''Lyle Lovett'' is the 1986 debut album by American singer

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

. By the mid-1980s, Lovett had already distinguished himself in the burgeoning

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

singer-songwriter scene. He had performed in the New Folk competition at the

Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded in 1972 by the husband-wife team of Rod Kennedy an ...

in 1980 and returned to win in 1982."Kerrville Folk Festival Finalist History", compiled by Doug Coppock
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) In 1984, he recorded a four-song demo with the help of the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

band J. David Sloan and the RoguesLyle Lovett profile, from the Richard De La Font Agency, Inc.
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and his music had begun to be distributed by the '' Fast Folk Musical Magazine''"Fast Folk and Coop Database", compiled by Steven Alexander, 2002
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Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award fo ...

had recorded Lovett's "If I Were the Man You Wanted" as "If I Were the ''Woman'' You Wanted" for her 1984 album, ''

Once in a Very Blue Moon ''Once in a Very Blue Moon'' was singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's third studio album. The album had more of a country sound than her previous albums. Her first two albums were backed sparsely with instrumentation, but starting with this album, ...

''. He appears on that album as a vocalist and also can be seen in the picture on the cover of her subsequent album ''

Last of the True Believers ''The Last of the True Believers'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith, released in 1986 by Philo Records. The acclaim accorded her from her previous album, '' Once in a Very Blue Moon'', and this album earne ...

'' (1986).

Critical reception

''Lyle Lovett'' was ranked No. 91 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the 1980s, and both ''Velvet''''Velvet'', 1990 (according to rocklistmusic.co.uk
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and the Italian magazine ''Il Mucchio Selvaggio'' also cited it as one of the top 100 albums of the decade.''Il Mucchio Selvaggio'', 2002 (according to acclaimedmusic.ne

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

compares the album to

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

's ''

Guitar Town ''Guitar Town'' is the debut album from singer-songwriter Steve Earle, released on March 5, 1986. It topped the ''Billboard'' country album charts, and the title song reached #7 on the country singles charts. Earle was also nominated for two 1 ...

'', calling it, "one of the most promising and exciting debut albums to come out of Nashville in the 1980s."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

described Lovett's debut as: "Writes like

Guy Clark Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffet ...

, only plainer, sings like

Jesse Winchester James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester Jr. (May 17, 1944 – April 11, 2014) was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada in 1967 to avoid b ...

only countrier."

Track listing

All songs by Lyle Lovett, except "This Old Porch" by Lyle Lovett and

Robert Earl Keen Robert Earl Keen (born January 11, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer. Debuting with 1984's ''No Kinda Dancer'', the Houston native has recorded 20 full-length albums for both independent and major record labels. His songs ha ...

. # "

Cowboy Man "Cowboy Man" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett. It was released in October 1986 as the second single from his album '' Lyle Lovett''. The song peaked at number 10 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles ch ...

" – 2:48 # "God Will" – 2:13 # "Farther Down the Line" – 3:05 # "This Old Porch" – 4:16 # "Why I Don't Know" – 2:41 # "If I Were the Man You Wanted" – 3:57 # "

You Can't Resist It "You Can't Resist It" is a song recorded written and originally recorded by Lyle Lovett on his 1986 self-titled debut album. It was included on the soundtrack to the 1991 film ''Switch'', from which it was released as a single. A live version f ...

" – 3:08 # "The Waltzing Fool" – 3:49 # "An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy (The Wedding Song)" – 3:30 # "Closing Time" – 3:43

Personnel

Musicians

– vocals, acoustic guitar; background vocals ("You Can't Resist It") * Ray Herndon – electric rhythm guitar, background vocals; electric lead guitar ("Farther Down the Line" and "Why I Don't Know") * Tom Mortensen –

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

* Billy Williams – electric lead guitar; saxophone arrangements *

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

– electric rhythm guitar ("You Can't Resist It") * Jon Goin – electric rhythm and lead guitars ("You Can't Resist It") *

Mac McAnally Lyman Corbitt McAnally Jr. (; born July 15, 1957), known professionally as Mac McAnally, is an American country music singer-songwriter, session musician, and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. ...

– acoustic lead guitar ("God Will", "Farther Down the Line" and "If I Were the Man You Wanted") * Mathew McKenzie – bass *

Emory Gordy Jr. Emory Lee Gordy Jr. (born December 25, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter and music producer. A former member of Emmylou Harris' backing band The Hot Band, he is best known for his association with country singer Patty Loveless, to whom ...

– bass ("Farther Down the Line") * Mark Prentice – organ; piano ("God Will" and "Farther Down the Line") *

Matt Rollings Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer. Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voca ...

– acoustic and electric piano * John Jarvis – synthesizer ("You Can't Resist It") * Jeff Borree – drums * Bob Warren – drums ("Farther Down the Line", "This Old Porch" and "An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy") * James Gilmer –

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s * Glen Duncan – fiddle * Steve Marsh – saxophones * J. David Sloan – background vocals *

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

– background vocals ("You Can't Resist It") *

Francine Reed Francine Reed (born July 11, 1947 in Pembroke Township, Illinois, Pembroke Township, Illinois, United States) is an Americans, American blues singing, singer, solo artist, and regular singing partner of Lyle Lovett since the 1980s and member of ...

– background vocals ("An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy")

Production

* Producers – Tony Brown and Lyle Lovett * Associate Producer – Billy Williams * Recorded at Chaton Recordings,

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** Engineer – Steven Moore ** Second Engineer – Andy Seagle * Overdubs and Remix at Treasure Isle Recorders,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

** Remixed – Gene Eichelberger ** Second Engineers – Tom Der and Tom Harding *

Mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

at Mastertonics using the

JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...

Audio Digital Mastering System ** Mastering – Glen Meadows * Digital editing – Milan Bogdan * Compact Disc master tap prepared by Glen Meadows and Milan Bogdan

Artwork

* Simon Levy – art direction * Peter Nash – photography * Mickey Braithwaite – design * Kate Gillon & Sherri Halford – CD coordination *

– liner notes

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1986 debut albums Lyle Lovett albums Albums produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Curb Records albums MCA Records albums