Lucinda Williams

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Lucinda Williams in New York, 2009

Lucinda Williams (* 26 January 1953 in Lake Charles , Louisiana ) is an American roots rock - and Country - musician . It wasn't until 20 years after her debut that she achieved her commercial breakthrough in 1998 with the album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road . Today she is one of the most famous representatives of the music genre. In 2002, she was voted the best songwriter in America by Time Magazine .

biography

Williams was born the daughter of the poet and literature professor Miller Williams . Her father worked, among other things, as a visiting professor in Mexico and Chile and in various places in the southern United States before he was appointed professor at the University of Arkansas . The experiences of traveling shaped Lucinda Williams' personality and music very much. She showed an interest in music at an early age and began playing the guitar at the age of 12.

The early years

In his early 20's, Williams began performing in public. She played a mix of folk , rock and country in Austin and Houston . In 1978 she moved to Jackson, Mississippi , where she recorded her debut album Ramblin ' for the traditional folk label Smithsonian / Folkways . It was a compilation of different country and blues covers. In 1980 the album Happy Woman Blues followed , which consisted exclusively of their own songs. Neither album received much attention.

In the 1980s, Lucinda Williams moved to Los Angeles , where she signed with the independent label Rough Trade Records . In 1988 her self-titled album Lucinda Williams was released here . The song Like A Rose also appeared on the sampler Music For The 90's, Vol. 1 , which did not necessarily make her a little known in Europe with her actual target group: This label overview, which was sold cheaply for advertising purposes, was usually mainly rock bands like New Order , Happy Mondays or the Pixies represented. In the US, the single "Changed the Locks" was played on the radio about a broken relationship, which won it over among music lovers and musicians, including Tom Petty and the Silos , who both later covered the song. Songs from this album were re-enacted relatively quickly by the Schramms and Johnny Rodriguez .

In 1992 the album Sweet Old World was released on the Chameleon label , a very melancholy record, which is partly autobiographical about the suicide and death of friends. Williams was particularly successful as a songwriter in the early 1990s: Mary Chapin Carpenter recorded a cover for her song "Passionate Kisses" in 1992, which became a country hit and brought Williams a Grammy Award in 1994 for best country song.

Williams has since been popular with critics and music insiders, but her commercial success has remained modest. Emmylou Harris , who also covered Williams' compositions with Crescent City and Sweet Old World , said of her: “She is an example of the best that country music claims to be. But for some reason it goes unnoticed. I have a strong feeling that country music is missing out on something. "

Lucinda Williams also had a reputation for being perfectionist and slow when working in the studio. It took six years to the next album, but she appeared as a guest on the albums of other artists and contributed songs for several compilations. Among other things, she was invited by Steve Earle to sing a duet on his 1996 album I Feel Alright .

The commercial breakthrough

Lucinda Williams at TFF.Rudolstadt , 2009

In 1998 she achieved her commercial breakthrough with Car Wheels on a Gravel Road . The album contained, among other things, the single Still I Long for Your Kiss , which was also heard in Robert Redford's film The Horse Whisperer , which made the album much noticed and discussed. It received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. For the music genre “Americana” it is considered to be style-defining, fundamental and groundbreaking. Williams toured with Bob Dylan , who had a major impact on her musical development. This album in particular earned her a lot of approval and importance as a role model among musicians like Waxahatchee .

Williams' next album Essence (2001) continued the success. Here you can hear more economically produced, simpler songs with which the artist moved further away from mainstream country music and which brought her new fans into the alternative music scene. In 2002 she won the Grammy Award for best female rock interpreter for the single "Get Right With God", an atypically fast gospel rock from the otherwise restrained album.

Her seventh album World Without Tears was released in 2003. On the musically diverse and lyrically rather gloomy album, she stayed true to her style of melancholic country ballads and mid-tempo rock numbers, but also experimented with rap and electric blues, which she performed at live concerts especially in the encores as the root of their music.

This was followed by the album West on February 13, 2007. Just one and a half years later, on October 10, 2008, Little Honey was released with 13 new songs. On March 1, 2011, the album Blessed was released. The double album Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone followed in September 2014 on the record label Highway 20, which Williams himself founded . In January 2016, Williams released the album The Ghosts of Highway 20 , the songs of which refer to Highway No. 20, which crosses the US northern states.

In 2015, Rolling Stone listed Williams 79th of the 100 best songwriters of all time .

