Phases and Stages

Phases and Stages
Studio album by Willie Nelson
Released	March 1974
Recorded	1973
Studio	Muscle Shoals Sound Studios Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Genre	Country
Length	30:19
Label	Atlantic Records
Producer	Jerry Wexler
Willie Nelson chronology
Shotgun Willie (1973) Phases and Stages (1974) Red Headed Stranger (1975)

Phases and Stages is a 1974 album by Willie Nelson, which followed the moderate success of his first Atlantic Records release, Shotgun Willie. Nelson met producer Jerry Wexler at a party where Nelson sang songs from an unreleased album he had recorded in 1972. The single "Phases and Stages" was originally recorded the same year. Nelson re-recorded the album at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in two days and Wexler produced it.

The album narrates the story of a divorce. Side one tells the woman's story and side two the man's. Released on March 1974, the album peaked at number 34 on Billboard's Top Country Albums and the single "Bloody Mary Morning" reached number 17 on Billboard's Country singles. Despite the chart positions attained by the album, and its singles, Atlantic Records closed their Country music division in September 1974.

Background and Recording

In 1972, Nelson signed a recording contract with the Country Music division of Atlantic Records and Jerry Wexler, who gave him greater creative control than his previous contract.^[1][2] Nelson met Wexler at a party in Harlan Howard's house, where he sang the songs he wrote for an album. Nelson recorded his first album for Atlantic Records, Shotgun Willie, in 1972.^[3] Shotgun Willie, produced by Arif Mardin and Wexler, marked a change of style in Nelson's music. Nelson stated that recording the album had "...cleared his throat".^[4]

The single "Phases and Stages" was first released in 1972. Nelson had previously recorded the album Phases and Stages in Nashville, Tennessee.^[5] In 1973, Nelson re-recorded the songs in two days at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio for Atlantic Records with musicians Fred Carter, Jr., David Hood, Barry Beckett, Jimmy Johnson, Pete Carr and Roger Hawkins. Atlantic Records' executives criticized Wexler's decision to record in Muscle Shoals instead of Nashville, Tennessee.^[6] Wexler later stated: "They said Muscle Shoals was too R&B for Willie. I said Willie was too R&B for Nashville."^[7]

Concept

The album became one of the first concept albums in country music.^[8] The theme of the songs centers in divorce, narrated from both viewpoints. The one of the woman is narrated on side one; while the man's on side two. The recurrent song "Phases and Stages" is repeated throughout the album, introducing several other songs.^[9]

"Phases and Stages (theme)" Frequently repeated along the album, the song appears at the beginning of some of the tracks and at the end of the record. "Pretend I Never Happened" On the first side of the album, the song depicts the woman leaving her house and encouraging her husband to find a new love. "Bloody Mary Morning" Starting the second side of the album, the song depicts the husband's surprise in front of her wife leaving the house and him taking a plane to Houston, Texas. Problems playing these files? See media help.

The album begins with "Phases and Stages/Washing the Dishes", with the woman tired of caring for her unfaithful husband, emphasizing her domestic chores. This is followed by "Phases and Stages/Walkin'" where, after consideration, she leaves her husband at night, saying "Walkin' is better than runnin' away, and crawlin' ain't no good at all". In "Pretend I Never Happened", she advises him to forget her and continue with his life. In "Sister's Coming Home/Down at the Corner Beer Joint", her younger sister describes the woman moving back home and sleeping late. Eventually, she overcomes her grief and begins a social life at the corner beer joint, representing her liberation with the lyrics "(she's) dancin' on a hardwood floor, her jeans fit a little bit tighter than they did before". The final song of side one depicts the woman falling in love again but reluctant to admit it because she fears that her story will be repeated.^[5]

