A Beautiful Time

A Beautiful Time
Studio album by Willie Nelson
Released	April 29, 2022
Studio	The Tracking Room (Nashville, Tennessee) East Iris (Nashville, Tennessee) Blackbird (Nashville, Tennessee) Pedernales Recording (Spicewood, Texas) Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre	Country
Length	49:19
Label	Legacy Recordings
Producer	Buddy Cannon
Willie Nelson chronology
The Willie Nelson Family (2021) A Beautiful Time (2022) I Don't Know a Thing About Love (2023)

A Beautiful Time is the 72nd solo studio album by Willie Nelson, released on April 29, 2022, on his 89th birthday. Produced by Buddy Cannon, the album includes original songs by Nelson, as well as covers of the Beatles and Leonard Cohen.^[1]

On February 10, 2022, Nelson released the single "I'll Love You Till the Day I Die" a song written by Chris Stapleton and Rodney Crowell.^[2]

A Beautiful Time won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards while Crowell and Stapleton's lead single "I'll Love You Till the Day I Die" was a nominee in the Best Country Song category at the same awards.^[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
And It Don't Stop	A[6]
The Arts Desk	[7]

A Beautiful Time received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 84 out of 100 based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[4]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic praised the record's "earned wisdom and wry humor", concluding that "it's still a marvel to hear him find sustenance and surprises within his music".^[5] Liz Thomson of The Arts Desk called the album "classic Nelson" ^[7] while No Depression, though acknowledging that the remote recording meant that the musicians performed without "other players to bounce off", praised Nelson's vocals and guitar playing and gave their verdict that it "is a delightful album from beginning to end".^[8] Veteran critic Robert Christgau ranked it as the fourth best album of 2022.^[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I'll Love You Till the Day I Die"	Chris Stapleton Rodney Crowell	4:11
2.	"My Heart Was a Dancer"	Willie Nelson Buddy Cannon	3:11
3.	"Energy Follows Thought"	Nelson Cannon	3:18
4.	"Dreamin' Again"	Jack Wesley Routh Douglas Graham	3:57
5.	"I Don't Go to Funerals"	Nelson Cannon	2:27
6.	"A Beautiful Time"	Shawn Camp	4:57
7.	"We're Not Happy (Till You're Not Happy)"	Camp Charles R. Humphrey III	3:17
8.	"Dusty Bottles"	Jim "Moose" Brown Scotty Emerick Don Sampson	3:31
9.	"Me and My Partner"	Ken Lambert	2:12
10.	"Tower of Song"	Leonard Cohen	5:00
11.	"Live Every Day"	Nelson Cannon	3:12
12.	"Don't Touch Me There"	Nelson Cannon	2:38
13.	"With a Little Help from My Friends"	John Lennon Paul McCartney	3:43
14.	"Leave You with a Smile"	Cannon Bobby Terry Matt Rossi	3:42
Total length:			49:19

Personnel

Performance Barry Bales – upright bass Jim "Moose" Brown – piano, B-3 organ, synthesizer, Wurlitzer Buddy Cannon – background vocals Melonie Cannon – background vocals Chad Cromwell – drums Fred Eltringham – drums, percussion Kevin "Swine" Grant – upright bass Mike Johnson – steel guitar Catherine Marx – Wurlitzer, piano, B-3 organ James Mitchell – electric guitar Willie Nelson – lead vocals, Trigger Mickey Raphael – harmonica Bobby Terry – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar, bass, piano Lonnie Wilson – drums, percussion

Production Buddy Cannon – production Tony Castle – recording, mixing Steve Chadie – recording Shannon Finnegan – production coordinator Andrew Mendelson – mastering Other personnel Frank Harkins – art direction and design Pamela Springsteen – photography

Charts

Chart performance for A Beautiful Time

Chart (2022)	Peak position
Australian Country Albums (ARIA)[10]	8
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11]	49
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12]	100
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13]	74
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14]	44
Scottish Albums (OCC)[15]	14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16]	19
UK Country Albums (OCC)[17]	2
UK Album Downloads (OCC)[18]	26
US Billboard 200[19]	100
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[20]	13

References

1. Corcoran, Nina (February 10, 2022). "Willie Nelson Announces New Album A Beautiful Time, Shares New Song "I'll Love You Till the Day I Die": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
2. Hudak, Joseph (February 10, 2022). "Willie Nelson Records Songs by Chris Stapleton, the Beatles for New Album 'A Beautiful Time'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
3. "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List". Grammy.com. November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
4. "A Beautiful Time by Willie Nelson". Metacritic. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
5. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "A Beautiful Time - Willie Nelson | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
6. Christgau, Robert (May 11, 2022). "Consumer Guide: May, 2022". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
7. Thomson, Liz (27 April 2022). "Album: Willie Nelson - A Beautiful Time". The Arts Desk. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
8. Heselgrave, Doug. "ALBUM REVIEW: Humor and Humanity Run Through Willie Nelson's 'A Beautiful Time'". No Depression. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
9. Christgau, Robert (January 25, 2023). "Dean's List: 2022". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
10. "ARIA Australian Top 40 Country Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. May 9, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
11. "Austriancharts.at – Willie Nelson – A Beautiful Time" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
12. "Ultratop.be – Willie Nelson – A Beautiful Time" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Willie Nelson – A Beautiful Time" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Willie Nelson – A Beautiful Time" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
15. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
16. "Swisscharts.com – Willie Nelson – A Beautiful Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
17. "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
18. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
19. "Willie Nelson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
20. "Willie Nelson Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 11, 2022.