Lonesome Standard Time

Kathy Mattea reached her commercial and career peak by 1992. She had four singles that topped the American country chart won several accolades from the Country Music Association and the Grammy Awards. She was also headlining her own tours.{{cite web |last1=Huey |first1=Steve |title=Kathy Mattea: Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kathy-mattea-mn0000362437/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=3 December 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Joe |title=MATTEA MAKING MOST OF TOUR |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/08/21/mattea-making-most-of-tour/e36d9d76-e226-49ce-8d2a-4e8a21ff5360/ |access-date=3 December 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 21, 1992}} In June 1992, Mattea experienced a busted blood vessel on her vocal chords, which caused her to have surgery. She ended up cancelling several engagements but made a full recovery.{{cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1992/12/25/kathy-mattea-worked-voice-back-into-shape/|title=Kathy Mattea Worked Voice Back Into Shape|last=Hurst|first=Jack|date=December 25, 1992|work=Orlando Sentinel|access-date=August 11, 2017}} All the while, she was making her next studio album titled Lonesome Standard Time. "I feel like I was singing at the peak of anything I've ever done . . . . About halfway through the vocals, this happened," she told The Washington Post. Despite the vocal setback, Mattea finished the project.

Lonesome Standard Time was made at Creative Recording Incorporated, a studio located in Nashville, Tennessee. The album was produced by Brent Maher, who was known for his previous work with The Judds.{{cite journal |last1=Mattea |first1=Kathy |title=Lonesome Standard Time (Liner Notes and Album Information) |journal=PolyGram/Mercury Records |date=September 22, 1992 |id=314-512 567-4 (Cassette), 314-512 567-2 (CD)}} The album's material was described as introspective while having a production that mixed country with Appalachian and bluegrass styles.{{cite web|last=Nash |first=Alanna |url=http://www.ew.com/article/1992/10/30/lonesome-standard-time |title=Lonesome Standard Time |website=EW.com |date=1992-10-30 |accessdate=2016-11-27}} Mattea herself described the album as being about "love-lost and inner-soul-searching". She compared its sound to that of her previous album projects. The album included material composed by various musical artists. The sixth track, "Listen to the Radio", was penned by Nanci Griffith. "Amarillo" was co-written by Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris. Another track, "Slow Boat", was co-written by Mattea's husband (and songwriter) Jon Vezner. The album's third track, "Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)", was also recorded by Don Williams around the same time. The eighth track, "33, 45, 78", was composed by Washington D.C. native, Steve Key.{{cite news |last1=Himes |first1=Geoffrey |title=MATTEA: HONEY AND HEART |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/08/26/mattea-honey-and-heart/9d87f59c-fa3a-4456-b996-9db400c59d85/ |access-date=3 December 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 26, 1992}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2Score = B

}}

Lonesome Standard Time received mixed reviews from critics and journalists. Jack Hurst of The Chicago Tribune praised the album, commenting that it "offers the kind of arresting music the imaginative title would seem to promise".{{cite news |last1=Hurst |first1=Jack |title=KATHY MATTEA IS BACK IN VOICE WITH 'LONESOME STANDARD TIME' [originally from the Chicago Tribune] |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1992-10-16-9210150405-story.html |access-date=3 December 2022 |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=October 16, 1992}} Meanwhile Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly rated the album a "B". Nash found it to be "too reverent and sluggish, and not even the driving bluegrass of the title tune is enough to transcend the album's ultrareflective mood". Brian Mansfield of AllMusic rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars and commented, "Lonesome Standard Time isn't as ambitious as Time Passes By, but it's filled with lovely performances from Mattea's favorite sources: bluegrass ("Lonesome Standard Time"), gospel-influenced country ("Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)") and Nanci Griffith ("Listen to the Radio").

Lonesome Standard Time was released on September 22, 1992, on the PolyGram and Mercury labels. It was originally distributed as a compact disc and as a cassette. In the 2000s and 2010s, it was released digitally for download and streaming purposes.{{cite web |title=Lonesome Standard Time by Kathy Mattea |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/lonesome-standard-time/1444170632 |website=Apple Music |access-date=3 December 2022}} The album first entered the American Billboard Top Country Albums chart on October 24, 1992.{{cite magazine |title=Kathy Mattea chart history (Country Albums) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/kathy-mattea/chart-history/clp/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=3 December 2022}} It did not climb higher until a 39 percent sales increase in March 1993 brought the album to the number 41 position.{{cite magazine |title='Women of Country' See Sales Gains |magazine=Billboard |date=May 22, 1993 |page=123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cygEAAAAMBAJ&dq=kathy+mattea+lonesome+standard+time+billboard&pg=RA1-PA123 |access-date=3 December 2022}} It also peaked at the number 182 position on the Billboard 200 chart on October 31, 1992, after seven weeks there.{{cite magazine |title=Kathy Mattea chart history (Billboard 200) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/kathy-mattea/chart-history/clp/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=3 December 2022}} In November 1994, the album certified gold from the Recording Industry Association of America after selling over 500,000 copies. It became her fourth album to receive a certification from the RIAA.{{cite web |title=Gold & Platinum: Kathy Mattea |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=kathy+mattea#search_section |website=Recording Industry Association of America |access-date=3 December 2022}}

