Tuesday, September 27, 1994

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.

  1. Skinny Legs [2:42] (single, --)
  2. Fat Babies (Lyle Lovett, Eric Taylor) [2:54]
  3. I Think You Know What I Mean [3:05]
  4. Hello Grandma [2:35]
  5. Creeps Like Me [2:14]
  6. Sonja [2:00]
  7. They Don’t Like Me [2:34]
  8. Record Lady [4:11]
  9. Ain’t It Somethin’ [2:14]
  10. Penguins [2:31]
  11. The Fat Girl [2:00]
  12. La to the Left [3:20]
  13. Old Friend [3:13]
  14. Just the Morning [4:23] (single, --)
  15. Moon on My Shoulder [2:20]
  16. I’ve Got the Blues [3:34]
  17. Good-Bye to Carolina [3:28]
  18. 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.” AMGI 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

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First posted 1/12/2010; last updated 5/18/2022.

Tuesday, September 13, 1994

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.

  1. Blues Before Sunrise (Carr) [2:58]
  2. Third Degree (Boyd/Dixon) [5:07]
  3. Reconsider Baby (Fulson) [3:20]
  4. Hoochie Coochie Man (Dixon) [3:16]
  5. Five Long Years (Boyd) [4:47]
  6. I’m Tore Down (Thompson) [3:02] (9/10/94, #5 AR)
  7. How Long Blues (Carr) [3:09]
  8. Goin’ Away Baby (Lane) [4:00]
  9. Blues Leave Me Alone (Lane) [3:36]
  10. Sinner’s Prayer (Fulson/Glenn) [3:20]
  11. Motherless Child (traditional) [2:57] (10/22/94, #23 AR)
  12. It Hurts Me Too (James) [3:17]
  13. Someday After a While (King/Thompson) [4:27]
  14. Standin’ Round Crying (Waters) [3:39]
  15. Driftin’ (Brown/Moore/Williams) [3:10]
  16. 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.

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First posted 3/31/2008; last updated 3/19/2024.