Title: Willie Nelson – Tougher Than Leather

Year/Genre: 1983, Outlaw Country

Matrix #: QC 38248

Condition: VG+ (looks clean, sounds clean)

Description:
Released in 1983, Tougher Than Leather came at a transitional moment in Willie Nelson’s career, when outlaw country had already broken into the mainstream and Nelson was balancing his rebel image with increasing commercial visibility. Written largely as a concept album, it reflected Nelson’s ongoing fascination with storytelling, framing songs within allegories of life, death, and morality. Issued during the Reagan era, when Nashville was pushing toward slicker production, the record stands as Nelson’s resistance to that polish, maintaining ties to the raw, narrative-driven country tradition that had made him a cultural icon of independence.

2/17/25 sc