Conference mr1pst::music

>    	So what happned to the Lyle Lovett topic?
    
    It was archived - TIMBRE::MUSIC_V3 topic #1440.  Thanks for the tip
    about Letterman...   - Jay

    There is a song Lyle does that says something about him, a boat and a
    pony.  Anyone know what the name of that one is?  I heard a Buffett
    cover band do it and the song sounds like it coulds be called "The
    Ballad of Tully Mars".  That was Buffett bit for trivia fans! :-)  
    10 pints....er, points to the lucky caller that can tell me the
    reference! :-)
    
                                                       Capt. Scott
    p.s.  What is this?  RAVEN1 day?

    Isn't he about due for a new release?
    

    Yes, Lovett has recorded 20+ songs in recent months, and an album is
    coming out of it.  Somewhere (the country topic?) I quoted a Rolling
    Stone article with an amusing comment from him about what he calls his
    "gospel-death" album.

>    There is a song Lyle does that says something about him, a boat and a
>    pony.  Anyone know what the name of that one is?

    Yeah, "If I Had a Boat".  A sample:
    
        "The mystery masked man was smart, got himself a Tonto;
        Tonto did the dirty work for free...
        But Tonto he got smarter, said one day 'Kemo Sabe,
        Kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I'm going out to sea.'
        
        Chorus:
        "And if I had a boat, I'd go out on the ocean,
        And if I had a pony, I'd ride him on my boat,
        And we would go together, go out on the ocean,
        Just me on my pony on my boat."

            By Lyle Lovett, 1st song on "Pontiac".    - Jay

    Thanks Jay!

   BTW, Lyle Lovett's new album is out - "Joshua Judges Ruth".  (It kept its
   working title, which = the title string of 3 consecutive "books" of the
   Bible.)  $10.95 at Tower (the new kd lang was similarly priced).
   
   If anyone else saw Lovett's list of 10 current favorite albums in Rolling
   Stone, it made perfect sense that it contained Guy Clark's "Old Number
   One" ('75 Austin singer/songwriter classic, with songs like "Rita
   Ballou", "LA Freeway", "Desperados Waiting For a Train").  I don't recall
   that it contained any record from the last 10 years, but he seemed to be
   listing his enduring favorites rather than '91 favorites.   - Jay

    
    	Thanks..out to get it this week!
    
    B.A.
    

So is the new album more of his Large Band stuff, or is it back to the country
and/or pop of his first two albums.  I LOVE "Pontiac".  The title song is so
haunting.

> So is the new album more of his Large Band stuff, or is it back to the country
> and/or pop of his first two albums.  I LOVE "Pontiac".  The title song is so
> haunting.

    Well, I've only heard it twice, which is a listening or two short of
    where I like to form an opinion, but...
    
    It's not Large Band stuff, but smaller groups, with some Large Band
    members participating on some cuts.  Early impressions:
    
    - In keeping with his "gospel death" comment, there are a couple of
      gospelish cuts, and a couple of death things.  But mostly...
    - Lots of things are consistent with earlier albums.  There's a single
      guitar rocker, just like "You Can't Resist It" on "Lyle Lovett".
    - There's a "showpiece" comic cut, like "Hot to Go" or "Take My Hand",
      which like the others will go over great on the Carson show but will
      probably wear out its welcome for frequent playing.  It's called
      "Church", about how he comes up with a brainstorm to get a preacher to
      stop preaching.
    - There's a real nice country song with serio-comic lyrics, reminiscent
      of "I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You", "God Will", etc.
      Titled "She's Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To".
    - As with the other albums, it's the less assuming, "regular" songs --
      what Lovett means when he says "just more songs by me" -- that will
      probably stay with you (er, me) longest.
    - I believe this one stylistically or otherwise exists as 2 halves,
      just like the others (IMO - others don't see this).  For example, I
      preferred the first half of "Pontiac", the more "country" half of
      "Large Band", etc.  I may wind up preferring the 2nd half in this case
      (or disclaim all these comments tomorrow).   - Jay

    Jay, thanks for the synopsis.  I too, like the country "halves" of his
    other works.
    
    Mark.

    
    I bought the CD this week.  "The Boys From North Dakota" cut is more like 
    the old Lyle Lovett gigs I used to attend in Houston at Anderson Fair.
    
    He wore worn-out, faded blue jeans back then, and played his guitar and
    sang to the accompaniment of James Gimer on the congas.  His hair was
    just as curly but not as "tall", and he was every bit as artistic and
    folksy/bluesy/jazzy as he is now.  No big band thing, no C&W stuff,
    just plain old, excellent Lyle.  Ask any of his older fans and you'll
    find that "The Boys from North Dakota" is the real Lyle stuff, very,
    very, reminiscent of the good old days.
    
