Lucinda Williams (album)

Before Williams was signed by Rough Trade Records, she had struggled shopping her demo of the album: "The L.A. people said, 'It's too country for rock.' The Nashville people said, 'It's too rock for country.'" Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis said of signing Williams in 1987, "We were big fans of the Southern literary tradition. We recognized that Lucinda was writing serious songs, but with the wit and humor of real rock'n'roll."{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6-UYTO7l1MC&pg=PA82|title=100 Greatest Albums 1985–2005|magazine=Spin|location=New York|volume=21|issue=7|date=July 2005|access-date=March 29, 2015|page=82}}

According to Spin magazine's Keith Harris, Lucinda Williams has since been classified as alternative country, while WFUV's Claudia Marshall called it a roots rock record that fuses country, blues, folk, and rock music.{{cite web|last=Marshall|first=Claudia|date=August 30, 2007|url=https://www.npr.org/2007/08/30/14026146/lucinda-williams-roots-rock-and-raw-nerves|title=Lucinda Williams: Roots-Rock and Raw Nerves|publisher=NPR|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228205012/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14026146|archive-date=December 28, 2020|url-status=live}} With its synthesis of folk, rock, country blues, and Cajun music, Nigel Williamson of Uncut said it may be seen as one of the earliest records in the alternative country scene. Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, called it a blues record and remarked that Williams plays "joyously uncountrypolitan blues".{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=February 28, 1989|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pj88.php|title=Dancing on a Logjam: Singles Rool in a World Up for Grabs|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=March 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804040829/https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pj88.php|archive-date=August 4, 2022|url-status=live}} Greg Kot wrote in the Chicago Tribune, "like the music, which drifts between the lonesome worlds of country and blues, the lyrics can't be pinned down: They speak of the ambivalence that shades love and loss."{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|date=April 6, 1989|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-04-06-8904010794-story.html|title=Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams (Rough Trade)|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309003343/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-04-06-8904010794-story.html|archive-date=March 9, 2021|url-status=live}}

{{Music ratings

| title = Retrospective professional ratings

| MC = 97/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/lucinda-williams-reissue/lucinda-williams|title=Lucinda Williams [Reissue] by Lucinda Williams Reviews and Tracks|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=November 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809144101/https://www.metacritic.com/music/lucinda-williams-reissue/lucinda-williams|archive-date=August 9, 2021|url-status=live}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Iyengar|first=Vik|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lucinda-williams-mw0000202452|title=Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=August 10, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228205011/https://www.allmusic.com/album/lucinda-williams-mw0000202452|archive-date=December 28, 2020|url-status=live}}

| rev2 = American Songwriter

| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Horowitz|first=Hal|date=January 6, 2014|url=https://americansongwriter.com/lucinda-williams-lucinda-williams/|title=Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams|magazine=American Songwriter|location=Nashville|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616094044/https://americansongwriter.com/lucinda-williams-lucinda-williams/|archive-date=June 16, 2020|url-status=live}}

| rev3 = The Austin Chronicle

| rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite news|last=Caligiuri|first=Jim|date=January 24, 2014|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2014-01-24/lucinda-williams/|title=Lucinda Williams|newspaper=The Austin Chronicle|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228204953/https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2014-01-24/lucinda-williams/|archive-date=December 28, 2020|url-status=live}}

| rev4 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev4score = A{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|year=1990|chapter=Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams|chapter-url=https://robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2166|access-date=January 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228205011/https://robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2166|archive-date=December 28, 2020|url-status=live|title=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s|title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s|publisher=Pantheon Books|isbn=0-679-73015-X|pages=439–440}}

| rev5 = The Guardian

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|last=Denselow|first=Robin|author-link=Robin Denselow|date=January 16, 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jan/16/lucinda-williams-25th-anniversary-review|title=Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams 25th Anniversary Edition – review|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228205047/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jan/16/lucinda-williams-25th-anniversary-review|archive-date=December 28, 2020|url-status=live}}

| rev6 = Mojo

| rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Simmons|first=Sylvie|author-link=Sylvie Simmons|date=March 2014|title=Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams|magazine=Mojo|location=London|issue=244|page=105}}

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Hermes|first=Will|author-link=Will Hermes|date=January 16, 2014|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/lucinda-williams-108756/|title=Lucinda Williams|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|issue=1200|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228204955/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/lucinda-williams-108756/|archive-date=December 28, 2020|url-status=live}}

| rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev8score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite book|last1=McGee|first1=David|last2=Miles|first2=Milo|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|year=2004|chapter=Lucinda Williams|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/875 875–876]}}

| rev9 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev9score = 10/10{{cite book|last=Marks|first=Craig|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-link=Eric Weisbard|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|year=1995|chapter=Lucinda Williams|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=432–433}}

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10score = 9/10{{cite magazine|last=Williamson|first=Nigel|author-link=Nigel Williamson|date=February 2014|title=Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams|magazine=Uncut|location=London|issue=201|page=97}}

