“Over the Rainbow“ is a ballad composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg.….which was written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz….and was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role as Dorothy Gale…..which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song….while becoming Garland’s signature song ….as the song has been covered by many artist over the years.
In this video seen herewith….Willie Nelson and The Rainbow Band ….consisting of fiddle legend Johnny Gimble….guitar virtuoso Dean Buskirk….and rhythm guitar specialist Freddie Powers….as they perform a medley of songs from his newly release album “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” live at Austin City Limits in 1981….which was his twenty-sixth studio album that features 1940’s pop standards arranged by Nelson….as the album’s acoustic jazz instrumentation was also meant to play tribute to one of Willie’s heroes, Belgian gypsy jazz guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt, who influenced Nelson’s playing.
