"Willingly" is a duet by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

and

Shirley Collie Shirley Collie Nelson (born Shirley Angelina Simpson; March 16, 1931 – January 27, 2010) was an American country music and rockabilly singer, yodeler, guitarist and songwriter. From 1963 to 1971, she was the second wife of country star Willie N ...

, produced by

Joe Allison Joe Marion Allison (October 3, 1924 – August 2, 2002) was an American songwriter, radio and television personality, record producer, and country music business executive. Allison won five BMI performance awards for hit singles he wrote and a ...

during Nelson's third session for

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...

. Released in March 1962, the album reached number ten on '' Billboard's''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

Background

Leveraged by his prominence as a songwriter in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Nelson was signed as a recording artist by

in 1961. Nelson produced two sides in his first session, and an entire album after his second one. While touring with

Ray Price Noble Ray Price (January 12, 1926 – December 16, 2013) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone is regarded as among the best male voices of country music, and his innovations, such as prope ...

as a '' Cherokee Cowboys'' bassist, Nelson had attended the Nashville disc jockeys convention. Songwriters

Harlan Howard Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002) was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard is credited with writing more than 4,000 songs, over 100 of which reached country mus ...

and

Hank Cochran Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran (August 2, 1935 – July 15, 2010) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy ...

visited with Nelson California DJ Biff Collie's hotel room at the

Hermitage Hotel The Hermitage Hotel, is a historic hotel located at 231 6th Avenue North in Nashville, Tennessee. Commissioned by 250 Nashville residents in 1908 and named for Andrew Jackson's estate, The Hermitage near Nashville, the hotel opened in 1910. It w ...

. There they met Collie's wife, Shirley, a fellow Liberty recording artist. During Nelson's second recording session at

Radio Recorders Radio Recorders, Inc. was an American recording studio located in Los Angeles, California. During the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Recorders was one of the largest independent recording studios in the world. Notable musicians recorded at Radio Recorde ...

, in California, Harlan Howard took Shirley Collie to the studio, where Nelson was cutting " Mr. Record Man". After the Collies attended a Ray Price concert at Harmony Park Ballroom, the couple socialized often with Nelson. While in California, Nelson and Collie began an affair.

Recording

Producer

held Nelson's third

recording session at

Bradley Studios Quonset Hut Studio is the nickname given to Bradley Studios, an independent recording studio complex established in 1954 in Nashville, Tennessee by brothers Harold and Owen Bradley. The first commercial recording studio facility in what would la ...

in Nashville in November 1961. The backing was composed of fiddler and guitarist Ray Edenton, pianist Pig Robbins, drummer Buddy Harman, bassist Bob Moore. The band also featured Ray Price's steel guitarist, Jimmy Day and the

Anita Kerr singers Anita Jean Kerr (''née'' Grilli; October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and ...

. At the persistence of Nelson, Allison added Shirley Collie to the session. Collie sang the lead on "Willingly", with Nelson blending on a high tenor to join her voice. The session also produced the duet "Our Chain of Love", that was used as the flipside of the single.

Release

On its January 1962 review, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' rated the single with four stars with "strong sales potential". The review noted the song as a "pleasant duo blend work on effective country theme with good lyrics". The single was released on March 17, 1962, reaching by May number ten on '' Billboard's'' Top country singles.

Chart performance

Footnotes

References

* * * * * {{Willie Nelson singles, state=collapsed 1962 singles Liberty Records singles Willie Nelson songs Songs written by Hank Cochran 1962 songs Song recordings produced by Joe Allison Male–female vocal duets