Vinyl Me, Please Unboxed – Willie Nelson ‘Phase and Stages’

Good things comes in 12 inch packages. Delivering limited edition vinyl pressings of new and classic albums directly to your doorstep, VMP operates under a simple philosophy: The Album Lives! With a carefully curated catalog of new and hard to find releases, the subscription service is more than just a record club, it’s a lifestyle choice for folks who wish Record Store Day could happen every month… in their living room.

Here’s how it works. You send Vinyl Me, Please some of your hard-earned money (a 3-month membership will set you back about $119) and they send you one carefully selected album they feel is Essential to any record collection. Yes, it truly is as easy as it sounds. You even get FREE SHIPPING. Each custom pressing (often on colored vinyl!) also comes with killer extras like original artwork and informative listening companion booklet. 

You’ll have membership privileges in the VMP store too, which means you can grab a copy of in-stock VMP selections from the past – including March’s dynamite reissue of Nina Simone’s 1967 classic Silk & Soul – or choose from a slate of super-limited releases pressed exclusively for Vinyl Me, Please. The store is open, and Team VMP is adding fresh new selections to their stock weekly. Do not miss out.

Word to the wise – while the store is open to the public, most of the covet-worthy stock is only available to subscribers. Members are privy to reduced “Members Pricing” as well, so joining the club has its rewards. If you’re wary of relinquishing control of your record collection to strangers, know that VMP’s Swaps Program is in full effect. That means you can flip any VMP pick you’re not interested in for a past featured album from any track (including Essentials, Country, Classics, and Rap/Hip Hop). My advice? Don’t overthink it. Do your turntable a favor and sign up today.

As for April, I’m kicking Spring into high gear with a touch of twang via Willie Nelson’s 1974 breakup album Phases and Stages. Here’s a look.

For The Love Of Vinyl, Please DO NOT BEND

Whether you know him as The Red Headed Stranger, Shotgun Wille, or even Booger Red, Willie Nelson is regarded by pretty much the whole of the music-loving world as one the greatest songwriters to have ever graced the mortal plane. If you’ve listened to any of the 100 albums (yes, you read that right, 100 Albums!) he’s released in his storied career, you know that’s hard to argue, with even the rare misses in back catalogue displaying his skill for wordplay and songcraft as well as his uncanny ability to tell a story with a song.

Nelson’s sonic storytelling went next level with the release of his 1974 opus, Phases and Stages, a concept album the singer devised to explore the breakup of a marraige from the side of both a long-suffering wife, and a rabble-rousing husband. This was, of course, not the first time Willie had tested his mettle in the concept album game, with his 1970 album Yesterday’s Wine exploring the life of a flawed man from the day of his birth to his ultimate demise. But that album was so poorly received, Nelson briefly retired from music to lick his wounds.

Thankfully, Nelson’s absence from the country scene was relatively short-lived, with the artist releasing a pair of solid albums in 1972 before dropping his smash-hit Shotgun Willie on the country-loving masses in 1973. Perhaps inspired by that album’s success, Nelson immediately set about working on his second concept album, with Phases and Stages arriving on a wave of critical and commercial success in 1974.

Of the 11 tracks that shape this dual tale of marrital woe, it should go without saying that they are, at times, intensely sad, with Nelson exploring each fictional character’s strife and inner turmoil with a mix of piercing insight and caustic wit. But there are high notes in their sad stories as well, with each ultimately moving on from their heartbreak and, if not outright falling in love again, at least alluding to the possibility of it. Somewhere in the mix, Nelson delivers some of his finest songs, including legit showstoppers like “Pretend I Never Happened,” “Bloody Mary Morning,” and “I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone.”

Driving every heart-wrenching moment of Phases and Stages is Nelson’s singular voice, which I’ve always felt was better suited to singing jazz standards than country music. While Willie goes a little twangier throughout Phases and Stages than I generally prefer, his beautifully shaky croon lends an emotional depth to the proceedings that no other artist of the day could’ve matched. By album’s end, that voice has become the masterstroke that transforms Phases and Stages from just a mid-career highlight to arguably the strongest album Willie Nelson ever released. And if you’ve never heard it on vinyl, well, Phases and Stages has arguably never sounded better than this VMP reissue.

Cover Matters

I don’t have much to say about the flush red portrait on the cover of Phases and Stages – save to offer that it’s maybe my favorite from from the dozens of albums Willie Nelson has released over the years.

This gatefold comes with a full list of lyrics inside for anyone who needs to sing along at the top of their voice as Wille makes you weep into your beer.

There’s a few words from the Red Headed Stranger himself on the back cover.

Not to mention a VMP Essentials foil stamp proclaiming Phases and Stages a legit must-have in any vinly collection.

In the past, I would’ve guided you to the info on the album’s hype sticker for proof of the album’s vital stats, but it seems Vinyl Me, Please is no longer putting hype stickers on their packages. Instead, they’ve folded those stats onto the OBI-strip … which also includes a brief excerpt from the listening companion for this vinyl release.

As for the listening booklet, if you are a fan of Willie Nelson and Phases and Stages, you’ll find some juicy details in there about the man and the recording of his iconic breakup album – all courtesy of VMP’s own Willie superfan Andrew Winstorfer.

As with every Vinyl Me, Please Essentials pick, Phases and Stages comes with album-inspired artwork. And I gotta say, this one from Mike Mitchell is an instant all-time favorite.

I might say the same of the vinyl itself, as the “Bloody Mary Marble” colorway is pretty damn slick.

And it’ll no doubt dazzle on your deck, even if it doesn’t pop quite as much as you might like.

Give Vinyl Me Please a Spin

How does it sound? Like waking up alone with a bruising hangover in a bed that used to be shared with someone you never thought you’d be without. The day will be long and hard, and so will the next. Eventually, you’ll pull yourself together and life will level out. But none of that can happen unless you manage to get one foot out of bed and on the floor. Anyway, in case you couldn’t tell, I was pretty happy with what Vinyl Me, Please has done with Willie Nelson’s Phases and Stages. And I’m confident you will be too if you give it a spin.

A big THANK YOU to our friends at Vinyl Me, Please for sponsoring this subscription. Don’t forget to check out the Vinyl Me, Please website and sign up to get some choice wax delivered right to your door every month! Be sure to check back next month to see what vinyl treasure Team VMP sends our way!