zlh67

I have to disagree that West was a disappointment or “rushed”, but that’s me. I found it to be another solid step forward with new sounds, but still close enough to the Lucinda we know and love. If anything, I thought some of the production was overdone and took a bit away from the songs (the demo version of “Where Is My Love” for example, is WAY better than what ended up on the album imo).

As for Honey Bee…. hmmm. Embarrassing? Maybe… I like it, but must admit I found the lyrics a bit…. juvenile? Crude, maybe? Or maybe it’s me with the dirty mind, but it seems VERY over the top. If you’ve heard the lyrics, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about…

That’s ok though. She’s entitled to slum it now and again since she’s more than proven she can write deep and meaningful lyrics as well, and I must admit: I kinda like hearing Lucinda talk (or sing) a little dirty!
😆

I’m very much looking forward to hearing a more polished studio version, though I hope it’s not overdone because it’s a raw rocker and should stay that way!

To each his own, Stan! I know though that I have been pulled into many a song by the lyrics even though the music didn’t initially grab me, and then later grew to like the music (or not cared that the music wasn’t so great because the lyrics were that good). Conversely, I’ve heard music so great that I didn’t care that the lyrics were so-so or that in some cases, there weren’t any lyrics at all (see: “Jeff Beck”!).

Lyrics a “chick” thing? This comment coming from a supposed Kinks fan, home of one of rock’s greatest lyricists? I’m a Kinks fan too and can say for sure that I wouldn’t be near as much of one if not for Ray’s great lyrics throughout all of his songs. Most of my favorite songwriters I like every bit as muchfor their lyrics as their music and I ain’t no chick! Great music is nice, but if the lyrics aren’t any good, I’ll get tired of it pretty quickly… Conversely though, I have grown to love a song with average music and great lyrics; EX: American Dream by Lu; the music has pretty much no changes and is droning, but the lyrics and her delivery make it one of my favorites).

As for Lu and her notebook, I agree. With everybody! In defense of the notebook, plenty of other performers use notes of some sort, so we shouldn’t be down on Lu because she does too. That said, pretty much everyone I’ve seen do it has disguised it about 20 times better than Lu. It IS distracting to see her glance down at the beginning of every line of every verse. You want to get into the intense emotional feel of the music and her vocal delivery, which is always great, but then you see her reading the lyrics and it does take something away. But, oh well. That’s the way it is. That’s what she needs or wants to do, so as you’ve said, we can take it or leave it. Me, I’ll take it any chance I can get, but i’m not going to pretend it’s not something of a distraction.

I agree that the constant glances down to “the book” are a bit of a distraction. If artists like Dylan and Neil Young use a book or teleprompter of any sort, I’ll just say that they hide it much better than Lu. I’ve never noticed it from them, but with Lu, the constant glances down do make it feel like less of a heartfelt performance that one could play in their sleep and more like something that is mailed in, but that’s only from a visual perspective, and that’s my own opinion (fyi, I’m a semi-pro drummer, and have had to put notes on songs around my drum kit for fill-in gigs or when I was new to a band, but never for a full-time gig that I’d been at for a while).

That said, I agree with previous comments: Lu just feels better that way. It her “safety net” and that’s the way she does it, so deal with it! She’s a fantastic talent and if too much reliance on the notebooks is the worst thing we can say about her, she’s well ahead in the game!

I saw her live her in Austin both acoustic with Doug a couple of years ago and earlier this year after West came out and both times she and the band SOUNDED fantastic, and that’s what counts.

Well that was taped back in September, so if she was “showing” at all back then, I would think it’d be pretty obvious by now, but i’m not sure when her last show or public appearance was. She’ll be 55 in a month though (right?), so seems unlikely she’d be pregnant. Maybe she’s just put on a few lbs. I know I have as I’ve gotten a little older…. 😥

As for the performance, tv gigs have never been Lu’s specialty. Her showings on Jay Leno and David Letterman earlier this year were spotty at best. ACL is a little less stifling than those gigs, but it’s still different than a “regular” concert vibe, so maybe she just wasn’t as into it as she is her normal shows.

I thought it was fine. Honey Bee and Joy really rocked, but I do get tired of seeing Lu look at her notebook for damn near EVERY SINGLE LINE she sings! Particularly on an older song like “Righteously”. She should know that one in her sleep by now, but judging by how often she look down, I think I might know the words to that song better than she does….

Whatever, Lu is still the bomb.

Wow, tough question, just because like all great artists, Lu has different sounds and styles on a lot of her albums, so it just depends on what you like. For ME, the album you already have and love (Essence) is one of her weakest. It’s too short on melody and the songs not fully developed imo. I do like Get Right With God a lot and Steal Your Love is good, but other than that I can mostly do without that cd.

For my money, her 3 best and most consistently good are (in no particular order) World Without Tears, Car Wheels and West. If you like Essence, WWT is probably most like that one, but I think the songs are better and there’s more variety. Some people are turned off by Righteously’s upbeat almost rap-styled delivery, but I love that song. “American Dream” is droning and repetitive with downer lyrics (“Everything is wrong…..”), but is done effectively imo, so I dig it. I like pretty much that whole cd and it might be my favorite.

