Willie Nelson is a little past the point of needing to prove himself. Once you’ve been elevated to the status of American treasure, as he has, you aren’t usually on the hook to continue to deliver the kind of records that got you there. You can enjoy your status—maybe play some golf, do whatever you want. Willie’s been doing all that. In recent years, when not either incessantly touring or hitting the links, he’s made some interesting records. He’s done a straight-ahead blues set on 2000’s Milk Cow Blues, 2001’s offbeat children’s album Rainbow Connection and the record that proves “interesting” doesn’t always mean good, 2005’s reggae record Countryman. He takes chances. On top of that, he’s been more prolific than most legends his age, as he follows up this year’s fine You Don’t Know Me: Songs of Cindy Walker with Songbird. The chance-taking of Songbird is in Nelson’s choice of producer and studio band: singer/songwriter upstart Ryan Adams along with his recent backing outfit the Cardinals. (A Nelson “Family” regular, soulful harmonica wizard Mickey Raphael, is also part of the proceedings.) When Willie gets the right producer and the right bunch of songs, things can reach another level, and that’s the case here. Songbird is his most fully realized album since 1998’s Teatro, which was helmed by Daniel Lanois. Adams often gets a bum rap—for everything from being too prolific to preening over his purposely mussed up hair—but he has a deep understanding of lots of kinds of music as a fan, a musician and a producer, as he proves here. He was clearly behind this track list. He gave Nelson a pair of his songs and selected suitable favorites from his personal record collection: Gram Parsons, Leonard Cohen, the Grateful Dead and Fleetwood Mac. As Nelson is ever inclined to do, he makes every song his own. The rich instrumentation, particularly the varied and cascading guitars, along with Nelson’s emotional wringing of the lyrics, provide for a spellbinding version of the Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s “Stella Blue.” A beautiful and dynamic read of Parson’s “$1000 Wedding” finds Nelson pulling every nuance from each word and is one of a number of songs here that perfectly implements a gospel choir. An elegant recast of Nelson’s “Sad Songs and Waltzes” is oustanding, and a foreboding, minor-key take on “Amazing Grace” makes for the ideal closer. Not that Willie needs to prove himself at 73 years old, but he’s done it again.