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1998 Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - - - UK-
silver
silver
UK
US65
gold
gold

(20 weeks)US
2001 essence - - - UK63 (1 week)
UK
US28 (11 weeks)
US
2003 World Without Tears DE93 (1 week)
DE
- - UK48 (1 week)
UK
US18 (17 weeks)
US
HDCD encoded
2005 Live @ The Fillmore - - - - US66 (2 weeks)
US
Double album
2007 west DE95 (1 week)
DE
- - UK30 (2 weeks)
UK
US14 (11 weeks)
US
2008 Little honey - - - UK51 (1 week)
UK
US9 (9 weeks)
US
2011 Blessed - - - UK55 (1 week)
UK
US15 (6 weeks)
US
as a single or deluxe double album
2014 Lucinda Williams (Reissue) - - - - US39 (2 weeks)
US
Double album
Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone DE77 (1 week)
DE
- CH94 (1 week)
CH
UK23 (3 weeks)
UK
US13 (7 weeks)
US
Double album
2016 The Ghosts of Highway 20 DE29 (1 week)
DE
AT40 (1 week)
AT
CH43 (1 week)
CH
UK33 (2 weeks)
UK
US36 (3 weeks)
US
Double album
2018 Vanished Gardens - - CH64 (1 week)
CH
- -
2020 Good Souls Better Angels DE33 (1 week)
DE
- CH21 (1 week)
CH
UK30 (... weeks)
Template: chart table / maintenance / provisional / 2020UK
US144 (... weeks)
Template: chart table / maintenance / provisional / 2020US

More albums

  • Ramblin ' (1979)
  • Happy Woman Blues (1980)
  • Lucinda Williams (1988)
  • Sweet Old World (1992)
  • Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Deluxe Edition (with alternative versions and bonus live CD) (2006)
  • West (2007)

