I AM SHELBY LYNNE - Shelby Lynne (1999)

 

This critically-acclaimed album sneaked out in 1999 and travelled by word-of-mouth more than anything else, and it's one of my top albums of the 90's, varied, sensual, disturbing, relaxing, moving, and very much no hits ever for Shelby, 31 when she released it, but it grabbed her the Grammy for Best New Artist when she was already on album number 6. To say her childhood was traumatic would be an understatement - her alcoholic father was abusive towards her mother. When she fled with her 2 daughters (Shelby and her younger sister Alison Moorer, later a Country singer) her father found out where they were and fatally shot his wife in their driveway in Mobile, Alabama, and then shot himself. Her background informs her music, and her personal life remains private since her brief marriage at 18, and ambiguous. Her voice is beautiful, and she had a role in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line.

 

So, the album came about with a musical partnership with producer and songwriter Bill Bottrell, and it is a cohesive whole, a journey, one I played a lot.

 

Track 1: Your Lies

 

This is the one that sold me on Shelby Lynne. I was instantly gobsmacked by the Phil Spector strings-laden passionate vibes of this when I caught it on a video:

 

 

It's a woman self-asserting, a bit rock'n'roll, a bit Country, a bit Singer-Songwriter, and I find it still impressive, so much so I entered into a BJ song contest.

 

Track 2: Leavin'

 

2nd single, and gentle soul sounds, strings where needed but it's very under-stated ode to sad resignation to leaving to start a new life alone.

 

 

 

Track 3: Life Is Bad

 

Upbeat pounding Country Rock with some support slide guitar riffing and nifty drumwork. If anyone knows Life Is Bad it's Shelby.

 

 

 

 

Track 4: Thought It Would Be Easier

 

And cue another change of mood, the downbeat gentle Thought It Would Be Easier, reflective and spacious.

 

 

 

Track 5: Gotta Get Back

 

Third single in 2000, and keeping the low-key mood going, but a bit more upbeat and optimistic - ignore the single remix though, stick to the album version, and a more radio-friendly song overall than some of the album tracks, but it needs the context of the album as a standalone track it's pleasant but not world-changing. Nice mouth organ break, nice supporting strings:

 

Track 6: Why Can't You Be?

 

More Blues than Country, and it has that plodding Blues beat that I never really did warm to. Probably the weakest track.

 

 

Track 7: Lookin' Up

 

I always thought this should have been a single, though I can see why it wasn't - it's way too slow and gentle for anything other than late-night radio. Smooooooth FM. A little jazzy, a hint of 1940's bigband style, a twang of country. A sense of disappointment with life, and expecting the inevitable next downer.

 

 

 

 

Track 8: Dreamsome

 

Clock-ticking rhythms, the late-night vibe continues, jazz-country crossover, classy and flutey bits here and there to weave through the song - there are few chorus/verse hooks with Shelby Lynne, it's the whole that matters, and the playing with the vibe in a interesting fashion

 

 

 

 

Track 9: Where I'm From

 

Stripped-back, lazy swamp-blues guitar-picking mud-swampy Alabama moods, bayou referencing, and sparse. Guitar and vocal, with the strings here and there, a bit of French. Lovely. And it throws in a bit of 50's-sounding Santo & Johnny's Sleepwwalk-sounding guitar. Dig that track out it's essential dreamy 50's.

 

 

 

Track 10: Black Light Blue

 

And to end on...the slowest, most moody, track on the album. It's Blues in a Nat 'King' Cole style, but with that sultry, classily emotional vocal. Subtle. No histrionics with Shelby, it's all about sadness and loss and coping.

 

 

 

And in summary - play at the end of the evening, it's a wind-down album, sad, sometimes hopeful, mostly expecting the worse, but not in a self-pitying way, more in a "sigh, that's life, what can you do about it?" sort of way that doesn't actually depress like some intensely negative and self-obsessed artists do.

This is not a singer I know well. I've noticed her name a few times as she has the same surname as Jeff. I would certainly be interested in giving this album a listen. I'll organise a listen through for it but probably as part of a double bill with Jester's next album as that might give it a wider audience than it would get on its own.

Thanks Rollo, that's kind of you. TBH I'd be surprised if there was interest in hearing it (it's very laid-back overall and there are no hit tunes) so I ought to try and make the listenthrough myself so there's at least one :D After next saturday my manic month starts to ease and I might actually get some time to relax to some Shelby...!

The listenthrough for this album will be on Saturday evening as part of a double bill with Jester's Pulp album which will be first. It will start at about 8.30.

Thanks Rollo, have written the time on a sticker and stuck on my laptop :lol:

Never ever heard of her or even read the name before

was this really critically acclaimed/word of mouth?

After a request from Dandy, the listenthrough will now be this album first at 8.30 with Pulp to follow afterwards.

Never ever heard of her or even read the name before

was this really critically acclaimed/word of mouth?

 

Yes she won a Grammy for it and I kept hearing people I know mentioning it as a good one - so I gave it a chance and bought the album based on one track (Your Lies). It was never a Radio 1 record, though, more of an Alt-Country groove if anything, but it was hard to define.

Had never even heard of this artist before so didn't know what to expect but enjoyed most of it (a few songs that were a little too country leaning for my tastes but nothing outright bad or anything, and there was a pretty decent amount of variety of sounds here from the country to more poppy and jazzy ones).

 

1 Your Lies - a pretty timeless sounding opening track, definitely wouldn't have guessed this was from the late 90s!

2 Thought It Would Be Easier - was bopping my head to the instrumental x

3 Lookin' Up

4 Dreamsome - a pair of Norah Jones esque tracks here, nice stuff

5 Gotta Get Back - we stan the harmonica (I hope this is the right track, I think it is but I wasn't taking notes as I listened oops!)

 

'Black Light Blue' also a nice closing track.

I was out of my comfort zone here as I wouldn't normally listen to this type of music but I enjoyed the album. I think my favourite would be the opening track, Your Lies. After that, I liked the more chilled out tracks with the dreamy strings. I wasn't paying too much attention to the lyrics so if was to listen to the album again, I would make sure I had the lyrics in front of me as, from what you were saying, the songs are about events that happened in her life.

Thanks Bre & Rollo, glad you got some tracks out of it :) Your Lies is a former song-contest entrant of mine so I've tried plugging it before on BJ. I do love it...

 

I may go major 70's fave next time... :o

 

 

Ah I had no memory of 'Your Lies' being in Unknown Pleasures but just looked back and discovered I ranked it dead last in its contest? *_* oops! 2nd time was the charm for me to get into it I guess :lol: