Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Williams, Lucinda (CD 1998)

Take the gentle touch of Emmylou Harris, the spit and polish of Sheryl Crow, the thoughtfulness of Victoria Williams, the ache of Neil Young, the literate manner of Bob Dylan and the expert musicianship of Steve Earle and you'll have a sense of all the gifts that Lucinda Williams puts on display on the superlative Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. This album was years in the making, and the craft of it is obviously at a level far and above most of what passes for popular music nowadays.

I've said this in many album reviews in this forum, but it's superior songwriting that separates a passable set from a memorable one. Williams delivers a wonderful cycle of songs loosely tied together as a travelogue of the rural South. And when she's not talking about experiences tied to specific places ('Jackson', 'Greenville', 'Lake Charles') she's talking about moving on and moving along ('Car Wheels on a Gravel Road', 'Metal Firecracker', 'Right in Time') or the things and people left behind ('I Lost It', 'Can't Let Go'). The melodies are sweet, the hooks bite right into your brain, and the worlds evoke a journey across both places and lives.

Maybe I think so highly of this album because I had already fallen in love with Williams' songwriting as channeled through Emmylou Harris ('Sweet Old World', on the stellar Wrecking Ball) and Mary Chapin Carpenter ('Passionate Kisses'). Maybe it's because the album was produced by long-time E Street Band pianist and musician extraordinare, Roy Bittan. Whatever it is, I'm sold. Easily one of the few great albums of 1998 (Mermaid Avenue, the joint venture between Billy Bragg and Wilco being another).