Music / Lyle Lovett

If Ford is to Chevrolet what Dodge is to Chrysler,
what Corn Flakes are to Post Toasties,
what the clear blue sky is to the deep blue sea,
what Hank Williams is to Neil Armstrong...
can you doubt we were made for each other?

— "Here I Am"

Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) is an Alternative Country musician, actor, and record producer from Houston, Texas. His music is known for its eclectic influences, pulling from rock, jazz, bluegrass, and more. In addition, he has had an extensive acting career, working with Robert Altman four times among his film roles, along with numerous guest and recurring roles on television.

He has won four Grammy Awards: Best Country Performance (Lyle Lovett and His Large Band), Best Pop Vocal Collaboration ("Funny How Time Slips Away" with Al Green), Best Country Duo/Group with Vocal ("Blues for Dixie" with Asleep At The Wheel), and Best Country Album ("The Road to Ensenada"); he has been nominated a total of 17 times.

He met Julia Roberts on the set of The Player, and they married after a three-week romance; they divorced amicably less than two years later.

Studio discography:

• Lyle Lovett (1987)
• Pontiac (1987)
• Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (1989)
• Joshua Judges Ruth (1992)
• I Love Everybody (1994)
• The Road to Ensenada (1996)
• Step Inside This House (1998)
• My Baby Don't Tolerate (2003)
• It's Not Big It's Large (2007)
• Natural Forces (2009)
• Release Me (2012)
• 12th of June (2022)

If I had a trope, I'd go out on the ocean...

• As the Good Book Says...: The Joshua Judges Ruth album title comes from the names of three consecutive books of The Bible that happen to form a complete sentence.
• Awful Wedded Life: The subject of "She's No Lady"; the singer is married to a woman who hates his family, who told the preacher "he does, too" at their wedding, and generally doesn't seem to be a very pleasant person.
• Boring Religious Service: The preacher in "Church" isn't necessarily boring, but his sermon goes on well beyond the interest of the congregation members who are thinking of the food awaiting them after he's done.
• The Comically Serious: Occasionally exploits this in his music.
  Look
  I understand too little too late
  I realize there are things you say and do
  You can never take back
  But what would you be if you didn't even try
  You have to try
  So after a lot of thought
  I'd like to reconsider
  Please
  If it's not too late
  Make it a cheeseburger
• Cover Version: 1998's Step Inside This House is a double album of cover songs, all written by Texas musicians. He has also covered standards such as "Baby, It's Cold Outside," "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You" and Charlie Chaplin's "Smile," as well as Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man."
  • And then there's Lovett's absolutely straight cover of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man." It's rumored to have its origin as a Take That! of sorts to critics who found his cheeky lyrics in songs like "She's No Lady (She's My Wife)" to be a tad misogynist. But Wynette apparently liked his version enough that they performed a duet of it in a TV appearance.
• Everything is Big in Texas: "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)" is a love song to the state, praising its big attitudes.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, an album with a 20-person band.
• Forgiveness: Harshly averted in "God Will," which explains who will and will not forgive his lover's cheatin' and lyin':
  God does, but I don't
  God will, but I won't
  And that's the difference between God and me
• Genre Mashup: Lovett started out as a straight country artist, but around side two of Pontiac, he started adding more disparate influences, and that eclecticism ultimately became his signature sound. A given Lovett song can include elements of country, blues, jazz, folk, gospel, big band and/or Western swing.
• Metaphorgotten: "Here I Am" is full of these, including the page quote.
• Money Song: "M-O-N-E-Y", all about how money is what people really want.
• Oh, Crap!: The reaction of the congregation in "Church" when the pastor eats the dove that comes down and lands beside him.
  And now everyone got really nervous.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Tonto, in "If I Had a Boat".
  But Tonto he was smarter, and one day said, "Kemo Sabe, kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I'm going out to sea."
• Spelling Song: "M-O-N-E-Y", which replaces the initial "M" with an "mmm" sound in the chorus.
• Take That!: The title of his 2012 album Release Me (as well as the cover photo of Lovett wrapped in a rope) could be seen as this, given that it was his final album for Curb Records, notorious for screwing over its artists and finding creative ways to extend contracts well beyond their original expiration date.

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