Artist	Song
Townes Van Zandt	Pancho and Lefty
from A Far Cry from Dead (2009)
Roy Acuff	Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain
from The Essential Roy Acuff (2004)
Elvis Presley	Always On My Mind
from 2nd to None (2003)
Kris Kristofferson	Help Me Make It Through the Night
from Kristofferson (2001)
Johnny Bush	Whiskey River
from Country Drinking Songs (2003)
Lefty Frizzell	If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time
from Look What Thoughts Will Do (1997)
Hoagy Carmichael	Georgia On My Mind
from Hoagy Sings Carmichael (1988)
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys	Stay a Little Longer
from Legends of Country Music: The Best of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (2006)
Steve Goodman	City of New Orleans
from No Big Surprise - The Steve Goodman Anthology (1994)
Jimmy Webb	The Highwayman
from El Mirage (2006)
The Allman Brothers Band	Midnight Rider
from Idlewild South (1997)
Paul Simon	Graceland
from The Essential Paul Simon (2010)
Benny Goodman	Blue Skies
from Benny Goodman & His Great Vocalists (1995)
Frank Sinatra	All of Me
from Sinatra Sings His Greatest Hits (1997)
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys	Faded Love
from Boot Heel Drag - The MGM Years (2001)

Comment:

When searching for songs, Willie casts his net wide, guided by an almost infallible emotional gyroscope. When approaching Elvis Presley’s 1973 pop-country crossover hit “Always on My Mind,” he stripped the song of its original Vegas-style production, put the brakes on its tempo, and turned it into an apology and promise that even a carbon-hardened heart couldn’t reject. Only a fool or a genius would tackle Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind,” rendered brilliantly as a big band standard before its reinvention as a Ray Charles R&B classic; Willie’s version transports us to the mint julep-sippin’ South so vividly you can practically smell the peach blossoms. And Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night” is a brash, self-assured declaration — [i]if you don’t help me, somebody else will[/i] — while Willie’s tender cover brings a sense of uncertainty to the lyrics. Still curious? We have tunes from the King of Western swing, a pop songwriting superstar, and a whole lot more.

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