Sunday, November 1, 2009

That's Right, You're NOT from Texas...But Lyle Wants You Anyway!

Born this date in 1957, Lyle Lovett turns 52 today.

Today is Sunday, let's start out Lovett praise with a trip to "Church":



Lyle was born in a suburb of Houston, Texas. I only bring this up because, I seem to have an inordinate number of songwriting and musician heroes who hail from the Lone Star State. Lovett, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Townes Van Zandt, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Kinky Friedman, Robert Earl Keen, Bob Wills, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earl...it goes on and on. Is there something in the water? Something in the air? I don't know, but whatever it is, it seems to spark a genuine storyteller imagination and a strong desire to play music.



Lyle hit the scene in 1980 as a songwriter and 1986 as a recording artist. They said at the time he was one of the new saviors of country music.

Lovett's music though surpasses any categorization. He mixes traditional country with western swing and big band, folk, gospel, blues and whatever else he can get his hands on. Categories in music are for the tiny minded anyway. A thing for the marketers to wrap their feeble brains around.



Duke Ellington said there's only two kinds of music. Good and bad.

Lyle is a person who a lot of people have heard of, but I don't think many know his music. That Julia Roberts marriage put him on "Entertainment Tonight" and the general public learned about his hair, but that's it.

The best way to pass on my appreciation of his songwriting skills and musicianship is to just let people hear him. Here's a few Lyle songs...you won't be sorry.







Lyle put out a new record on October 20th called "Natural Forces". I haven't heard it yet, but it's on my list of things to get this week. Check out his website for more info.

Thanks Lyle!

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