sept. 15, and, finally, Spirit on Oct. 20.
Nelson recently collaborated with a host of all-stars during a pair of birthday concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in L.A. in April, including Sheryl Crow. A longtime collaborator of Nelson’s, Crow was one of the guests on The Great Divide, a Nelson-and-friends project that also featured Lee Ann Womack, Bonnie Raiitt, Brian McKnight, and Cyndi Lauper.