Barry Beckett, Jimmy Johnson, Pete Carr and Roger Hawkins. Atlantic Records's executives criticized Wexler's decision to record in Muscle Shoals instead of Nashville. Upon his return to Nashville, Nelson heard the tapes of his Muscle Shoals sessions. Unsure with the results, he decided to record the album again with his own band. Atlantic Records’ Nashville A&R executive Rick Sanjek supported Nelson's decision. Sanjek booked Fred Carter Jr's Nugget Studios in Goodlettsville, Tennessee for the new sessions. Sanjek took the finished product to New York to discuss the recordings with an unaware Wexler. Enraged by Sanjek and his proposal, Wexler denied to replace the Muscle Shoals recordings, while he deemed the new sessions "the most horrible piece of shit you ever heard". The following week, Wexler fired Sanjek and requested Atlantic engineer Tom Dowd to do the final mix. Content The theme of the songs centers on divorce, narrated from both viewpoints. The one of the woman is narrated on side one; while the man's is on side two. The recurrent song "Phases and Stages" is repeated throughout the album, introducing several other songs. The album begins with "Phases and Stages/Washing the Dishes", with the woman tired of caring for her unfaithful husband, emphasizing her domestic chores. This is followed by "Phases and Stages/Walkin'" where, after consideration, she leaves her husband at night, saying "Walkin' is better than runnin' away, and crawlin' ain't no good at all". In "Pretend I Never Happened", she advises him to forget her and continue with his life. In "Sister's Coming Home/Down at the Corner Beer Joint", her younger sister describes the woman moving back home and sleeping late. Eventually, she overcomes her grief and begins a social life at the corner beer joint, representing her liberation with the lyrics "(she's) dancin' on a hardwood floor, her jeans fit a little bit tighter than they did before". The final song of side one depicts the woman falling in love again but reluctant to admit it because she fears that her story will be repeated. The second side of the album begins with "Bloody Mary Morning", with the male narrator ordering drinks on a flight from Los Angeles, California to Houston, Texas after his wife unexpectedly left him, with "the smog and haze reminding me of how I feel". In "Phases and Stages/No Love Around" he recalls dragging in at sunrise after another night of carousing: "I