Car Wheels is always a safe buy. It’s her most mainstream but WITHOUT being “watered down”. It’s hard to knock that album. It took a while to grow on me, but years later, I can see why it sold so many copies and brought Lu a whole new legion of fans.

West is more like WWT: plenty of variety, so something nearly all her fans will like (and a song or two plenty will not), but I like Lu’s variety and this cd delivers in that dept. Lots of different sounds and musical styles without being (too) uneven.

I can totally do without Live at the Fillmore. The band’s too loud and Lu pushing her vocals so hard doesn’t present her voice in the best light. There’s not a single song on there that I think is better than the studio version, so unless you’re a completist, that one’s not required. I own it but barely listen to it at all. If you do want some live Lu, I’d pick up the Deluxe version of Car Wheels. It can cost a pretty penny ($28-30 or so at Best Buy), but get it used on ebay or Amazon and you won’t pay too much. It comes with a bonus live cd from 1998 and it’s solid (although is limited to mostly songs from Car Wheels).

The 1988 “Rough Trade” cd called simply “Lucinda Williams” is solid and is easily my favorite of her “older” stuff; but it’s nothing like “Essence” and as I believe this one’s currently out of print anyway, it’s likely to cost more than your standard new cd (though I believe it is about to be reissued). Definitely worth owning, but I’d pick this one up later if “Essence” is the style of Lu you like best so far.

Her first two albums, Happy Woman Blues and Ramblin’ I can also do without. They’re more straight blues than the variety of sound that Lu gives us on later albums and I don’t find many of the songs on either to be very compelling. Not “bad”, but not essential listening either. She grew by leaps and bounds from these even by 1988, and has developed her songwriting even further since then.

So I’d get:
World Without Tears
Car Wheels (Deluxe if you can swing it!)
West
Lucinda Williams (1988)

If that doesn’t do ya and you want to get completist, get the first two albums (Ramblin, Happy Woman Blues) and then Live at the Fillmore.

P.S. There’s also a ton of songs she’s done that don’t appear on her albums and many of them are very good too! “Come To me Baby” on the Howlin Wolf tribute cd, “Honey Chile” on the new Fats Domino tribute is GREAT and some unreleased songs like “Gentle On My Mind” are solid too. If you’re into trading, PM or email me and I can get you a cd of several unreleased/hard-to-find songs. zlh67@austin.rr.com

I really dig “Where Is My Love?” too, and in fact it might be my favorite song on the new album, although I think the demo version is far superior to the album version. I have seven demo versions of West tracks and that’s the one that jumped out at me as definitely better than what went on the album.

Not sure if the vocal take is the same or not, but the demo version sure seems to emit more raw emotion to me. The demo has more sparse instrumentation and the drum beat is a sparse more “feeling” performance, particularly the use (or NON-use perhaps) of the hi-hat. The album version has a straight 3/4 beat with straight triplet notes played on the hi-hat, so it’s more of a “driving” beat you’d find in typical 3/4 blues songs. The demo version though seems to have a more slow-shuffle feel often found in jazz and imo it compliments the lyrics and vocal delivery so much better.

You should check it out!

Hey Inside Job — I can’t speak for everybody, but I *hope* the general consensus on this site is: this is a **great** idea, but the execution could’ve been better. As fans of Lu’s music, the more we can get, the better, but the delays and lack of communication are frustrating. Knowing that the hardcore fans who are likely to be interested in this rare-live stuff are those least willing to wait patiently for it, setting expectations and meeting them is of course critical. Not a slam on you either because I know you are but part of this whole project, and you’re here on the frontlines clearly doing all you can. But….

I ordered my cd on 10/9 (order #275), so was expecting I might have it by 10/23 or so (a coupla weeks), but nothing came. So I emailed the store and…. no response. Then I saw the update saying orders placed before 10/23 had been shipped, so I waited another week or so and… nothing.

I then PM’d you and you responded (thanks!) saying it had indeed been shipped last Wed the 7th, so I’m waiting to get that. For grins though, I checked my order status on the site and it still said “processing”. Yesterday, I got an auto-email of some sort saying the order had shipped that day. I thought it shipped last Wed, but ok. So I checked the store again and status still says…. “processing.” 🙁

Then TODAY I got an email saying my order had been cancelled, then an email after that saying to disregard the previous email (????) and that my cd had been shipped. When it shipped, I have no idea, but again, for grins, I checked status on the site and…. still says “processing”.

So I have no idea if it’s shipped or wait and I guess will just wait to see what I get when.

I have all the faith in the world I’ll get it eventually, but it’s been a bit frustrating.

That said, MY feedback for you is: I’m sure I’ll feel it was well worth the trouble when i get the cd, and I hope no one on your end is saying it’s not. In other words, fix it as best you can, but don’t chuck it!!

p.s. has anyone thought of partnering with “Instant Live”? (www.instantlive.com); just a thought…