I Don't Know a Thing About Love

I Don't Know A Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard is the 73rd solo studio album by Willie Nelson, released on March 3, 2023. Produced by Buddy Cannon, the album is a tribute to the songwriter Harlan Howard.

I Don't Know A Thing About Love
Studio album by Willie Nelson
Released	March 3, 2023
Studio	Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee) East Iris (Nashville, Tennessee) Blackbird (Nashville, Tennessee) Pedernales Recording (Spicewood, Texas)
Genre	Country
Length	32:11
Label	Legacy Recordings
Producer	Buddy Cannon
Willie Nelson chronology
A Beautiful Time (2022) I Don't Know A Thing About Love (2023) Bluegrass (2023)

Content

The album is a collection of ten songs performed by Nelson and originally written by Harlan Howard. Howard gave Nelson his first job as a songwriter for the publishing company Pamper Music.^[1] The album was produced by Buddy Cannon, and features cover art by Nelson's son, Micah.^[2]

The album was released on March 3, 2023, the 21st anniversary of Howard's death.^[1] On January 17, 2023, Nelson released the single "Busted".^[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
American Songwriter	[6]
And It Don't Stop	A−[7]
The Arts Desk	[8]

I Don't Know A Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 84 out of 100 based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[4]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic praised Nelson's voice and said that while the arrangements of Howard's songs held few surprises, this put the focus on the "ace band", resulting in a record which sounds "easy and relaxed, familiar and fresh"^[5] while No Depression concluded that "even when the songs are coming out of his mouth instead of his head, Nelson still delivers the goods like nobody's business but his own."^[9] Liz Thomson of The Arts Desk called the album "a real doozy, an album with which it's impossible not to fall in love," praising Howard's "irresistible" songs, the musicianship and Nelson's "remarkably secure" voice.^[8] Tom Dunne of The Irish Examiner listed this as one of his six favorite albums of the year so far in mid-April 2023.^[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tiger By the Tail"	Harlan Howard Buck Owens	2:24
2.	"The Chokin' Kind"	Howard	3:17
3.	"Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)"	Howard Buck Owens	2:34
4.	"Life Turned Her That Way"	Howard	2:53
5.	"I Don't Know a Thing About Love"	Howard	2:58
6.	"Streets of Baltimore"	Tompall Glaser Howard	3:01
7.	"Busted"	Howard	3:28
8.	"She Called Me Baby"	Howard	3:32
9.	"Too Many Rivers"	Howard	3:55
10.	"Beautiful Annabel Lee"	Howard	4:09
Total length:			32:11

Personnel

Performance Wyatt Beard – background vocals Melonie Cannon – background vocals Jim "Moose" Brown – piano, synthesizer, B-3 organ, Wurlitzer Mike Johnson – steel guitar James Mitchell – electric guitar Willie Nelson – lead vocals, Trigger Larry Paxton – bass, tic tac bass Mickey Raphael – harmonica Bobby Terry – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Lonnie Wilson – drums

Production Buddy Cannon – production Tony Castle – recording, mixing Steve Chadie – recording Shannon Finnegan – production coordinator Andrew Mendelson – mastering Other personnel Micah Nelson – artwork

Charts

Chart performance for I Don't Know a Thing About Love

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[11]	85

References

1. Houghton, Cillea (January 17, 2023). "Willie Nelson to Release Harlan Howard Tribute Album". American Songwriter. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
2. Relix Staff (January 17, 2023). "Willie Nelson to Release LP of Harlan Howard Interpretations, 'I Don't Know A Thing About Love'". Retrieved January 17, 2023.
3. Hudak, Joseph (January 17, 2023). "Willie Nelson's New Album Will Pay Tribute to a Legendary Nashville Songwriter". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
4. "I Don't Know A Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard by Willie Nelson". Metacritic. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
5. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (3 March 2023). "I Don't Know a Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard Review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
6. Zimmerman, Lee (9 March 2023). "Willie Nelson Revels in Classic Context". American Songwriter. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
7. Christgau, Robert (April 12, 2023). "Consumer Guide: April, 2023". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
8. Thomson, Liz (27 February 2023). "Album: Willie Nelson - I Don't Know a Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard". The Arts Desk. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
9. Britt, Grant. "ALBUM REVIEW: Willie Nelson Gets to the Heart of Harlan Howard's Songs". No Depression. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
10. Dunne, Thom (2023-04-13). "Tom Dunne: My six favourite albums of the year so far". The Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
11. "Swisscharts.com – Willie Nelson – I Don't Know a Thing About Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 12, 2023.