Guest appearances

  • 1988 - Various Artists - "Dark Side of Life" on A Town South of Bakersfield, Vols. 1 & 2
  • 1990 - Various Artists - "Which Will" on True Voices
  • 1990 - The Band of Blacky Ranchette - "Burning Desire" on Sage Advice
  • 1992 - David Rodriguez - "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" on The True Cross
  • 1993 - Various Artists - "Pancakes" on Born to Choose
  • 1993 - Various Artists - "Main Road" on Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams
  • 1993 - Jimmie Dale Gilmore - "Reunion" on Spinning Around the Sun
  • 1993 - Michael Fracasso - "Door # 1" on Love & Trust
  • 1994 - Various Artists - "You Don't Have Very Far to Go" on Tulare Dust: A Songwriter's Tribute to Merle Haggard
  • 1994 - Various Artists - " Positively 4th Street " on In Their Own Words, Vol. 1 - Live Performances from the Bottom Line, New York City
  • 1994 - Julian Dawson - "How Can I Sleep Without You" on How Human Hearts Behave
  • 1994 - Lisa Mednick - "A Different Sky" on Artifacts Of Love
  • 1995 - Terry Allen - "Room to Room" and "Black to Black" from Human Remains
  • 1995 - Kieran Kane - "This Dirty Little Town" on Dead Rekoning
  • 1995 - Chris Gaffney - "Cowboys to Girls" on Loser's Paradise
  • 1996 - Various Artists - "The Night's Too Long" on Lone Star: Original Soundtrack from the Film
  • 1996 - Steve Earle - "You're Still Standing There" on I Feel Alright
  • 1997 - RB Morris - "Glory Dreams" on Take That Ride
  • 1997 - Ray Wylie Hubbard - "The Ballad of the Crimson Kings" on Dangerous Spirits
  • 1997 - Donnie Fritts - "Breakfast in Bed" on Everybody's Got a Song
  • 1997 - Bo Ramsey - "Desert Flower" on In the Weeds
  • 1998 - Hayseed - "Precious Memories" and "Credo" on Melic
  • 1998 - Robbie Fulks - "Pretty Little Poison" on Let's Kill Saturday Night
  • 1998 - Various Artists - "Here in California" on Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf
  • 1998 - Nanci Griffith - "Wings of a Dove" on Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful)
  • 1998 - Various Artists - "Come to Me Baby" on Wolf Tracks: A Tribute to Howlin 'Wolf
  • 1999 - Leftover Salmon - "Lines Around Your Eyes" on The Nashville Sessions
  • 1999 - Various Artists - "Return of the Grievous Angel" with David Crosby on Return of the Grievous Angel: Tribute to Gram Parsons
  • 1999 - Bruce Cockburn - "When you give it away" / "Isn´t that what friends are for?" / "Look how far" / "Use me while you can" at Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu
  • 1999 - John Prine - "Wedding Bells" / "Let's Turn Back The Years" on In Spite of Ourselves
  • 1999 - Little Milton - "Love Hurts" on Welcome to Little Milton
  • 1999 - Evie Sands - "Cool Blues Story" on Women in Prison
  • 1999 - Chip Taylor - "Through Their Mother's Eyes" and "If I Don't Know Love" on Seven Days in May ... a love story
  • 1999 - Bonepony - "Sweet Bye and Bye" on Traveler's Companion
  • 2000 - Sue Foley - "Empty Cup" (harmony vocals) on Love Comin 'Down
  • 2000 - Kevin Gordon - "Down to the Well" on Down to the Well
  • 2000 - Chip Taylor - "Head First", "Annie on Your Mind" and "The Ghost of Phil Sinclair" on The London Sessions Bootleg
  • 2001 - Kasey Chambers - "On a Bad Day" on Barricades & Brickwalls
  • 2001 - Matthew Ryan - "Devastation" on Concussion
  • 2001 - Various Artists - " Cold, Cold Heart " on Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute
  • 2001 - Ralph Stanley and Friends - "Farther Along" on Clinch Mountain Sweethearts
  • 2001 - Various Artists - "Nothin '" on A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt
  • 2001 - Chip Taylor - "Could I Live with This" and "The Ship" on Black and Blue America
  • 2001 - Various Artists - "Angels Laid Him Away" on Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt
  • 2002 - Various Artists - "Lately" on Going Driftless: An Artist's Tribute to Greg Brown
  • 2003 - Various Artists - "Hang Down Your Head" on Crossing Jordan - Original Soundtrack
  • 2003 - Terri Binion - "GayleAnne" (harmony vocal) on Fool
  • 2003 - Various Artists - "Hard Times Killing Floor Blues" on Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: The Soul of a Man
  • 2003 - Colin Linden - "Don't Tell Me" on Big Mouth
  • 2003 - various artists - "Make me a pallet on your floor" on classic blues vol.2 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
  • 2004 - Graham Parker - Your Country
  • 2004 - Flogging Molly - "Factory Girls" on Within a Mile of Home
  • 2004 - Elvis Costello - "There's a Story in Your Voice" on The Delivery Man
  • 2004 - Willie Nelson - "Overtime" on It Always Will Be
  • 2004 - Various Artists - "Pyramid of Tears" on Por Vida - A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo
  • 2004 - Various Artists - "Down to the Well" with Kevin Gordon on No Depression: What It Sounds Like, Vol. 1
  • 2004 - Tony Joe White - "Closing In on the Fire" on The Heroines
  • 2005 - North Mississippi Allstars - "Hurry Up Sunrise" on Electric Blue Watermelon
  • 2006 - Tim Easton - "Back to the Pain" on ammunition
  • 2006 - Ramblin 'Jack Elliott - " Careless Darling " on I Stand Alone
  • 2006 - PF Sloan - "Sins of a Family" on Sailover
  • 2006 - John Brannen - "A Cut So Deep" on Twilight Tattoo
  • 2006 - Anne McCue - Koala Motel
  • 2006 - Various Artists - "Bonnie Portmore" at Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys
  • 2006 - Doug Pettibone - "Two of Us" and "She Belongs to Me" on The West Gate
  • 2007 - Various Artists - " Honey Chile " on Goin 'Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino
  • 2007 - John Platania - "In Memory of Zapata" on Blues, Waltzes & Badland Borders
  • 2008 - Various Artists - " Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys " on The Imus Ranch Record
  • 2008 - Carrie Rodriguez - Mask Of Moses on "She Ain't Me"
  • 2009 - Susan Marshall - "Don't Let Me Down" on Little Red
  • 2009 - Various Artists - " Positively 4th Street " on The Village: A Celebration Of The Music Of Greenwich Village
  • 2009 - M. Ward - " Oh Lonesome Me " on Hold Time
  • 2010 - Various Artists - "Kiss Like Your Kiss" w / Elvis Costello on True Blood - Music From The HBO Original Series Volume 2 [Soundtrack]
  • 2010 - Various Artists - " The Ballad of Lucy Jordan " on Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein
  • 2010 - Ray Davies - "Long Way From Home" on See My Friends
  • 2010 - Jimmy Webb - " Galveston " on Just Across The River
  • 2010 - Various Artists - Performed on the song "Somebody Somewhere (Don't Know What He's Missin 'Tonight)" from Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn (2010).
  • 2011 - Over the Rhine - " Undamned " on The Long Surrender
  • 2011 - Michael Monroe - "Gone, Baby Gone" on Sensory Overdrive
  • 2011 - Amos Lee - "Clear Blue Eyes" on Mission Bell
  • 2011 - Blackie & The Rodeo Kings - "If I Can't Have You" on Kings & Queens
  • 2011 - Steve Cropper - "When I Get Like This" on Dedicated: A Salute To The "5" Royales
  • 2011 - Steve Cropper - "Dedicated To The One I Love" on Dedicated: A Salute To The "5" Royales
  • 2011 - Tom Russell - "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" on Mesabi
  • 2011 - Various Artists - "I'm So Happy I Found You" on The Lost Notebooks Of Hank Williams
  • 2012 - Walter Rose - "Driving South" on Cast Your Stone
  • 2012 - Various Artists - "Tryin 'To Get To Heaven" on Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs Of Bob Dylan
  • 2012 - Various Artists - " Hurt " on We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash

Video albums

  • Lucinda Williams - Live from Austin, TX 1989 (recorded October 13, 1989, released 2008)
  • Lucinda Williams - Live from Austin, TX (recorded December 5, 1998, released 2005)

Awards

Three Grammys

  • for Best Country Song (1994)
  • for Best Contemporary Folk Album (1998)
  • for Best Female Rock performance (2002)

swell

  1. Tracklist from Music For The 90's, Vol 1
  2. Information on I Feel Alright on the official homepage of Steve Earle
  3. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road 'Turns 20: Lucinda Williams & Producer Steve Earle Reflect on Her Masterpiece , Billboard Magazine, June 30, 2018, accessed September 5, 2018
  4. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road Turns 20: Guest Essay By Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield , Stereogum June 29, 2018, accessed July 3, 2018
  5. The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 7, 2017 .
  6. Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  7. Music Sales Awards: UK US

Web links