Willie Nelson on his new album, a cannabis cookbook, Kris Kristofferson and what makes a good song

NEW YORK – Young musicians striving for longevity would be wise to follow the wise word Willie Nelson: Do what you think is right and if you are lucky enough to have a statue built in your honor in your town, remember that it’s just that you “have to go down and clean a pigeon (expletive) every now and then.”

Nelson on Friday who is 91, will release “The Last Leaf on the Tree”, his second studio album this year – also his 76th solo studio album and 153rd album overall, according to Texas Monthly Magazine Herculean ranking of his rich discography. So how much more is there in it? Nelson laughs into the phone: “I don’t know. Hopefully there are a few more.” Maybe he’ll score 200? “Why not!”

“The Last Leaf on the Tree” is an album of firsts and acquaintances; It’s Nelson’s first album produced entirely by his son Micah, and includes several originals and covers from Nelson luminaries such as Neil Young, Nina Simone and Tom Waits, as well as some less-than-obvious inclusions, such as a reimagining of a Flaming Lips song. Do you understand??” and Beck’s Lost Cause.

“He’s a true artist,” Nelson says of his son. “He chose all the songs.”

Asked how he broke the news to his producer Buddy Cannon that Micah was taking over, Nelson joked, “We just surprised him.”

Mickey Nelson’s artistic approach to alternative rock is present on the record, not only in the choice of cover versions, but also in his performance. For example, for his cover of Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country”, he used sticks and leaves as percussion instruments instead of traditional instruments. “I didn’t notice anything special,” Nelson laughs.

His wife Annie Nelson, who joined Willie for the interview, adds: “He says it all the time. It’s nice to play with your child. And it’s even better if they’re good.”

After seven decades of songwriting, Nelson says the only way to define a good one is to simply say, “You’ll know it when you hear it. When you hear something and think, “Man, I wish I could write that,” that’s a good song.”

“There’s no better songwriter than Kris Kristofferson.” Nelson once said his Highwaymen bandmate at the 2009 awards ceremony. Kristofferson, 88, died last month at his home in Maui, Hawaii.

“He was a great songwriter. He left a lot of fantastic songs for us to sing while we’re here,” he reflects. “Chris was a great friend of mine. And, you know, we had a lot of fun together, and we created a lot of music together – videos, films. I didn’t want to lose him. It was a sad time.”

In some ways, Nelson is the latest representative of the Outlaw Country era, although he has always experimented with genres and styles. The title, “The Last Leaf on the Tree,” taken from Waits’ cover of “The Last Leaf,” resonates in some ways as he recalls his contemporaries. “If you just take the music part and go back to Waylon (Jennings), Chris and John (New York Cash) and, you know, we all work together, bandits. And then I’m left alone. And it’s just not funny.”

The album also explores love and death, topics he knows a thing or two about.

“Well, I’m 91 plus, so, you know, I’m not worried about it. I don’t feel bad. I don’t have any pain anywhere. I have no reason to worry about death. But I don’t know anyone who lives forever,” he says. “I take very good care of myself. And I feel like I’m in pretty good physical shape. Mentally? That’s a different story,” he says, laughing.

As for what he thinks his legacy is, he too has an answer: “I had a good time. And I did what I came here to do: make music.”

He will continue to do this and more. He says he has another album ready, and in a few weeks Willie and Annie Nelson will release “The Willie and Annie Nelson Cannabis Cookbook,” a light extension of the couple’s longtime belief that both marijuana and food are medicinal. properties. Annie says the book was born out of necessity when Willie had pneumonia and couldn’t smoke, so she started cooking to ease his nightmares.

“He was a great taster,” she says.

Without missing a beat, he jumps up: “Still alive!”