Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band is Lyle Lovett's third album, released in 1989.^[9][10][11] Lovett won the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for the album.^[12]

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band
Studio album by Lyle Lovett
Released	January 25, 1989
Genre	Blues[1] jazz[1] country swing
Length	40:55
Label	MCA/Curb[2]
Producer	Billy Williams, Lyle Lovett, Tony Brown[3]
Lyle Lovett chronology
Pontiac (1987) Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (1989) Joshua Judges Ruth (1992)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Robert Christgau	B[5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[3]
Rolling Stone	[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	8/10[8]

Lovett's cover of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" was later included in the soundtrack of the 1992 movie The Crying Game.

Production

The album incorporated more of a big band-influenced sound than Lovett's previous albums.^[8][11]

Chart performance

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band reached number 10 on Billboard's chart for Top Country Albums, and 62 on the Billboard Hot 200.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau called the album "very humorous," writing that "after kicking off with a sharp r&b instrumental, the lapsed grad student dispenses with pretension and boils country down to the basics."^[5] Trouser Press wrote: "In rock’n’roll’s 40 disreputable years only Randy Newman has produced such adult music, or brought such irreproachable aesthetics to the task of charting moral sleight of hand."^[13] The New Yorker wrote that "Lovett reveals his weird splendor in a schizophrenic jumble of smoky jazz and twangy country that revives whole swaths of neglected popular American music."^[14]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Lyle Lovett, except where indicated

1. "The Blues Walk (Instrumental)" (Clifford Brown) – 2:25
2. "Here I Am" – 4:01
3. "Cryin' Shame" – 2:28
4. "Good Intentions" – 3:13
5. "I Know You Know" – 3:57
6. "What Do You Do/The Glory of Love" (Billy Hill, Lovett) – 3:06
7. "I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You" – 3:14
8. "Stand by Your Man" (Billy Sherrill, Tammy Wynette) – 2:44
9. "Which Way Does That Old Pony Run" – 4:08
10. "Nobody Knows Me" – 3:06
11. "If You Were to Wake Up" – 4:07
12. "Once Is Enough" – 4:26

Personnel

• Lyle Lovett - vocals, guitar
• Richard Bennett – guitar
• Paul Franklin - steel guitar
• Ray Herndon - guitar
• Deschamps Hood - guitar, background vocals
• Billy Williams - guitar
• Matt Rollings - piano, Hammond organ
• Ben Stivers - piano
• Leland Sklar - bass
• Andy Laster - sax
• Steve Marsh - sax
• Paul Leim - drums
• John Hagen - cello
• Mark O'Connor - fiddle, mandola
• David Ball - background vocals
• Rodney Crowell - background vocals
• Walter Hyatt - background vocals
• Mac McAnally - background vocals
• Francine Reed - background vocals
• Harry Stinson - background vocals
• Russ Kunkel - drums
• Warren Hood - Fiddle/Violin

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1989) Peak position Canadian Albums (RPM) 88 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 86 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16] 45 US Billboard 200[17] 62 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[18] 10

Year-end charts Chart (1989) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[19] 34 Chart (1990) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[20] 68

References

1. Deming, Mark. "Joshua Judges Ruth Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
2. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. pp. 353–354.
3. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 695.
4. Mark Deming, AllMusic (link)
5. "Robert Christgau: CG: Lyle Lovett". www.robertchristgau.com.
6. Gleason, Holly (Feb 9, 1989). "Album Reviews". Rolling Stone (545).
7. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 435–436.
8. Sandow, Greg (1995). "Lyle Lovett". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 229–230. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
9. "Lyle Lovett | Biography & History". AllMusic.
10. "A `Country' Artist Who Defies Labels. Singer/songwriter Lyle Lovett reaches for a brass-and-strings section as readily as a twanging guitar, offering personal folklike lyrics in a voice of pure blues". March 31, 1989 – via Christian Science Monitor.
11. Watrous, Peter (February 5, 1989). "RECORDINGS; Wayward Notes From a Distant Country Cousin (Published 1989)" – via NYTimes.com.
12. "Lyle Lovett | Artist | www.grammy.com".
13. "Lyle Lovett". Trouser Press. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
14. Dellinger, Matt. "The Thinking Man's Cowboy". The New Yorker.
15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Lyle Lovett – Lyle Lovett And His Large Band" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
16. "Charts.nz – Lyle Lovett – Lyle Lovett And His Large Band". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
17. "Lyle Lovett Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
18. "Lyle Lovett Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
19. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
20. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2020.