Lyle Lovett (album)

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Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett debut.jpg
Studio album by
Lyle Lovett
Released1986
RecordedChaton Recordings, Scottsdale, Arizona
GenreCountry, folk, singer-songwriter
Length32:30
LabelMCA/Curb
ProducerTony Brown, Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett chronology
Lyle Lovett
(1986) 		Pontiac
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic5/5 stars[1]
Robert ChristgauB+[2]
Music Hound4/5 bones[3]
Rolling Stone3.5/5 stars[4]
Spin7/10[5]
Virgin4/5 stars[6]

Lyle Lovett is Lyle Lovett's 1986 eponymous debut album. By the mid-1980s, Lovett had already distinguished himself in the burgeoning Texas singer-songwriter scene. He had performed in the New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1980 and returned to win in 1982.[7] In 1984, he recorded a four-song demo with the help of the Phoenix band [8] and his music had begun to be distributed by the Fast Folk Musical Magazine[9]

Nanci Griffith had recorded Lovett's "If I Were the Man You Wanted" as "If I Were the Woman You Wanted" for her 1984 album, Once in a Very Blue Moon. He appears on that album as a vocalist and also can be seen in the picture on the cover of her subsequent album Last of the True Believers (1986).

Chart performance[]

Lovett's debut reached number 14 on Billboard's chart for Top Country Albums.

Chart (1986) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 14

Critical reception[]

Lyle Lovett was ranked No. 91 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the 1980s,[10] and both Velvet[11] and the Italian magazine Il Mucchio Selvaggio also cited it as one of the top 100 albums of the decade.[12] Allmusic compares the album to Steve Earle's Guitar Town, calling it, "one of the most promising and exciting debut albums to come out of Nashville in the 1980s."[1] Robert Christgau described Lovett's debut as: "Writes like Guy Clark, only plainer, sings like Jesse Winchester only countrier."[2]

Track listing[]

All songs by Lyle Lovett, except "This Old Porch" by Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen.

  1. "Cowboy Man" – 2:48
  2. "God Will" – 2:13
  3. "Farther Down the Line" – 3:05
  4. "This Old Porch" – 4:16
  5. "Why I Don't Know" – 2:41
  6. "If I Were the Man You Wanted" – 3:57
  7. "You Can't Resist It" – 3:08
  8. "The Waltzing Fool" – 3:49
  9. "An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy (The Wedding Song)" – 3:30
  10. "Closing Time" – 3:43

Personnel[]

Musicians[]

  • Lyle Lovett – vocals, acoustic guitar; background vocals ("You Can't Resist It")
  • Ray Herndon – electric rhythm guitar, background vocals; electric lead guitar ("Farther Down the Line" and "Why I Don't Know")
  • Tom Mortensen – steel guitar
  • Billy Williams – electric lead guitar; saxophone arrangements
  • Vince Gill – electric rhythm guitar ("You Can't Resist It")
  • Jon Goin – electric rhythm and lead guitars ("You Can't Resist It")
  • Mac McAnally – acoustic lead guitar ("God Will", "Farther Down the Line" and "If I Were the Man You Wanted")
  • Mathew McKenzie – bass
  • Emory Gordy Jr. – bass ("Farther Down the Line")
  • Mark Prentice – organ; piano ("God Will" and "Farther Down the Line")
  • Matt Rollings – acoustic and electric piano
  • John Jarvis – synthesizer ("You Can't Resist It")
  • Jeff Borree – drums
  • Bob Warren – drums ("Farther Down the Line", "This Old Porch" and "An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy")
  • James Gilmer – congas
  • Glen Duncan – fiddle
  • Steve Marsh – saxophones
  • J. David Sloan – background vocals
  • Rosanne Cash – background vocals ("You Can't Resist It")
  • Francine Reed – background vocals ("An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy")

Production[]

  • Producers – Tony Brown and Lyle Lovett
  • Associate Producer – Billy Williams
  • Recorded at Chaton Recordings, Scottsdale, Arizona
    • Engineer – Steven Moore
    • Second Engineer – Andy Seagle
  • Overdubs and Remix at Treasure Isle Recorders, Nashville, Tennessee
    • Remixed – Gene Eichelberger
    • Second Engineers – Tom Der and Tom Harding
  • Mastered at Mastertonics using the JVC Audio Digital Mastering System
    • Mastering – Glen Meadows
  • Digital editing – Milan Bogdan
  • Compact Disc master tap prepared by Glen Meadows and Milan Bogdan

Artwork[]

  • Simon Levy – art direction
  • Peter Nash – photography
  • Mickey Braithwaite – design
  • Kate Gillon & Sherri Halford – CD coordination
  • Guy Clark – liner notes

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Mark Deming, Allmusic (link)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Robert Christgau, Consumer Guide (link)
  3. ^ Music Hound, USA, 1988–89 (4 "bones", scale 0–5), according to acclaimedmusic.net
  4. ^ Rolling Stone Album Guide, USA, 1992, 2004
  5. ^ Spin's Book of Alternative Albums, USA, 1995 (according to acclaimedmusic.net)
  6. ^ Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, UK, 2002 (according to acclaimedmusic.net)
  7. ^ "Kerrville Folk Festival Finalist History", compiled by Doug Coppock (link Archived February 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine)
  8. ^ Lyle Lovett profile, from the Richard De La Font Agency, Inc. (link)
  9. ^ "Fast Folk and Coop Database", compiled by Steven Alexander, 2002 (link)
  10. ^ The Editors (November 1, 1989). "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980's". Rolling Stone (565).
  11. ^ Velvet, 1990 (according to rocklistmusic.co.uk (link)
  12. ^ Il Mucchio Selvaggio, 2002 (according to acclaimedmusic.net link)
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