Lyle Lovett released I Love Everybody

I Love Everybody Lyle Lovett

Released: September 27, 1994 Peak: 26 US, 54 UK, 40 CN Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Genre: alt-country/Americana

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Skinny Legs [2:42] (single, --) Fat Babies (Lyle Lovett, Eric Taylor) [2:54] I Think You Know What I Mean [3:05] Hello Grandma [2:35] Creeps Like Me [2:14] Sonja [2:00] They Don’t Like Me [2:34] Record Lady [4:11] Ain’t It Somethin’ [2:14] Penguins [2:31] The Fat Girl [2:00] La to the Left [3:20] Old Friend [3:13] Just the Morning [4:23] (single, --) Moon on My Shoulder [2:20] I’ve Got the Blues [3:34] Good-Bye to Carolina [3:28] I Love Everybody [3:39] All songs written by Lyle Lovett unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 52:41

Rating: 4.023 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Lyle Lovett’s 1992 album, Joshua Judges Ruth, was a highly ambitious project for the Texas-born singer/songwriter – perhaps too ambitious, since despite the album’s beautiful surfaces, the results simply weren’t especially absorbing.” AMG “I Love Everybody is a return to Lovett’s early Texas-cowboy-poet style. In fact, it’s a return to those earlier songs” AZ as “Lovett has raided his attic trunk and has found a surprising number of lost treasures.” AZ “While all 18 tracks on the album are previously unreleased, most of them date from the 1980s when he was writing far more high-quality material than anyone was interested in recording.” AZ “For a set of tunes that were apparent leftovers, the writing on I Love Everybody is startlingly strong, from the saucy Hello Grandma and Record Lady to the stark and edgy storytelling of I Think You Know What I Mean and The Fat Girl.” AMG “Skinny Legs kicks things off with a confession of jealousy. If he only had skinny legs, a new Toyota and a cute rear end, the singer laments, he’d have a girlfriend like that boy over there. Lovett’s dry, deadpan drawl falls on the bouncy, catchy melody with enchanting ease, and he refuses to use a single word more than he needs.” AZ While Joshua Judges Ruth had largely discarded some of Lovett’s fun style, Lyle’s “wry humor (They Don’t Like Me), playful surrealism (Penguins) and disturbing frankness (Creeps Like Me)” WK make comebacks here. The latter was originall song was originally intended to be the title song “and it’s hard to decide if one should laugh or frown in disgust while listening to it.” AMG “The lightly swinging arrangements are as simple as the songs.” AZ “Like Joshua Judges Ruth, I Love Everybody is dominated by clean, stripped-down arrangements and transparent production, but the players bring a lot more spirit and swing to these sessions (top honors go to bassist John Leftwich and drummer Russ Kunkel, a superb and soulful acoustic rhythm section).” AMG Kenny Aronoff also appears on drums. Also, “cellist John Hagen is added to five cuts, fiddler Mark O’Connor to six, the Tower of Power Horns to one, a gospel quartet to three, and a choir featuring Rickie Lee Jones and Julia Roberts [his wife at the time] to two others.” AZ “The dynamics bring more drama to the performances rather than weighing them down.” AMG “For the most part it succeeds where Joshua Judges Ruth disappoints, largely because the songs offer enough changeups to keep the listener engaged at all times.” AMG “At least half a dozen songs are slight one-liners which didn’t deserve revival, and they dilute the album’s impact. Nonetheless this is a welcome reward for all those who believe the funny Lyle Lovett is the best Lyle Lovett.” AZ “I Love Everybody is just eccentric enough to be best recommended to folks already familiar with Lovett’s work, but anyone attuned to his sensibility will find plenty to enjoy here – and a little to make you a shade uncomfortable.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Lyle Lovett AMG All Music Guide review by Mark Deming AZ Amazon.com review by Geoffrey Himes WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 1/12/2010; last updated 5/18/2022.

Boyz II Men II hit #1

II Boyz II Men

Released: August 30, 1994 Peak: 15 US, 12 RB, 17 UK, 3 CN, 4 AU Sales (in millions): 12.0 US, 0.1 UK, 21.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: R&B

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Thank You (2/7/95, 21 BB, 11 CB, 16 GR, 17 RR, 26 UK, 32 CN, 33 AU) All Around the World U Know Vibin’ (with Method Man) (9/2/95, 56 BB, 55 CB, 27 RB, 27 CN) I Sit Away Jezebel Khalil (Interlude) Trying Times I'll Make Love to You (7/26/94, 114 BB, 112 BA, 113 CB, 19 GR, 14 RR, 13 AC, 19 RB, 5 UK, 13 CN, 12 AU, 9 DF) On Bended Knee (11/1/94, 16 BB, 111 BA, 111 CB, 18 GR, 16 RR, 8 AC, 2 RB, 20 UK, 13 CN, 7 AU, 14 DF) 50 Candles Water Runs Dry (4/11/95, 2 BB, 11 BB, 15 CB, 11 GR, 2 RR, 3 AC, 4 RB, 24 UK, 4 CN, 36 AU, 18 DF) Yesterday (11 DF) Total Running Time: 57:38 The Players: Michael McCary (bass) Nathan Morris (baritone) Wanyá Morris (tenor) Shawn Stockman (tenor)

