Willie has sung everything and with everyone. There was a country song by Paul Evans a few years ago, and it was called “Willie Has Sung with Everyone But Me”. The beauty is that Willie has always been at ease, be it playing pop, rock, jazz and even reggae. A great artist knows no boundaries and when he has to face the kind of music that is the most familiar and congenial to him (the softest of country music), then he can be compared to a wild river. Even this “To All The Girls” brings together in one CD, two of the great passions of our Texan: the beautiful songwriting and the greatly talented female performers. 18 duets with as many women such as Dolly Parton, Miranda Lambert, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn and Carrie Underwood just to name a few. A top notch CD, refined, where his strong voice can be appreciated and where each note is the result of study and not chance. Choosing the best tracks is obviously reductive and a bit presumptuous on my behalf, because the artists in this album are true legends. But I can tell you the ones that I liked. Starting with the opening track “From Here To The Moon & Back” with Dolly Parton and then continuing with “Somewhere Between” with Loretta Lynn, the rhythmic “Bloody Mary Morning” with Wynonna Judd and the duet with his daughter Paula, where the two sing the classic “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”. My favourite piece however is “Always On My Mind” with Carrie Underwood, who is in better shape than ever. (Gianluca Sitta)