    I like the rest of the album also, and I do like it much better tha the
    Large Band album that preceded it.
    
    
    Bill Slater
    
    A Lyle Lovett fan and friend.

    Hi Bill,
    
    	Where have ya been?  I've been waiting on this Cd for a while(like
    the rest of us). According to the reviews, it sounds like another good
    Cd from Lyle...Some of the other reviews said that they liked only 1/2
    of the whole thing...which is normal...but I tend to like all the
    (weird) things that Lyle puts out. I haven't gotten J.J.R yet, but will
    real soon.
    
    	Like someone else said, I hope it's like *Pontiac*.
    
    Later,
    
    B.A.
    

    I'd already qualify a bunch of things I said back in .9, but never mind
    that...

    The production, and Lyle's singing, are exquisite on this one.  FWIW,
    here's a "Joshua Judges Ruth" track listing, with the comment that the
    last 4 cuts already have a hammerlock on muh heart:
    
    - I've Been to Memphis      
    - Church                    
    - She's Already Made Up Her Mind
    - North Dakota                      (Rickie Lee Jones harmony)
    - You've Been So Good Up to Now
    - All My Love is Gone               (A country "Love in Vain"?)
    - Since the Last Time           ("...somebody died" -- 1st of 3 death songs)
    - Baltimore                         (#2, Leo Kottke on guitar)
    - Family Reserve                    (#3, great song, Kottke again)
    - She's Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To  (w/ Emmylou Harris, more
          "serio" than "comic", but I still think the title's a comic reference)
    - Flyswatter/Ice Water Blues  
    - She Makes Me Feel Good            (fine shuffle closer -- Lyle's
                                        "women" songs keep improving)

    FWIW:  The May-92 issue of Musician has an 8-page article on Mr. Lovett...

    New work by this man is always welcome. JJR has a familiar "feel" to
    it, yet I find it even more introspective than earlier work. Who ever
    mentioned the "gospel-death" theme had it right - there's a gospel feel
    to a number of cuts ("Church") yet death is a backdrop through much of
    the album. Because there's less of the Big Band arrangments, there's
    more intimacy. It's haunting.
    
    A note about the production: George Massenburg is listed as the
    co-producer. Anyone into liner notes knows that Massenburg's name hase
    appeared on some of the best recorded and mastered albums of all time,
    not the least of which is Little Feat's "Waiting of Columbus". A lessed
    known item is that Doug Sax mastered JJR. Sax is regarded by most
    audiophiles as THE MASTER when it comes to mastering. This guy works
    magic with sound. On a good stereo set up the sound stage and image is
    imcredible. This is an audiophiles album with content.
    
    Paul
    
    P.S. I missed the Rolling Stones article on Lyle. Can someone publish
    here his list of fav albums?
    

>    P.S. I missed the Rolling Stone article on Lyle. Can someone publish
>    here his list of fav albums?

   Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out
   Johnny Cash, At Folsom Prison
   Ray Charles, Genius Of
   Guy Clark, Old Number One
   Miles Davis, Kind of Blue
   Bob Dylan, Freewheelin'
   Steven Fromholz, From Here to There
   Emmylou Harris, Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town
   Rickie Lee Jones, Rickie Lee Jones
   Robert Earl Keen, No Kind of Dancer

    Once again...Lyle on JC Tuesday night...
    
    B.A.

    Yo,
    
    Lyle Lovett is playing here in Charlotte on the 26th of May (i'm
    in the balcony for the 2nd show).  Does anyone know of what other
    dates he's playing in the southeast in May or June?  I'm looking
    for dates in places like Atlanta, Raliegh, Knoxville, etc..
    
    thanks,
    
    douglas

    RE: .19

         The show will be in Spirit Square, which is a renovated
         church located on North Tryon St. (which is the main drag in
         Charlotte.  Tryon runs north-south & Trade St. runs
         east-west)  
         
         The stage is in the old sanctuary.  (Charlotte's original
         First Baptist Church) The room forms a horseshoe around the
         stage (the thrust of the stage is minimal, but this does
         allow the artist to be "closer" to the audience).  I don't
         think there's a seat in the house, that is more than a
         hundred feet from the stage.  And there aren't any bad seats
         in the house.  The stage is slightly above the seats on the
         lower level.  I like the balcony.  I'm on the third row on
         the aisle.  Only two heads between me and Lyle.  I'm seen him
         there twice before, both shows were excellent.

         Let me know if you need real directions, I'll send you a map. 
         If you're coming up early that day, let me know and maybe we
         can head to the show together or something.

         later,

         douglas

    Well, seems like I nailed my predictions -- that he cancelled the
    Letterman appearance to be on one of the last Carsons; and that the song
    he did would be "Church", the typical sort of comic showpiece (Here I
    Am, Hot to Go, etc.) he's done on Carson.