}}

Lucinda Williams was released by Rough Trade in 1988 to rave reviews from critics.{{cite magazine|last=France|first=Kim|author-link=Kim France|date=December 1992|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uZFqiGmZIPAC&pg=PT27|title=Lucy in the Sky|magazine=Spin|location=New York|volume=8|issue=9|access-date=March 29, 2015|page=26}} It was voted the 16th best album of the year in The Village Voice{{'}}s annual Pazz & Jop critics poll.{{cite news|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres88.php|title=The 1988 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|date=February 28, 1989|access-date=March 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224162931/https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres88.php|archive-date=December 24, 2016|url-status=live}} In a review for the newspaper, Christgau, giving the album an "A−" grade, called Williams a passionate but grounded songwriter and wrote that, apart from the great "I Just Wanted to See You So Bad" and "Passionate Kisses", the rest of the album is good and relies on "a big not enormous, handsome not beautiful voice that's every bit as strong as the will of this singer-by-nature and writer-by-nurture".{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=November 22, 1988|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv1188-88.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429165311/https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv1188-88.php|archive-date=April 29, 2022|url-status=live}} He ranked the album sixth-best in his list for the poll.{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=February 28, 1989|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/deans88.php|title=Pazz & Jop 1988: Dean's List|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=March 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228204955/https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/deans88.php|archive-date=December 28, 2020|url-status=live}} Rolling Stone magazine's Steve Pond gave Lucinda Williams three-and-a-half out of five stars in a contemporary review and felt the unadorned musical approach occasionally exposes some unpleasant lyrics and hesitant singing, but it also makes Williams sound like an honest narrator to listeners as she avoids clichés and evasive language in her songwriting.{{cite magazine|last=Pond|first=Steve|date=January 26, 1989|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/lucinda-williams-2-255335/|title=Lucinda Williams|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|issue=544|access-date=July 20, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308204401/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/lucinda-williams-2-255335/|archive-date=March 8, 2021|url-status=live}} Rating the album seven out of ten in NME, Stuart Bailie deemed it an "encouraging" work whose "bluesy and countrified" material shows that Williams is skilled at interpreting traditional musical styles with "a bright, often contemporary swing".{{cite magazine|last=Bailie|first=Stuart|date=February 25, 1989|title=Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams|magazine=NME|location=London|page=32}} After the mainstream success of Williams' fifth album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams was reissued with bonus tracks in 1998, and by January 2000, it had sold 100,000 copies in the United States.{{cite web|last=Bukowski|first=Elizabeth|date=January 11, 2000|url=https://www.salon.com/2000/01/11/lucinda/|title=Lucinda Williams|website=Salon|access-date=October 7, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204120914/https://www.salon.com/2000/01/11/lucinda/|archive-date=December 4, 2020|url-status=live}}

According to AllMusic's Vik Iyengar, Lucinda Williams has been "recognized as a classic" since it was first released. Iyengar saw Williams as a meticulous composer whose voice and tough perspective work well with her music's mix of country, blues, folk, and rock styles on the album: "In addition to writing strong melodies, Williams is an amazing songwriter with a knack for writing a lyric that acknowledges the complicated nature of relationships while cutting right to the heart of the matter." In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), David McGee and Milo Miles said she had progressed astonishingly over her previous work, transitioned confidently into rock music, and made her songs more interesting with darker lyrics: "There's not a false step, and the depth of feeling is powerful." In 2005, Spin ranked Lucinda Williams at No. 39 on its list of the 100 greatest albums from 1985 to 2005. Upon the album's 25th anniversary rerelease in 2014, Will Hermes of Rolling Stone credited it for being at the forefront of the Americana movement, and Robin Denselow called it "an Americana classic" in The Guardian, while Stephen M. Deusner wrote for CMT that it is "a roots-rock landmark, ground zero for today's burgeoning Americana movement".{{cite web|last=Deusner|first=Stephen M.|author-link=Stephen Deusner|date=January 20, 2014|url=http://www.cmtedge.com/2014/01/20/lucinda-williams-looks-back-at-her-breakthrough/|title=Lucinda Williams Looks Back at Her Breakthrough|publisher=CMT Edge|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312020242/http://www.cmtedge.com/2014/01/20/lucinda-williams-looks-back-at-her-breakthrough/|archive-date=March 12, 2014|url-status=dead}} Lucinda Williams was ranked No. 426 in Rolling Stone{{'}}s 2020 edition of its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/lucinda-williams-lucinda-williams-1062807/|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|date=September 22, 2020|access-date=April 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005180653/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/lucinda-williams-lucinda-williams-1062807/|archive-date=October 5, 2021|url-status=live}}

All tracks written by Lucinda Williams, except where noted.{{cite AV media notes|others = Lucinda Williams |title = Lucinda Williams |year = 1988 |type = booklet |publisher = Rough Trade}}

