Lucinda Williams
Live at the Fillmore
Early in her
career, Lucinda Williams gained a reputation for being
a perfectionist. It took her five years to make a
record. Her live shows were rare and elusive -
rumors of her being difficult abounded. But with
each release she got better, both in her songwriting
and delivery. It was always worth the wait.
As I’ve heard it,
during the recording of her breakthrough record "Car
Wheels On A Gravel Road," she terminated the
relationship with long time guitarist - producer Gurf
Morlix. Steve Earle stepped in to finish the production
and the results were her best record to date, one with
Steve’s fingerprints all over it. It launched her into
the big time, selling lots of records, winning a Grammy
and garnering critical praise as one of the best living
American songwriters.
It also marked a
turning point in her career.
With her next
release, "Essence," there was less focus on death and the
more up-tempo songs got a little harder-edged and
gritty, while the bulk of the record still retained
keen observations on loneliness and alienation, sung in
a somewhat more sensual manner.
After "Essence,"
something happened that was completely unexpected - she released
her next record in just 2 years.
"World Without Tears"
was a mixed bag of visceral rockers and quiet ballads. She’s been touring a lot more in recent years, backed
up by a new band featuring guitarist Doug Pettibone,
bassist Taras Prodaniuk, and drummer Jim Christie at its
core.
Now, just another 2
years later, she’s released a live double album,
"Lucinda Williams Live At The Fillmore" and it features
her touring band of the last few years with the mojo
fully working.
Comprised mostly of
songs from "World" and "Essence," it includes something
from every full length record she’s put out with the
exception of her debut "Ramblin.'"
Starting off with a
couple of recent ballads, "Ventura" and "Reason To
Cry," it doesn’t take long before things start to pick up. By
the fourth track, "Out Of Touch," the band is in full jam
mode. Throughout the disc, her voice alternates
between a seductive drawl and an angry growl.
On the first disc,
she captures the emotion behind tracks like "Blue" and
"I
Lost It," wrenching every bit of heartbreak and
loneliness out of them and wearing it all on her sleeve. The second disc, for the most part, rocks out until the
final three songs.
"I Lost It" appears
on her second release, 1980's "Happy Woman Blues" as a folksy little
fiddle driven two step and was reworked as a Cajun
flavored electric blues-rocker for "Car Wheels." On
"Live,"
she plays the "Car Wheels" version.
The band is
impressively tight and expressive. They skirt the line
between stomping country, slow burn blues, and outright
rock and provide a perfect backdrop for Lu to showcase
her songs.
She covers a lot of
territory - from her early obsession with death and
religion on "Pineola," her lovelorn ballads like "Blue" and
"Those Three Days," to her fascination with music and
musicians on the arena rock - like "Real Live Bleeding
Fingers." She even tosses in her attempt at politics,
"Every Thing Is Wrong."
But with Lucinda,
it always comes back to sad reflections on the state of
the heart and the human experience. "Bus To Baton Rouge"
sounded kind of innocuous on "Essence"; here, it’s
rendered very soulfully giving it new levels of
substance and displaying her powers of observation
nicely.
If you’ve never
seen Lucinda play live, this is a pretty good example of
her shows. More than any other artist, she personifies
what’s great about alt country as a genre. Based
primarily in folksy country, she incorporates American
roots music of all types into her sound flawlessly and
ends up with a sound that’s distinct and original and
yet somehow familiar at the same time.
It’s also nice to
hear her cut loose with these songs, unlike the more
tightly controlled versions you’ll find on most of her
records, as good as they are.
Still, I can’t help
wondering how long it will be before we get more new
songs.
-jitter
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