    I thought the live "Church" was pretty good, seems like those comic
    mini-dramas are intended for live performance; usually Lovett gets a 2nd
    song on Carson (and I expected one based on the musicians assembled) but
    if planned, it was cut...   - Jay

    Lyle has a bit part in Robert Altman's new film"The Player", as an ominous
    possible killer, in case it wasn't mentioned earlier..
    
    karl

    Quick Lyle quote, from a (pretty lousy) USA Today article by David
    Zimmerman (5/15/92).
    
      ... In her new single, 'I Feel Lucky', Mary-Chapin Carpenter
      fantasizes that "Lyle Lovett's right beside me with his hand upon my
      thigh."
      
      Did he ever dream of becoming a sexual idol?  Lovett's characteristic
      reply: " 'No' would be an understatement."

    
    	Yeah, I read that as well.
    
    B.A.

Okay, I don't usually lend myself to hyperbole, but "She's Already Made Up Her
Mind" is simply one of the finest songs ever written.  GOD, do I wish I had
written it.  Sometimes Lyle can be so clever, and/or such a smart alec, that
when he writes one of his truly heartfelt tunes, it stops you in your tracks.

"There's nothing so deep as the ocean
And there's nothing so high as the sky
And there's nothing unwavering as a woman
When she's already made up her mind."

So true, so true...

By the way, Lyle is opening for Bonnie Raitt at Great Woods sometime at the end
of the summer.

    I have become a Lyle Lovett fan since my mother gave me a box of tapes
    to donate to a rummage sale (one of my brother left them behind). It
    was not something I would have found on my own (I don't even what
    category to look through in the stores), but I bought a CD when
    Lechemere was having a Lyle Lovett sale.
    
    But on to my question: What is the last line of the chorus of "Red Neck
    Woman?" I can't make it out and can't get on with my life until I know.
    
    Thanks
    
    Joseph
    

    "I can't be no cowgirl paradise"

    Anyone catching the double bill: Lyle Lovett AND the LARGE BAND opening
    for Bonnie Raitt outdoors in Stowe Vermont the third weekend in August?
    What a double bill!
    
    Ken

    Thank you. Now I won't feel foolish when I sing along in the car.
    
    Joseph
    

    Heck,
    
    	I was close...:*)
    
    B.A.

                <<< Note 188.29 by VTLAKE::SCHOFIELD_K "NFPN" >>>
>    Anyone catching the double bill: Lyle Lovett AND the LARGE BAND opening
>    for Bonnie Raitt outdoors in Stowe Vermont the third weekend in August?
>    Ken

Have fun.  They toured 2 or 3 years ago.  

I didn't much care for BR but Lyle was GREAT!
bob

    I saw Lyle Lovett last month(supporting Dire Straits), although I didnt
    like the songs he did(too gospally) his voice and the bands ability to
    play/sing was obvious.
    
    Bonnie R dissapointed me a little though....Maybe it was just cos she
    was not used to the size of the crowd(72000), but she seemed to have
    little control over what her voice was doing...sometimes you could
    hardly hear her. But her Guitar playing was great.
    
    Mark

    The first time I ever heard (or heard of) Lyle Lovett was at the Bonnie
    Raitt concert at Great Woods.  I was *really* surprised with the music. 
    In fact, I've ordered one of his CDs as soon as I left.  I don't recall
    the black female vocalist that did back up (and sang alone) but
    she really stole the stage from him a few times.  Q: does she back
    him up on the album? (haven't received it yet)
    
    Sorry folks, but although Bonnie's voice wasn't as strong as it could
    have been and her selections weren't all of what I'd have prefered :) I
    can't believe you didn't love her.  The woman is awesome as a person...
    let alone her singing/playing/writing ability.  Had to say it.  She
    hooked me even more after seeing her in person.
    I was especially impressed with her stances on various social issues.
    
    - Glad to have 'discovered' Lyle!
    

    Yup.  Francine <mumblemumble> (I think, I'll check the credits on Large
    Band disc tonite and enter it later if no one beats me to it) is the
    backup singer.  She has been with him since at least the Large Band
    album.  She did an opening act thing with just the piano player when I
    saw him in South Florida in May.  I'm sorry that I missed Great Woods. 
    What a show!!  Lyle is a true entertainer.
    
    -Jesse

    
    Cross-Posted From SOAPBOX:
    
    
    
                     Lyle Lovett Marries Julia Roberts
    
    
    
    Lyle is a brilliant songwriter/performer, and I just heard that he
    married Julia Roberts.
    
