Yesterday's Wine

Yesterday's Wine is a 1971 concept album by country singer Willie Nelson. In the early stages of his contract with RCA Victor, Nelson had no significant hits. By 1970, his recordings had reached mid-chart positions. Nelson lost the money from his song-writing royalties by financing unsuccessful tours that did not generate significant profits. In addition to the problems with his career, Nelson had problems in his personal life. He had divorced his wife, Shirley Collie, and his ranch in Tennessee burned down.

After moving to a new ranch in Bandera, Texas, Nelson was called by producer Felton Jarvis about the upcoming scheduled recording sessions. At the time, Nelson had not written any new material. He returned to Nashville, where he wrote new songs to use with others from his old repertoire. These new concept songs were recorded in two days.

The concept of the album is the story of the "Imperfect Man", from the moment he is born to the day of his death. RCA originally released the singles "Yesterday's Wine" and "Me and Paul". The former peaked at number 62 in Billboard's Hot Country Singles. The full release failed to reach the charts, and Nelson, frustrated by the failure, decided to retire from music without having been released from his contract with RCA. Later with his musical style revitalized, he returned to music in 1972.

Yesterday's Wine (song)

"Yesterday's Wine" is the title track of the 1971 album of the same name by Willie Nelson. The track was also written by Willie Nelson. It later became a #1 duet for George Jones and Merle Haggard in 1982.

Background

"Yesterday's Wine" was released as a single by RCA in the fall of 1971. It's parent album, which opened with a peculiar existential dialogue featuring Nelson and contained songs with philosophical and spiritual themes, confounded the label, with the singer later lamenting, "I think it's one of my best albums but Yesterday's Wine was regarded by RCA as way too spooky and far out to waste promotion money on." Although it was perhaps the LP's most accessible track, and has since become regarded as one of Nelson's finest compositions, "Yesterday's Wine" limped to #62 on the Billboard country survey. RCA appeared to realize its folly five years later Jerry Bradley included it on the Wanted! The Outlaws compilation after Nelson's popularity had exploded. The song, a tale of two old friends meeting up unexpectedly in a bar after many years, was a perfect fit for the outlaw-themed record.