One of Willie Nelson‘s most beloved songs was once reimagined by none other than Bob Dylan.
During the ’80s, Dylan put his own spin on Nelson’s “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground,” bringing his unmistakable folk-rock style to the classic country ballad.
Dylan recorded “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” during the 1983 Infidels sessions, but the cover was it ultimately left off the album. Instead, he released it as the B-side to his single “I and I.” Decades later, Dylan’s version of the Nelson track was included on his album Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980–1985), which released in 2021.
“Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” is one of the defining songs of Nelson’s catalog, and even decades after its release, it’s still regarded as some of his best work. Rolling Stone ranks the emotional ballad at No. 6 on its list of the 50 Best Willie Nelson Songs, while Taste of Country places it at No. 5.
Nelson wrote the song for the 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose — which he starred in alongside Dyan Cannon and Amy Irving. The track was released as a single in January 1981, and rose to the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart to earn Nelson his seventh solo No. 1 hit.
The outlaw country legend had already dominated the country charts with several massive songs in the ’70s, including “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys,” “Good Hearted Woman,” “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Skies.”
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But “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” wouldn’t be the last of Nelson’s songs to top the charts, as he would go on to rack up more than 20 No. 1 hits across multiple decades throughout the course of his career.
Willie Nelson’s No. 1 Hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart
- “Beer For My Horses” with Toby Keith
- “Seven Spanish Angels” with Ray Charles
- “City of New Orleans”
- “Forgiving You Was Easy”
- “Nothing I Can Do About It Now”
- “Always on My Mind”
- “Poncho and Lefty” with Merle Haggard
- “Living in the Promiseland”
- “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” with Julia Iglesias
- “Highwayman” with Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson
- “Just to Satisfy You” with Waylon Jennings
- “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
- “Good Hearted Woman” with Waylon Jennings
- “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” with Waylon Jennings
- “Georgia on My Mind”
- “On the Road Again”
- “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time”
- “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground”
- “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”
- “Heartbreak Hotel” with Leon Russell
- “Blue Skies”
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