The second side of the album begins with "Bloody Mary Morning", with the male narrator ordering drinks on a flight from Los Angeles, California to Houston, Texas after his wife unexpectedly left him, with "the smog and haze reminding me of how I feel". In "Phases and Stages/No Love Around" he recalls dragging in at sunrise after another night of carousing: "I come home last Saturday morning, I come home and found you gone." In the sad "I Still Can't Believe You're Gone", the man realizes the vast impact on his life of her leaving. "It's Not Supposed to Be That Way" reflects his inability to accept the situation and his grief, but still in a self-centered way. In "Heaven and Hell", the man expresses his ambivalence about living without his wife, with the lyric: "Sometimes it's heaven, sometimes it's hell, and sometimes I don't even know." The final track is "Phases and Stages/Pick Up the Tempo/Phases and Stages", in which the man reveals his inability to change his character, and accepts his nature and its consequences.^[10]

Release and reception

The album was released in March 1974. It peaked at number 34 in Billboard's Top Country Albums and number 187 in Billboard's Top LPs & Tapes.^[11] The single "Bloody Mary Morning" peaked at number 17, and its follow-up, "I Still Can't Believe You're Gone", peaked at number 51 in Billboard's Country singles.^[12] Despite the moderate success of Nelson's singles, Atlantic Records' executives were unhappy with Nelson's style, and closed their Country Music division in September 1974. Wexler protested to Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, arguing that Atlantic had Willie Nelson. The Ertegun brothers replied "Willie Who? Go ahead and close it." Following the division's closure, Wexler resigned.^[13] The album sold 400,000 copies, and Nelson was released from his Atlantic contract, prompting Columbia Records' executives to offer Nelson a contract giving him complete creative control of his works.^[2][14] Wexler later described Phases and Stages and Shotgun Willie as "...generally viewed as having set Willie on a new path ... it was the coalescing of his audience, where the rednecks and the hippies came together. And to this day, that's Willie's audience."^[15]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rolling Stone	Favorable[10]
Texas Monthly	Favorable[16]
Billboard	Favorable[17]
Robert Christgau	A−[18]
Newsweek	Favorable[14]
Allmusic	[19]

Rolling Stone wrote: "(Nelson) seems to understand an unloved woman better than any dozen articles from Ms. (magazine). The fact that Nelson can fashion a believable scenario with such sparseness is a tribute to his ability to turn experience into good music. Phases And Stages, his best work to date, now seems to call out for the filmmaker who can turn good music into good cinema".^[10] Texas Monthly described the album as: "...a compassionate account of dissolution of marriage, which gave extremely sensitive male and female viewpoints".^[16]

Billboard wrote: "Nelson's unfettered voice honestly portrays his songs of love and lament".^[20] Critic Robert Christgau wrote: "Nelson's combination of soft-spoken off-key and battered honky-tonk matches the bare, responsive country music Jerry Wexler has gotten out of the Muscle Shoals regulars."^[18] Newsweek wrote: "In Phases and stages (Nelson) looked far beyond country music's traditional shore of self pity toward a clear vision of real life country divorce".^[14]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for Allmusic: "...the deceptively relaxed arrangements, including the occasional strings, not only highlight Nelson's clever eclecticism, but they also heighten the emotional impact of the album. [...] As a result, this is not just one of Willie Nelson's best records, but one of the great concept albums overall".^[19]

LP track listing

All songs written by Willie Nelson.

Personnel

The musicians and recording personnel included:^[6][21]

Chart positions

Album

Singles

References

Bibliography

• Cusic, Don (2008). Discovering country music. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-35245-4. 
• Flippo, Chet (September 1975). "Matthew, Mark, Luke and Willie". Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications. 3 (9). ISSN 0148-7736. 
• Kienzle, Richard (2003). Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky-Tonk, Western Swing, and Country Jazz. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-94103-7. 
• Nelson, Willie; Ritz, David (2015). It's A Long Story: My Life. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-33931-5. 
• Reid, Jan (2004). The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-70197-7. 
• Reid, Jan; Sahm, Shawn (2010). Texas Tornado: The Times & Music of Doug Sahm. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-72196-8. 
• Tichi, Cecilia (1998). Reading Country Music: Steel guitars, Opry stars, and Honky-Tonk Bars. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-2168-2. 
• "Billboard's Recommended LP's". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 86 (10). March 9, 1974. ISSN 0006-2510. 

See also

• Shotgun Willie
• Muscle Shoals Sound Studios