Reviews W Part 3

Wild Tchoupitoulas New Orleans in happier times. If you are familiar with the Neville Brothers or the Meters, then you are familiar with the Wild Tchoupitoulas. Funky R&B, N'awlins style. Great party music.

Hank Williams

40 Greatest Hits
I don't know how many more songs Mr. Williams recorded before he died, but 40 is a large number of hits ( recorded between 1947 and 1953), by any standard. All that amphetamine undoubtedly helped. A list of artists who covered a song of Mr. Williams would undoubtedly be pages long. In fact, looking at just one song, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry at Allmusic: over 5 pages of cover versions.
From Allmusic:

He was a superstar by the age of 25; he was dead at the age of 29.

Lucinda Williams

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Lucinda's breakout album. Beautifully poignant songs of longing, loss, regret, and other dour emotions, Ms. WIlliams' forte. In a certain mood, listening to this album can make me weep. The sense of place is very strong, Louisiana and East Texas especially. Since I first listened to this album soon after leaving Texas, possibly my own nostalgia has colored my emotional response to these songs. Or maybe Ms. Williams is just a poet.

After hearing the title track for the first time, Ms. Williams' father, Miller Williams, apologized to her.

Essence Very muted, down-beat album. These songs might be beautiful, but I cannot listen to them frequently. On the other hand, if one tunes out the lyrics, and concentrates on the interplay between voice, guitar and other instruments..... The song Get Right with God is a shuffle, and fit to dance to. Get right with God is on the flip side of this neon sign.

Lucinda Williams Not quite the masterpiece of Car Wheels on a Gravel road, but a strong album nonetheless.

Ramblin Traditional blues and country songs, sung in a warm, inviting voice, accompanied by John Grimaudo on guitar.

Sweet Old World The first Lucinda Williams album I heard. Still blows me away. Full of songs of regret, loss, suicide, etc., but more palatable then Essence.

World Without Tears Another weepy album about misguided and misappropriated love that doesn't get played by me much. If I did heroin, maybe.