European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 5, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse The unpredictable Lyle Lovett blues swing amp country hot copy in America. By Randi Henderson Baltimore Sun Lyle Lovett has been around a lot this summer a 61 concerts in 76 Days covers some territory a and he seems a bit confused about where to go for his next show in Crisfield my. Quot it s out in the Ocean right a he says on the phone from his Home near Houston. Quot it s an Island. Near Greenland. That a what i Well maybe he heard wrong. Its on the 1 Chesapeake Bay. Its not an Island. Its i nowhere near Greenland but maybe this m grammy winning Singer songwriter who is m suddenly hot copy from coast to coast is ii just trying to keep yet another interview from falling into a predictable routine. M he s not concerned that the mostly a Urban audiences attracted to his Eclectic m blend of blues swing and country music 1j wont be Able to get to the concert. His main worry is More physical in nature. Foj Quot in a More concerned about attracting mosquitoes Quot he confesses. A love actually had a Mosquito Fly in my Mouth while i was singing. Its a Tough thing. If you Start to choke on one then there a no Way you can sing you have to Stop. What a awful is when you see one get on your Arm and you re in the Middle of a song and you can to really do is that a smile in his voice never mind if Lovett abruptly chokes up in the Middle of a song blame it on a Mosquito. A More Likely scenario however is Lyle Lovett and his Large band ripping smoothly through their sophisticated mix of songs which Range from country weepers to an instrumental blues Riff. That Lovett 32, is classified As a country Singer a with the grammy he won this year As Best male country Singer for verification a is a quirk of american marketing that seeks pigeonholes for even those artists who defy categorization. His band includes cello saxophones and a Bluesy female Back up Singer a not exactly your typical country configuration. Some of his songs do sound As country As you can get. But As much As anything the categorization can probably be attributed to the fact that when Lovett decided to get professional about his music he decided that Nashville was the place to do it. Until then he d confined his musicianship to what he Calls Quot Singer songwriter clubs Quot around Texas where he grew up. Like hundreds of other Texas boys he grew up fantasizing of being a Cowboy a fantasy that would be transferred to Many of his songs Quot a Cowboy is just a great Symbol for a Man in the world Quot he offers in explanation quickly adding a correction perhaps mindful of his reputation As a woman hater Quot a great Symbol for a person in the Young Lovett Rode horses but never made it to the Rodeo. He picked up a guitar instead of a Lasso while in High school then thought he would Channel his interest in writing into a career in journalism. He majored in print journalism at Texas a amp m University. By the time he graduated in 1980, Lovett was playing three or four nights a week at clubs coffeehouses and bars in the area. Quot that a when i started thinking i wish i could do this for a living Quot Lovett recalls. Quot it never seemed like a realistic possibility to me. But i thought one realistic possibility for me was to try to get other people to record my songs. I thought my songs were viable in terms of the music business. So that a when i went to by then he had teamed up with a group of musicians from Phoenix. They had made some demo japes that he took to Nashville. Much to his Surprise Quot i got As Good a response or a better response on the performing As on the songs themselves Quot that was the summer of 1984, and a year later Lovett had signed with Mca curb. His self titled debut album came out in the summer of �?T86. That first group of songs was much More straightforward country than those on either of his subsequent albums Pontiac and Lyle Lovett and his Large band. It was Pontiac that earned him the misogynist Label with songs like . County in which he coolly dispatches with his .45 an old Girlfriend and her new Groom. She a no lady from the same album cemented the reputation with these lyrics a the preacher asked her and she said i do the preacher asked me and she said yes he does too and the preacher said i pronounce you 99 to life son she a no lady she s your Lovett laughs at the labels says he s just having a Little fun and that he likes women As much As the next Guy. The inspiration for his songs he says comes from his own life to a Large extent. Quot you can to help but write about things that really happen to you Quot he explains. Quot your own experience helps shape your Point of View so it s All autobiographical in that sense although not always beyond these generic observations though he is not inclined to offer personal details. He s never been married hell say that much. A current Girlfriend Quot id rather not answer Why Quot because it s a and on probing interviews in general Quot it s very difficult to have an up to the minute rationalization for everything you be Ever done or thought about in the inclination is to press harder. Surely he has thought about the meaning a and Absurdity a of life this Man who sings in Here i am on his last album Quot if Ford is to Chevrolet what Dodge is to Chrysler what Corn flakes Are to Post Toa sties what the Clear Blue sky is to the deep Blue sea what Hank Williams is to Neil Armstrong can you doubt that we were made for each other Quot then again maybe not. But Lovett is at least willing to talk about his next album which he will begin recording this fall and probably release in the Spring of 1991. It la be Quot the death album Quot he reveals with All the songs about death. And he s As forthcoming with his motivation for writing about death As he is with details about his love life Quot that a a its a secret that he Sheds Light on moments later with a disclaimer. Quot i be just been saying that Quot he admits Quot this thing about the death album. Its not really going to be a death album. It la be a new album with a few songs about hair is another topic Lovett wishes people would just shut up about. Everyone talks about his tall curly Shock which has drawn comparisons to such characters As David Lynch s Eraser head and Woody Woodpecker. Along with incessant questions about hair Success has brought Lyle Lovett appearances on network television and enough financial stability so that he could probably put in the guitar shaped swimming Pool he stalked about. But he decided against it. Quot i have a guitar shaped horse instead Quot he says Deadpan. Quot it s All a matter of genetics Cross Breeding hybrids that whole top a singles 1. Blaze of glory a Jon Bon Joel 2. Release me a Wilson Phillips 3. Do me a Bell blvd Devoe 4. Uns Kinny Bop a Poison 5. If wishes came True a Sweet sensation 6. Have you seen her a . Hammer 7. Tonight a new kids on the Block 8. Love and affection a Nelson 9. Epic a Faith no More a 10. Come Back to me a Janet Jackson top up s 1. Please Hammer Don t Hurt Mem a . Hammer 2. Wilson Phillips a Wilson Phillips 3. Blaze of glory Young guns ii a Jon Bon Joel 4. Mariah Carey a Mariah Carey 5. Flesh and blood a Poison 6. Poison a Bell blvd Devoe 7. Compositions a Anita Baker 8. Ill give All my love to you a Keith sweat 9. Step by step a new kids on the Block 10. Pretty woman a soundtrack Hart country a singles 1. Jukebox in my mind a Alabama 2. Next to you next to me a Shenandoah 3. Wanted a Alan Jackson 4. Nothing s news a Clint Black 5.1 meant every word he said a Ricky Van Shelton 6. Don t go out a Tanya Tucker with t. Graham Brown 7. I m Gonna be somebody a Travis Trutt 8. Holdin a Good hand a Lee Greenwood 9.1 fell in love a carotene Carter 10. Fourteen minutes old a Doug Stone Black a singles 1. Feels Good a Tony toll Tonel 2. Lies men Vogue we 3. Innocent 4. Have you seen 5. Crazy a the boys Hospers her . Hammer 5. Crazy a the boys 6. Thieves in the Temple a Prince 7. Come Back to me a Janet Jackson 8. Everybody everybody a Black Box 9. Heaven knows a Lalah Hathaway 10. Jerk out a the time wednesday september 5, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17