{{Track listing

| title1 = I Just Wanted to See You So Bad

| length1 = 2:25

| title2 = The Night's Too Long

| length2 = 4:15

| title3 = Abandoned

| length3 = 3:45

| title4 = Big Red Sun Blues

| length4 = 3:27

| title5 = Like a Rose

| length5 = 2:37

| title6 = Changed the Locks

| length6 = 3:39

| title7 = Passionate Kisses

| length7 = 2:35

| title8 = Am I Too Blue

| length8 = 2:55

| title9 = Crescent City

| length9 = 3:01

| title10 = Side of the Road

| length10 = 3:27

| title11 = Price to Pay

| length11 = 2:46

| title12 = I Asked for Water (He Gave Me Gasoline)

| writer12 = Chester Burnett

| length12 = 3:43

| total_length = 38:35

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Additional live bonus tracks on 1998 reissue

| title13 = Nothing in Rambling (Live at KPFK)

| writer13 = Memphis Minnie

| length13 = 3:14

| title14 = Disgusted (Live at KPFK)

| writer14 = Lil' Son Jackson

| length14 = 3:09

| title15 = Side of the Road (Live at KPFK)

| length15 = 3:54

| title16 = Goin’ Back Home (Live at NOISE)

| writer16 = Traditional

| length16 = 3:22

| title17 = Something About What Happens When We Talk (Live at KCRW)

| length17 = 3:21

| title18 = Sundays (Live at KCRW)

| length18 = 3:23

| total_length = 58:58

}}

On January 14, 2014, the album was re-issued on Lucinda Williams' own label. It includes the original 12-track album, and a bonus disc featuring a live concert from the Netherlands, recorded on May 19, 1989, and six additional live tracks that also appeared on the 1998 reissue. All songs written by Lucinda Williams, unless noted otherwise.{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Lucinda|author-link=Lucinda Williams|url=http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/lucindawilliams/updates/29077|title=Lucinda Williams track listing|publisher=PledgeMusic|date=November 19, 2013|access-date=December 30, 2014|archive-date=December 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228205030/http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/lucindawilliams/updates/29077|url-status=live}}

; Live at Effenaar, Eindhoven, Netherlands, May 19, 1989

{{Track listing

| title1 = I Just Wanted to See You So Bad

| length1 = 2:33

| title2 = Big Red Sun Blues

| length2 = 3:31

| title3 = Am I Too Blue

| length3 = 3:16

| title4 = Crescent City

| length4 = 3:36

| title5 = The Night's Too Long

| length5 = 4:38

| title6 = Something About What Happens When We Talk

| length6 = 4:14

| title7 = Factory Blues

| length7 = 2:59

| title8 = Happy Woman Blues

| length8 = 3:46

| title9 = Abandoned

| length9 = 4:11

| title10 = Wild and Blue

| writer10 = John Scott Sherrill

| length10 = 3:21

| title11 = Passionate Kisses

| length11 = 2:32

| title12 = Changed the Locks

| length12 = 4:28

| title13 = Nothing in Rambling

| writer13 = Kansas Joe McCoy

| length13 = 4:45

| title14 = Sundays

| length14 = 3:34

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Additional live bonus tracks (originally appeared on 1998 reissue)

| title15 = Nothing in Rambling (Live at KPFK)

| writer15 = Memphis Minnie

| length15 = 3:14

| title16 = Disgusted (Live at KPFK)

| writer16 = Lil' Son Jackson

| length16 = 3:09

| title17 = Side of the Road (Live at KPFK)

| length17 = 3:54

| title18 = Goin’ Back Home (Live at NOISE)

| writer18 = Traditional

| length18 = 3:22

| title19 = Something About What Happens When We Talk (Live at KCRW)

| length19 = 3:21

| title20 = Sundays (Live at KCRW)

| length20 = 3:23

| total_length =

}}

• Lucinda Williams – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Gurf Morlix – vocals, electric 6- and 12-string guitars, acoustic guitar, mandolin, Dobro, pedal steel, lap steel, 6-string bass
• Dr. Johnny Ciambotti – Fender three-string bass, stand-up bass, Kramer-Ferrington bass
• Donald Lindley – drums

;Additional musicians

• Skip Edwards – keyboards
• John "Juke" Logan – harmonica
• Doug Atwell – fiddle
• Steve Mugalian – washboard
• Chris Gaffney – accordion
• Jim Lauderdale – backing vocals
• Pat Quinn – backing vocals

;Technical

• Joanna Spock Dean - executive producer
• Joanna Spock Dean, Lucinda Williams - artwork concept
• Greg Allen - photography

• {{sup|A}} Did not chart in US when first released in 1988. Chart performance when reissued in 2014.

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Discogs master|type=album|222607|name=Lucinda Williams}}
• {{Metacritic album|title=Lucinda Williams {{noitalic|(reissue)}}}}
• [https://www.lucindawilliams.com/ Lucinda Williams Official Website]

{{Lucinda Williams}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Lucinda Williams albums

Category:1988 albums

Category:Rough Trade Records albums