    Who got "lucky"?
    
    Do you think the promotion in Mary Chapin Carpenter's song, "Lucky"
    helped Julia notice Lyle and thereby initiating a courtship?
    
    
    
    Wild Bill
    

    I think they met on the set of the movie Players.

  I thought Lyle and (currently) Large Band were very good on Letterman the
  other night.
  
  Sang a new (or at least unreleased) song which I would guess is titled
  "Isn't That So".
  
  Hope this means a new CD is on the way (wasn't too thrilled with "I Love
  Everybody", for the same reasons I wasn't thrilled with Elvis Costello's
  early compendium of earlier nuggets & also-rans, "Get Happy").

  Was glad to see him, as I'd missed him the previous weekend at
  Harborlights...  - Jay

re: .38

>  Hope this means a new CD is on the way (wasn't too thrilled with "I Love
>  Everybody", for the same reasons I wasn't thrilled with Elvis Costello's
>  early compendium of earlier nuggets & also-rans, "Get Happy").

I'm a long-time Lyle fan, but I also didn't like "I Love Everybody" very 
much at first.  It's grown on me with time, though.  His lyric-writing
style has changed.  To make an analogy to painting, I think his lyrics
are becoming more abstract and less representational.  I didn't like
abstract painting at first, either.

-Hal

  It's probably time to give "I Love Everybody" another play or two, see if
  it grows on me as well...
  
  My understanding was that many songs on the album had been written or
  begun or rejected many years earlier, and recorded or finished or revived
  only now.  The analogy with Elvis Costello's "Get Happy" (or releases of
  this type by artists the reader prefers) would be the grab-bag (or, I
  suppose, "coat of many colors") quality of the result.  Less unity or
  consistency than earlier albums had but, by the same token, might tend to
  show previously unsuspected sides of the singer/songwriter.
  
  If my characterization is on the money (it could well be more to the point
  to say that his manner of expression is evolving toward the abstract...)
  -- more artists could stand to loosen up a little, ease up on trying to
  Matter or be Important, and release albums like these...  Esp. if they're
  hiding a sense of humor like Lyle's.  REM's early collection of items like
  these is entertaining.  Bob Dylan should've released an album like this
  every couple of years, beginning in '62...   - Jay

re: .40

>  It's probably time to give "I Love Everybody" another play or two, see if
>  it grows on me as well...
  
It appears I'll have to also give another play to consider your comments. :-)

>  My understanding was that many songs on the album had been written or
>  begun or rejected many years earlier, and recorded or finished or revived
>  only now.  

I hadn't heard that, that's interesting.  Where did you hear this?  That
would almost imply that he didn't have enough new material.

>  The analogy with Elvis Costello's "Get Happy" (or releases of
>  this type by artists the reader prefers) would be the grab-bag (or, I
>  suppose, "coat of many colors") quality of the result.  Less unity or
>  consistency than earlier albums had but, by the same token, might tend to
>  show previously unsuspected sides of the singer/songwriter.
  
Hmmm, I didn't really find "I Love Everybody" inconsistent musically.  Yes,
there certainly is a number of musical styles, but somehow they seemed
cohesive to me.  I'll have to give it another listen and consider this
angle.  I had more of a problem with the lyrics, I think.

>  If my characterization is on the money (it could well be more to the point
>  to say that his manner of expression is evolving toward the abstract...)

I really just made up that theory a couple of weeks ago.  I don't know if
I completely buy it yet, but it's an early attempt to try to describe my
reaction to the album.

One thing that really helped me with this album is that a few weeks ago
I saw Lyle on Austin City Limits (I think) doing mostly songs from this
album.  Before many of the songs Lyle made comments about what the song was
about or where it came from.  The comments themselves were largely just as
cryptic as the lyrics, but somehow the thought that the lyrics did indeed
have some meaning behind them (even if I didn't get it yet) managed to 
change my attitude towards the album in a way that I don't yet fully 
understand.

-Hal

    
    so, did julia roberts leave this guy because she finally
    figured out that every day is a bad hair day?
    
    -b

    She was on the Today show this morning... I was EXCEEDINGLY impressed
    with her incredible ability to gracefully dodge every single personal
    question.
    
    BTW guys, she claims that she has only been asked out once in all the
    time she's been famous!!!

So did anyone see Lyle last week at Harborlights???

good? 

bob

> So did anyone see Lyle last week at Harborlights???

Apparently noone has a report.  The Boston Globe had an interesting
review, a day or two after.  Very positive on the music, regretted that his
sardonic between-song patter was minimal.  The review is worth looking up if
you can do so easily.

It noted that Lyle fans are relieved to be rid of the Julia riff-raff.
8)    - Jay