Creeps Like Me

Lyle Lovett Exposed
Friday, December 09, 2011

Much like the direction of his music, this post too comes from somewhere out of left field. You see, it's taken me a long time to come to terms with Lyle Lovett and I alone am to blame for that. My ambivalence had nothing to do with anything he'd actually done, or hadn't done for that matter. In fact, I really kind of liked the tall Texan. After all, Lovett made it pretty clear from the outset that he wasn't going to play by the rules of what was expected from a so called 'country' artist. And besides, what's not to like about a man with head of hair as wild a brush fire raging atop a jack-o-lantern face that's been carved by a cubist --- one that's angular and lopsided, brimming with character and intrigue. The problem for me was that as his star ascended, he seemed to become increasingly associated with the 'Chardonnay and cheese' set. You know the M.O. --- Platinum American Express/BMW/Mountain Winery summer music series subscribers with toddlers dressed by Baby Gap. I suppose it also didn't help that the songwriter additionally had a brief, but high profile marriage to Julia Roberts. Not that I have anything against the lovely actress, or even the Banana Republic crowd. I guess it's just that their worlds are in an entirely different orbit than my own, an orbit that feels uncomfortably foreign to me and I inexplicably get thrown off course when I'm exposed to it. You see, my universe has never revolved around babies, balloons, and sunny afternoons spent noshing Whole Food deli items with a few close friends atop an oversized picnic blanket. I suppose I was afraid that if I fully embraced Lovett's music, I'd somehow end up shopping at Ikea for an attractive end table and complimentary pole lamp. But I should've known better. Compartmentalizing Lovett in that way was unfair of me, and that was my first mistake. I'm not ashamed to admit it. After all, there is a bit of tailored elegance surrounding both Lovett and his core audience, but if you look beyond the stylized image of the performer in his slick stage presentation, there's a genuinely solid, intelligent, clever, and unique songwriter behind his professional facade.

While I did enjoy Lovett's 1986 eponymous debut as well as 1992's, 'Joshua Judges Ruth,'* it wasn't until I witnessed him participating in a songwriters circle alongside Guy Clark and others that I fully came around. Outside of the trappings of his 'large' band, Lovett's songs revealed a deeper, more satisfying artistry to me in that bare bones setting. I find that an odd irony because I've always favorably entertained the notion of 'jazz kissed' country (or perhaps it's actually 'country kissed' jazz. I'm not quite sure just what the qualifying difference actually is). Regardless, Lovett's music with his large band is certainly one, or the other --- an amalgamation of big band swing, gospel, folk, and pop, all within the framework of traditional country, or visa versa. But when stripped of those flourishes, the essence of the songs themselves come through with a much greater warmth and clarity. For evidence of this, seek out his 2 disc tribute to Texan songwriters called 'Step Into This House.' While it doesn't actually contain a single tune written by Lovett himself, it at least can give you a taste of how his songs might sound if undressed of their unique orchestration. You see, that was the next next mistake I made. Those snazzy 'jazz kissed' arrangements prevented me from fully hearing the songs beneath them. Once I got past that distraction, I then came to realize just how remarkable of a songwriter Lovett actually is. Granted, he does possess a weakness for penning some songs that are just a little too cute and clever to ever be taken seriously --- probably the very ingredient that endears him so to the aforementioned 'khaki and cotton' crowd --- but his wry humor can also be as sharp and witty as anything written by Randy Newman. In fact, it's his cynicism along with those multi-layered arrangements which are in large part what makes his hybrid music so interesting and unusual for a country artist. But is he truly a country artist?
*Coincidentally the first being one of his most straight-ahead outings, and the second his most dark.

It's a little difficult to pigeon-hole the man, and perhaps that's what was at the root of my ambivalence. But the more I listened, the more I realized that it's also just one of the many things that make him so interesting, and ultimately that's a good thing because Lovett is bundle of paradoxes. His sound is a little bit of 'old' Nashville mixed with a little bit of L.A., while his look is strictly downtown New York. But the bones of his songs reveal themselves to be a whole lotta' eccentric Texan singer-songwriter. While he may appear to be mainstream from the polish of his stage act to the social class of his fan base, not to mention the popularity of his concert performances, Lyle Lovett is anything but. His songs are eclectic, quirky yet intelligent, and always multi-faceted and well crafted. But above all else, his approach is unlike anything that anyone else in the music industry is remotely doing today, and taking so long the realize that was my last mistake.

Creeps Like Me, Vol.1

1) I Know You Know
2) She's Already Made Up Her Mind
3) An Acceptable Level Of Ecstasy (The Wedding Song)
4) Nobody Knows Me
5) She's Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To
6) All My Love Is Gone
7) The Waltzing Fool
8) I'm The Guy Who Sits Next To You
9) Creeps Like Me
10) North Dakota
11) She Makes Me Feel So Good
12) I'd Like To Reconsider
13) If I Had A Boat
14) She's No Lady
15) Can You Doubt We Were Made For Each Other
16) Her First Mistake
17) Dr. T's Theme, No.#1
18) Family Reserve

Creeps Like Me, Vol.2

1) Mall Women
2) Baltimore
3) I Married Her Because She Looks Like You
4) Black And Blue
5) This Old Porch
6) Cryin' Shame
7) Which Way Does That Old Pony Run
8) La To The Left
9) Hello Grandma
10) Why I Don't Know
11) The Road To Ensenada
12) Dr. T's Theme, No.#2
13) Sonja
14) Walk Through The Bottomland
15) We Could Always Opt For Temporal Gratification
16) Step Inside This House
17) Good Intentions
18) Flyswatter/Ice Water Blues


Source material for 'Creeps Like Me, Vols.1&2' come from the following:

Lyle Lovett (1986)/Pontiac (1987)
Lyle Lovett & His Large Band (1989)/Joshua Judges Ruth (1992)
I Love Everybody (1994)/The Road To Ensenada (1996)
Step Inside This House (1998)/ Dr. T & The Women (2000)

SPECIAL NOTE: Go figure. Before uploading these files I ran them through a new audio application I was trying out. It was intended to unify the volume between all the tracks. Instead it somehow made them dramatically uneven. I guess that's what I get for using a free app. Anyway, now the levels are all fucked up, so you may have to make some adjustments. Sorry for the extra work. --- Miles