Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Willie Nelson album)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow is the twenty-sixth studio album by country music singer Willie Nelson, released in 1981. It features 1940s pop standards arranged by Nelson. The album's acoustic jazz instrumentation was also meant to play tribute to one of his heroes, Belgian gipsy jazz guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt, who influenced Nelson's playing.

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Studio album by Willie Nelson
Released	February 1981
Recorded	Gilley's Recording Studios, Pasadena, Texas
Genre	Country, pop
Length	28:27
Label	Columbia
Producer	Willie Nelson, Freddy Powers, Paul Buskirk
Willie Nelson chronology
Family Bible (1980) Somewhere Over the Rainbow (1981) Always on My Mind (1982)

Track listing

Side one

1. "Mona Lisa" (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans) (2:28)
2. "Exactly Like You" (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh) (2:22)
3. "Who's Sorry Now?" (Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Ted Snyder) (2:58)
4. "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)" (Al Neiburg, Doc Daugherty, Ellis Reynolds) (3:30)
5. "Won't You Ride in My Little Red Wagon" (Rex Griffin) (2:28)

Side two

1. "Over the Rainbow" (E.Y. Harburg, Harold Arlen) (3:33)
2. "In My Mother's Eyes" (Willie Nelson) (3:06)
3. "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" (Fred E. Ahlert, Joe Young) (2:58)
4. "It Wouldn't Be the Same (Without You)" (Fred Rose, Jimmy Wakely) (2:54)
5. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" (2:10)

Personnel

• Willie Nelson - guitar, vocals
• Freddy Powers - guitar, vocals
• Paul Buskirk - Tenor Guitar, Mandolin
• Johnny Gimble - Fiddle
• Dean Reynolds - upright bass

Technical

• Bert Frilot - engineer
• Norman Seeff - photography

Chart performance

Chart (1981)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	1
U.S. Billboard 200	31
Canadian RPM Top Albums	23