featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
July 31, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
This is a tough one. A few notes on the rules to which we hold ourselves. First, we're celebrating original music, so no covers (except maybe in very special cases). Next, we try to include at least one song from every album. While Blessed is Lucinda Williams' least strong set of tunes, we had to select something. And while Sweet Old World is our favorite LP, we couldn't include everything. Because it's a collection of classic blues covers, we excluded Ramblin', as well as any live sets and her 2018 collab with jazz saxman Charles Lloyd. This leaves us with fourteen records from which to pull.
There are few if any more accomplished singer-songwriters in our kind of music. Lucinda Williams' oeuvre began with country-blues, rambled into folk and country, then settled into roots-inflected rock 'n roll. Her singing and guitar playing have evolved along with her musical style, her voice becoming more striking with age. Williams' 2023 memoir, Don't Tell Anyone the Secrets I Told You, is among our favorite music autobiographies, especially as she tells the story of her father's circle of writers, musicians, and artists among which she came of age. While our list acknowledges that Williams' most accomplished period as a songwriter has passed, she remains an exceptionally capable artist whose current output continues to be worthy.
Pressed to choose our three favorite Lucinda Williams songs, we'd likely go with "Side Of the Road", "Sweet Old World" and "Sweet Side", which is an admittedly odd choice, given the hits and masterworks that pepper her catalogue. But that's one of the wonderful things about the hyper-individualistic appeal of music, and it's why we always speak to favorites as opposed to best.
Following our list is a Spotify playlist, ordered from oldest to most recent cut. We encourage readers to add their own favorites in the comment field below.
LUCINDA WILLIAMS: thirty favorites
- "Sharp Cutting Wings (Song To a Poet)" Happy Woman Blues (Smithsonian, 80)
- "I Just Wanted To See You So Bad" Lucinda Williams (Lucinda, 88)
- "The Night's Too Long" Lucinda Williams
- "Passionate Kisses" Lucinda Williams
- "Am I Too Blue" Lucinda Williams
- "Side Of the Road" Lucinda Williams
- "Six Blocks Away" Sweet Old World (Chrysalis, 92)
- "Something About What Happens When We Touch" Sweet Old World
- "Sweet Old World" Sweet Old World
- "Little Angel, Little Brother" Sweet Old World
- "Right In Time" Car Wheels On a Gravel Road (UMG, 98)
- "Car Wheels On a Gravel Road" Car Wheels On a Gravel Road
- "Drunken Angel" Car Wheels On a Gravel Road
- "Steal Your Love" Essence (UMG, 01)
- "Blue" Essence
- "Get Right With God" Essence
- "Ventura" World Without Tears (UMG, 03)
- "Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings" World Without Tears
- "Those Three Days" World Without Tears
- "Sweet Side" World Without Tears
- "World Without Tears" World Without Tears
- "Are You Alright" West (UMG, 07)
- "Learning How To Live" West
- "Circles and X's" Little Honey (UMG, 08)
- "Buttecup" Blessed (UMG, 11)
- "Stand Right By Each Other" Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone (Highway 20, 14)
- "Temporary Nature (Of Any Precious Thing)" Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone
- "Dust" Ghosts Of Highway 20 (Highway 20, 16)
- "Big Rotator" Good Souls Better Angels (Highway 20, 20)
- "Stolen Moments" Stories From a Rock N Roll Heart (Highway 20, 23)
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