Top 25 Albums #21

In my slowly-dragged out ongoing series of favorite 25 albums of all time (see the sidebar for #25-22), this next one may raise a few eyebrows.

It falls under the classification of Country music, although the artist in question blends the country genre with folk and rock. Her name is Lucinda Williams and the album, considered to be a masterpiece, is Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.


Rolling Stone's review of the 1988 album is here. The review garnered a high 4 stars out of 5, and when a deluxe version appeared earlier this year, this reviewer upgraded it to 5 stars. That puts it in the same neighborhood as, well, the greatest albums of all time.

I'm not sure how I discovered this record, but I think it was via a famous/infamous 2000 profile of the singer in The New Yorker by Bill Buford.

What I like about this record is that it is not stereotypically country. Nothing against fans of country and western music. It's just not my cup o' tea. Lyrically and musically, this just seems more complicated than what I normally hear in country songs.

And Lucinda Williams has a dark, syrupy voice that sounds like she is singing casually for no one but herself, and it works for me. The songs on Car Wheels... never get old for me and I hear something new in them every time I listen.

The blog Leaky Sparrow recently talked about the remastered disc and linked 3 tunes:

Lucinda Williams - Lake Charles .mp3
Lucinda Williams - Greenville .mp3
Lucinda Williams - Can't Let Go .mp3

One of my favorite tracks on the album is called "Drunken Angel". It's got some great harmonica and phenomenal lyrics:

Sun came up it was another day
And the sun went down you were blown away
Why'd you let go of your guitar
Why'd you ever let it go that far
Drunken Angel
Could've held on to that long smooth neck
Let your hand remember every fret
Fingers touching each shiny string
But you let go of everything
Drunken Angel
Drunken Angel
You're on the other side
Drunken Angel
You're on the other side
Followers would cling to you
Hang around just to meet you
Some threw roses at your feet
And watch you pass out on the street
Drunken Angel
Feed you and pay off all your debts
Kiss your brow taste your sweat
Write about your soul your guts
Criticize you and wish you luck
Drunken Angel
...
Some kind of savior singing the blues
A derelict in your duct tape shoes
Your orphan clothes and your long dark hair
Looking like you didn't care

Drunken Angel
Blood spilled out from the hole in your heart
Over the strings of your guitar
The worn down places in the wood
That once made you feel so good
...
Sun came up it was another day
And the sun went down you were blown away
Why'd you let go of your guitar
Why'd you ever let it go that far
Drunken Angel Drunken Angel

Listen to this great song here (Drunken Angel.mp3), courtesy of in house with jeremy petersen, who has further discussion of the album's reissue.

And lastly, visit Aquarium Drunkard, one of the best music blogs around, for their discussion, and three more tracks, including the title track and a couple of the added bonus tracks from the reissue.

MP3: Lucinda Williams :: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
MP3: Lucinda Williams :: Changed The Locks (live)
MP3: Lucinda Williams :: Out of Touch (alt version)

Thanks to those blogs for hosting such great music. Please visit and support them by reading them too. For more info, go visit Lucinda on her website here. For an extra bonus, go here and listen to her father, Miller Williams, reading his inaugural poem, "Of History and Hope" at the second Clinton inauguration in 1997.