Rating: 4.324 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Boyz II Men’s Early Years The R&B vocal harmony group Boyz II Men formed in 1985 in Philadelphia. They were signed to Motown and released their first album, Cooleyhighharmony, in 1991. It featured two top-five hits (“Motownphilly” and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye”) that propelled the album to nine time platinum. In 1992 they landed atop the pop charts for a whopping 13 weeks with “End of the Road” from the Boomerang soundtrack. It was the biggest pop hit in 45 years. At that point, only the Francis Craig Orchestra had topped the charts longer – 17 weeks with the 1947 hit “Near You.” It wasn’t a record that would stand long. Just a week after “End of the Road” was dethroned, Whitney Houston began a 14-week run at #1 with “I Will Always Love You.” The next year they covered “In the Still of the Nite (I’ll Remember)” for the TV miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream and took the song to #3. That same year they released a Christmas album. The Next Album The anticipation for Boyz II Men’s second non-seasonal studio album was through the roof. I mean, they couldn’t possibly match the 13-week reign of “End of the Road,” could they? The group launched their new album with the single I’ll Make Love to You. It wasn’t that surprising that the song ascended to #1. What was astonishing, however, is that it outdid “End of the Road” and matched “I Will Always Love You” by spending 14 weeks atop the chart. Interestingly, Boyz II Men stopped their own run when the album’s second single, On Bended Knee, knocked “I’ll Make Love to You” from #1. The song wasn’t quite as big, spending a mere six weeks at the pinnacle. However, Boyz II Men would top themselves yet again – the very next year their duet with Mariah Carey, “One Sweet Day,” would land atop the charts for an astonishing 16 weeks. With three monster smashes in just a few years’ time, Boyz II Men assured themselves of a place in pop music history. “If ever a second album consolidated a band’s reputation, this was it.” AB “Working with some of the hottest talent around, including Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the band turned out” AB “a carefully constructed crowd pleaser, accentuating all of the finest moments from their hit debut. While there are some high-energy dance tracks, the album’s main strength is its slower numbers, where the group's vocals soar.” AM The group’s “vocal prowess is displayed to most stunning effect on the closing track – an audacious ‘ a cappella’ rendition of Paul McCartney’s Yesterday.” AB

Resources: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AB Michael Spilling (editor) (2015). Best-Selling Albums: From Vinyl Records to Digital Downloads. Amber Books Ltd.: London, United Kingdom. Page 158. Related DMDB Links: First posted 3/26/2008; last updated 12/7/2024.

Eric Clapton released From the Cradle, his first blues album

From the Cradle Eric Clapton

Released: September 13, 1994 Peak: 11 US, 11 UK, 2 CN, 6 AU, 11 DF Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.1 UK, 6.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: blues

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Blues Before Sunrise (Carr) [2:58] Third Degree (Boyd/Dixon) [5:07] Reconsider Baby (Fulson) [3:20] Hoochie Coochie Man (Dixon) [3:16] Five Long Years (Boyd) [4:47] I’m Tore Down (Thompson) [3:02] (9/10/94, #5 AR) How Long Blues (Carr) [3:09] Goin’ Away Baby (Lane) [4:00] Blues Leave Me Alone (Lane) [3:36] Sinner’s Prayer (Fulson/Glenn) [3:20] Motherless Child (traditional) [2:57] (10/22/94, #23 AR) It Hurts Me Too (James) [3:17] Someday After a While (King/Thompson) [4:27] Standin’ Round Crying (Waters) [3:39] Driftin’ (Brown/Moore/Williams) [3:10] Groaning the Blues (Dixon) [6:05]

Rating: 3.896 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Quotable: “One of Clapton’s finest moments” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Eric Clapton’s 1992 Unplugged gave him the most successful album of his career. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year and has sold more than 20 million copies. Instead of stressing him, however, Clapton felt free to do whatever he wanted. He opted to record an all-blues cover album, the first in his career, despite long being associated with the genre. Reviews were mixed. All Music Guide’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine said “If it wasn't for Clapton's labored vocals, everything would be perfect.” STE “When he sings, Clapton loses that sense of originality, choosing to mimic the vocals of the original recordings. At times, his overemotive singing is painful; he doesn’t have the strength to pull off Howlin’ Wolf’s growl or the confidence to replicate Muddy Waters’ assured phrasing.” STE Entertainment Weekly’s Tom Sinclair considered the recordings “flawless” but boring, WK but Erlewine said “the album manages to re-create the ambience of postwar electric blues, right down to the bottomless thump of the rhythm section.” STE He asserted it was easy to overlook Clapton’s “vocal shortcomings,” STE saying “as long as he plays his guitar, he can't fail – his solos are white-hot and evocative, original and captivating.” STE Clapton once again received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. While he didn’t win that, he did take home the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. He subsequently recorded more blues albums, including Riding with the King with B.B. King, Me and Mr. Johnson (a collection of Robert Johnson covers), and The Road to Escondido with J.J. Cale.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Eric Clapton STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/31/2008; last updated 3/19/2024.