Lyle Lovett (album)

Lyle Lovett
Studio album by
Lyle Lovett
Released1986
RecordedChaton Recordings, Scottsdale, Arizona
GenreCountry[1][2]
Length32:30
LabelMCA/Curb
ProducerTony Brown, Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett chronology
Lyle Lovett
(1986) 		Pontiac
(1987)
Singles from Lyle Lovett
  1. "Farther Down the Line"
    Released: September 1986
  2. "Cowboy Man"
    Released: October 1986
  3. "God Will"
    Released: 1986
  4. "Why I Don't Know"
    Released: 1986
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
MusicHound Rock4/5 bones[3]
Robert ChristgauB+[2]
Rolling Stone[4]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[5]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]

Lyle Lovett is the 1986 debut album by American singer Lyle Lovett. 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 J. David Sloan and the Rogues[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 can also be seen in the picture on the cover of her subsequent album Last of the True Believers (1986).

Critical reception

[edit]

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 listed it as one of the top 100 albums of the decade.[citation needed] 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

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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

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Musicians

[edit]
  • 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

[edit]
  • 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

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

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Lyle Lovett
Chart (1986) Peak
position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[12] 14

References

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  1. ^ a b c Mark Deming, Allmusic (link)
  2. ^ a b c Robert Christgau, Consumer Guide (link)
  3. ^ Durchholz, Daniel (1999). "Lyle Lovett". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (second ed.). Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 695. ISBN 1578590612.
  4. ^ Rolling Stone Album Guide, USA, 1992, 2004
  5. ^ Sandow, Greg (1995). "Lyle Lovett". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 229–230. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2002). "Lovett, Lyle". The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise Fourth ed.). London: Virgin Books. p. 776. ISBN 1852279230.
  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 100 Best Albums of the 1980's". Rolling Stone. No. 565. November 1, 1989.
  11. ^ Velvet, 1990 (according to rocklistmusic.co.uk (link)
  12. ^ "Lyle Lovett Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
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