''Step Inside This House'' is the seventh album by Lyle Lovett, released in 1998. In contrast with his earlier albums, populated mostly by songs penned by Lovett, ''House'' is a double-length album of

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

written by fellow Texans. In choosing songs to record, Lovett favored songwriters whose works influenced his own style instead of immensely popular artists whose name recognition might boost sales. The writers selected include

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 ...

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...

Willis Alan Ramsey Willis Alan Ramsey (born 5 March 1951) is an American singer/songwriter, a cult legend among fans of Americana and Texas country. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Dallas, Texas. Ramsey graduated from Highland Park High School ...

, Eric Taylor, and

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 ...

. The second disc is largely dedicated to songs written by Steven Fromholz,

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

and

Walter Hyatt Walter Hyatt (October 25, 1949 – May 11, 1996) was an American singer and songwriter. His group, Uncle Walt's Band, was involved in the alternative music scene in Austin, Texas. Early life Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Walter Hyatt was ...

, with the final track being a traditional piece. The title track was written by Guy Clark but does not appear on any of his albums. After learning the song from Clark, Lovett fell in love with it, and Clark gave him permission to include it on this album.

Track listing

Disc one

# "Bears" ( Steven Fromholz) – 3:04 # "Lungs" (

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

) – 2:18 # "Step Inside This House (Step Inside My House)" (

) – 5:29 # "Memphis Midnight/Memphis Morning" ( Eric Taylor) – 4:23 # "I've Had Enough" (

Vince Bell Vince Bell is a Texas singer-songwriter who has appeared on the PBS television program ''Austin City Limits'' along with NPR broadcasts such as ''Mountain Stage'', '' World Cafe'' and ''Morning Edition''. His songs have been performed and rec ...

, Craig Calvert) – 3:02 # "Teach Me About Love" (

) – 3:52 # "Sleepwalking" (

) – 5:39 # "Ballad of the Snow Leopard and the Tanqueray Cowboy" ( David Rodriguez) – 5:51 # "More Pretty Girls Than One" (traditional) – 2:56 # "West Texas Highway" (

Boomer Castleman Owens "Boomer" Castleman (July 18, 1945 – September 1, 2015) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Career as musician He was born and raised in Farmers Branch, Texas, United States. Castleman first started playing professionally at ...

) – 3:32 # "Rollin' By" (

) – 4:06

Disc two

# "Texas Trilogy: Daybreak" (Fromholz) – 3:17 # "Texas Trilogy: Train Ride" (Fromholz) – 2:35 # "Texas Trilogy: Bosque County Romance" (Fromholz) – 4:53 # "Flyin' Shoes" (Van Zandt) – 4:38 # "Babes in the Woods" (Hyatt) – 3:04 # "Highway Kind" (Van Zandt) – 3:27 # "Lonely in Love" (Hyatt) – 2:45 # "

If I Needed You "If I Needed You" is a song written by Townes Van Zandt and performed on his 1972 album '' The Late Great Townes Van Zandt''. It was covered 9 years later by American country music artists Emmylou Harris and Don Williams as a duet, and was released ...

" (Van Zandt) – 3:46 # "I'll Come Knockin' " (Hyatt) – 3:24 # "Texas River Song" (traditional) – 4:09

Personnel

*Lyle Lovett –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, acoustic guitar *

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Reviva ...

– mandolin *

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Dan F ...

– drums *

Luis Conte Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist best-known for his performances in the bands of artists including James Taylor, Madonna, Pat Metheny Group, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Shakira. He began ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he h ...

– dobro,

Weissenborn Weissenborn or H. Weissenborn is a brand of lap slide guitar manufactured by Hermann Weissenborn in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s. These instruments are now highly sought after, and form the base for most non-resonator acoustic lap steel ...

* Stuart Duncan – fiddle * Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

Don Potter Donald Steele Potter (21 April 1902 – 7 June 2004) was an English sculptor, wood carver, potter and teacher. Don Potter was born in Newington, near Sittingbourne, Kent, the son of a school teacher, and attended a private school. He joined ...

– acoustic guitar *John Hagen – cello *Deschamps Hood –

harmony vocals Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical c ...

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

– harmony vocals * David Ball – harmony vocals *

Viktor Krauss Viktor Krauss is an American musician who plays acoustic and electric bass. He has released solo albums and has worked as a sideman with many musicians, including his sister, singer and fiddler Alison Krauss. Music career Krauss was born to Fre ...

– bass *

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so frequ ...

– bass *

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 Voc ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

Production notes

*Produced by Lyle Lovett and Billy Williams *Robert Hadley – mastering *Ron Lewter – mastering *Doug Sax – mastering *Nathaniel Kunkel – engineer *John Nelson – assistant engineer *James Gilmer – production assistant *Vance Knowles – production assistant *Kathi Whitley – production coordination *Jonas Livingston – art direction *Tim Stedman – design *Keith Tamashiro – design *Michael Wilson – photography

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums Lyle Lovett albums Tribute albums MCA Records albums Music of Texas