The album spawned a total of four singles between 1992 and 1993. The title track was the first single released and was issued by PolyGram/Mercury in September 1992.{{cite journal |last1=Mattea |first1=Kathy |title="Lonesome Standard Time"/"Asking Us to Dance" (CD Single) |journal=PolyGram/Mercury Records |date=September 1992 |id=864 318-7}} By December 1992, the single reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at the number 11 position.{{cite magazine |title=Kathy Mattea chart history (Country Songs) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/kathy-mattea/chart-history/clp/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=3 December 2022}} On Canada's RPM Country chart, the single reached the number 14 position.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=v9vu4cg317qi3rb786j0k525s3&q1=Kathy+Mattea&q2=Country+Singles&interval=20|title=Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Country Singles|work=RPM|accessdate=June 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402184330/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=v9vu4cg317qi3rb786j0k525s3&q1=Kathy+Mattea&q2=Country+Singles&interval=20|archive-date=April 2, 2015|url-status=dead}} It was followed by the release of "Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)" in January 1993.{{cite journal |last1=Mattea |first1=Kathy |title="Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)"/"Listen to the Radio" (CD Single) |journal=PolyGram/Mercury Records |date=January 1993 |id=864 810-7}} The single also reached the Billboard country top 20, peaking at number 19 in April 1993. On the RPM country chart, it reached number 24 around the same period. It was then followed by the release of "Seeds" in April 1993.{{cite journal |last1=Mattea |first1=Kathy |title="Seeds"/"Lonely at the Bottom" (CD Single) |journal=PolyGram/Mercury Records |date=April 1993 |id=862 064-7}} The song later peaked at number 50 on the Billboard country chart in June 1993. The final single spawned from the album was "Listen to the Radio" in August 1993.{{cite journal |last1=Mattea |first1=Kathy |title="Listen to the Radio"/"Slow Boat" (CD Single) |journal=PolyGram/Mercury Records |date=August 1993 |id=862 650-7}} Later that month, the song peaked at number 64 on the Hot Country Songs. It was Mattea's lowest charting single up to that point.

{{track listing

| headline = CD and digital versions

| total_length = 32:44

| title1 = Lonesome Standard Time

| writer1 = {{hlist|Larry Cordle|Jim Rushing}}

| length1 = 2:50

| title2 = Lonely at the Bottom

| writer2 = {{hlist|Jan Dowling|Mike Dowling}}

| length2 = 3:14

| title3 = Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)

| writer3 = {{hlist|Bucky Jones|Dickey Lee|Bob McDill}}

| length3 = 4:12

| title4 = Forgive and Forget

| writer4 = Kieran Kane

| length4 = 2:52

| title5 = Last Night I Dreamed of Loving You

| writer5 = Hugh Moffat

| length5 = 3:31

| title6 = Listen to the Radio

| writer6 = Nanci Griffith

| length6 = 2:59

| title7 = Slow Boat

| writer7 = {{hlist|George Teren|Jon Vezner}}

| length7 = 2:59

| title8 = 33, 45, 78 (Record Time)

| writer8 = Steve Key

| length8 = 2:57

| title9 = Amarillo

| writer9 = {{hlist|Rodney Crowell|Emmylou Harris}}

| length9 = 3:07

| title10 = Seeds

| writer10 = {{hlist|Pat Alger|Ralph Murphy}}

| length10 = 3:47

}}

All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Lonesome Standard Time and AllMusic.{{cite web |title=Lonesome Standard Time: Kathy Mattea: Credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lonesome-standard-time-mw0000088428/credits |website=AllMusic |access-date=25 November 2022}}

Musical personnel

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

• Eddie Bayers – drums
• Larry Byrom – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Bill Cooley – electric guitar
• Jerry Douglas – Dobro
• Sonny Garrish – steel guitar
• John Barlow Jarvis – piano
• Farrell Morris – percussion
• Duncan Mullins – bass guitar
• Bernie Leadon – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Kathy Mattea – lead vocals, background vocals
• The Nashville String Machine – strings
• Steve Nathan – piano

{{col-2}}

• Bobby Ogdin – organ
• Russ Pahl – Dobro
• Don Potter – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Matt Rollings – piano
• Pete Wasner – piano
• Tim O'Brien – background vocals
• Donna McElroy – background vocals
• Christie Westmoreland – background vocals
• Gerry Gillespie – background vocals
• Vicki Hampton – background vocals
• Kathy Chiavola – background vocals
• Gary Burr – background vocals
• Jonathan Yudkin – mandolin, violin

{{col-end}}

Technical personnel

• Archie Jordan – arranger
• Mills Logan – engineer, assistant engineer
• Brent Maher – producer, engineer, mixing
• Jim McKell – engineer, assistant engineer, mixing
• Glenn Meadows – mastering

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Lonesome Standard Time}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Kathy Mattea|title=Lonesome Standard Time|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1992|certyear=1994|access-date=December 3, 2022}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Kathy Mattea}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1992 albums

Category:Albums produced by Brent Maher

Category:Kathy Mattea albums

Category:Mercury Nashville albums

Category:PolyGram albums