"Blessed" Reviews

I vehemently disagree with the first paragraph, but the rest is a great review –

http://www.martinezgazette.com/opinion/story/i2650/2011/05/26/have-you-been-blessed

Have you been blessed?
Gordon on Music

By Gordon R. Webb

Gazette Columnist
May 26, 2011

A few years ago, singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams fell in love, got happy, got married (eventually), and proceeded to release what could easily be described as the worst album of her career – so much for happiness. Little Honey (2008) is packed with cheesy lyrics like these excerpts from “Real Love”: “The thing about you so far, you squeeze my peaches / Then you send me postcards, of girls on beaches … I’m thinking baby far-out, be my man.” And her cornball country duet with Elvis Costello on “Jailhouse Tears” is a career low for both. Is this really the high priestess of alt-country? The artist championed as America’s best songwriter by several major publications, including Time magazine?

“Thundering news hit me like a snowball, striking my face and shattering.”

What a relief when the new Lucinda Williams CD hit the streets in March of 2011. Blessed marks a return to her usual brilliant form with songs that would fit nicely on past releases such as: Essence (2001), World without Tears (2003), and West (2007). The first track is “Buttercup,” one of her (two per CD minimum) “dude done me wrong” rockers and features some gritty electric guitar from Elvis Costello. The remaining cuts are primarily ballads, which create a unique overall mood to the recording that sucks you into Lucinda land, and holds you mesmerized until you safely land at the end of “Kiss like Your Kiss.” Two of the songs, “Blessed” and “Convince Me,” begin at a slow pace and gradually build to thundering climaxes. The achingly gorgeous “Sweet, Sweet Love” is a classic example of how to write a simple, yet great song. Overall, the 12 tracks are as close to perfection as you’re going to get from an album these days.

“Covering me in a fine powdery mist, and mixing in with my tears.”

Grammy Award winning producer Don Was should win some kind of award for this one. The sound is warm and punchy, almost certainly recorded with analog gear. The dual electric guitars are creatively blended, utilizing a wide variety of tones and styles. I can’t rave enough about the steel guitar playing of Greg Leisz (Joni Mitchell, etc.). No blues or country clichés, just some gorgeous, atmospheric sounds and melodic touches.

“I’m 57, but I could be seven years old, ‘cause I will never be able to.”

Blessed also comes with a bonus disc called the “Kitchen Tapes,” which includes raw demo versions – just vocal and acoustic guitar – of every song from the original CD. The recordings were made at Lucinda’s kitchen table where she likes to write. It’s a captivating listen and removes any doubt that her brilliant songwriting and original, natural vocal delivery is even remotely studio created.

“Comprehend the expansiveness, of what I’ve just learned.”

In an unusual design concept, the two CD set was issued with eight different covers, distributed randomly, showing various individuals holding up “Blessed” signs. The packaging and several pages of the booklet include the same thing – full size photos of different folks holding up their version of the “B-sign” (I ended up with 15 variations). Think she’s trying to drive home a point? But in all seriousness, the images fail to become monotonous, because each one is unique, powerful and thought provoking. Combine the striking emotional impact with stunning photo quality and you have reason enough for making the purchase. And plus it makes a nice mini coffee table book!

“That you have disappeared, you have been released.”

The first two decades of Lucinda William’s career were mired in obscurity and several years were spent singing on the streets for quarters. Her special blend of country, blues, and folk hadn’t caught on yet. Eventually it would be combined with rock and classified as Americana or alternative (Alt) country, but those terms didn’t exist yet. Her luck changed in 1993, when Mary Chapin Carpenter scored a number one country hit with the Lucinda Williams penned, “Passionate Kisses,” which also won the Grammy Award for Best Song (the songwriter award) the following year. Suddenly, everyone from Willie Nelson to Tom Petty was covering her songs. Then in 1998, she released her landmark CD, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Universally, “Wheels” received positive reviews, spawned several radio hits like “2 Cool to be Forgotten,” and eventually went gold (500,000 copies sold). She hasn’t looked back.

“You are specks of light, you are mist.”

More than a decade later, Lucinda Williams has become a national treasure. Her voice alone, scarred from long days of busking, has never sounded better than on Blessed. Ragged and glorious, beautiful and painful, you feel everything when Lu sings. There’s no fluff, no waste, just emotional honesty. Nobody does melancholy like she does and no one can sing “baby” like she can. The lyrics between the paragraphs of this article are from “Copenhagen” off the new CD. If you look closely, you’ll see the endings of the lines don’t rhyme. While it’s not that unusual, Lucinda sings it in such a graceful manner you might not notice.

“Somewhere spinning ‘round the sun, circling the moon.”

I was originally going to call this article, “Country Billie Holiday.” Yeah, it’s a good thing I changed my mind. “Fruits of My Labor,” off World without Tears, was the first Lucinda Williams song I ever heard. Here’s this ragged voice singing so far behind the beat – just swinging away to this slow (and I mean slow) country/jazz groove. The drummer is playing brushes while guitarist Doug Pettibone lays down some trippy echo effects. It made me think of Billie Holiday (circa 1957) with her ravaged voice, luxuriously backed by a sympathetic jazz sextet – only this time it was a country trio (sort of). I’ve been a fan of Lu ever since. Get blessed!

“You are specks of light, you are mist.”