Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 27, 1993 TAG: 9302270088
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
LOVETT IS HIP NOW IN A WORLD OF HIS OWN
He's not just the far-out country dude with the big hair anymore. Lyle Lovett has arrived.Or perhaps, more accurately - with his fourth album, "Joshua Judges Ruth," and his role in last year's critically acclaimed movie "The Player" - Lyle Lovett has been embraced by the mainstream hip.
The rest of us have known all along that Lovett arrived a long time ago.
Thankfully. Over the past five years, Lovett has been one of music's bright spots - one of its brightest spots, in fact - in country or otherwise.
Lovett will play the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium tonight.
Really, Lovett isn't all that country anyhow. Never was. MCA Records just didn't know where else to put the skinny Texan with the weird pompadour, eclectic musical mix and bizarre songs.
He certainly didn't look country, though. But then, he didn't fit the rock or pop stereotypes, either. Still doesn't.
Nor did he sound particularly country. His sound was more a mix of styles ranging from straight-ahead country to swing to gospel to jazz. Now, Lovett is even less country.
And then there are those songs, those strange, strange songs and Lovett's twisted sense of humor. Where do you classify these?
Here, Lovett himself says he is much closer to songwriters like Randy Newman, Tom Waits and John Prine, than to Merle Haggard or Hank Williams.
"I really don't consider myself quirky or bent," he has said. "I try to write songs that express a feeling or an emotion or an idea in a way that someone else hasn't done before."
An example of this: on "Joshua Judges Ruth," Lovett sings a song about how happy a funeral makes him because he gets to see people he had not seen since the last funeral.
Another song, "Church," tells of a long-winded preacher who keeps his flock way past dinner. The song's narrator jumps up and leads the choir in a protest: "To the Lord let praises be. It's time for dinner, now let's go eat."
Lovett calls "Joshua Judges Ruth" his "gospel death album." Its title comes from three consecutive books in the Old Testament.
"It's a series of conversations with God about death, women and food."
Although more gospel-tinged than previous efforts, "Joshua," Lovett says, isn't really a departure. "The point of view is consistent. There are still some smart-aleck songs, and then there are serious songs, too."
It is this smart-aleck side that has sometimes gotten Lovett in trouble.
On his second album, "Pontiac," he sang: "And the preacher said I pronounce you 99 to life. Son, she's no lady. She's your wife."
The line didn't sit so well with some women, who accused Lovett of misogyny. He responded by recording a straight rendition of Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man."
"My whole thinking was, `If you hated that, then you'll really hate this.' Once you've gotten someone's goat, it's fun to see how far you can take it."
On a serious note, however, Lovett disputes the misogyny label. "A lot of times when I write, the female character is doing something to the male character. Frequently, it's something that I have actually done in a relationship. And rather than point the finger at myself, it's a lot more fun to blame somebody else."
Either way, Lovett's off-kilter world view hasn't always been so readily embraced.
Although categorized as country when he debuted in 1985, Lovett was never a country radio darling. "I didn't get played on country radio so much because my hair was weird, and because I wasn't quite right."
One of his favorite hobbies, he says, is watching "Donahue" with the sound off. "So I can try to guess what the topic is."
Yet, for all the humor and big hair, it is still some of his more country heart breakers that rank among his best work.
That could be due to his Texas roots. Lovett, 35, still lives in his grandparents' house in Spring, Texas, on the same land his family has occupied since the 1840s.
He graduated with a degree in journalism from Texas A&M in 1980 and honed his musical skills on the Texas club circuit.
Accompanied by a cellist, of course. "There's always room for a cello."
It is typical, he says, that just as country has boomed, he has moved more toward pop and rock. "I've always made brilliant career moves like that."
Meanwhile, Lovett has cultivated Hollywood. He has appeared on the "Tonight Show" seven times. And last year, he got raves for his portrayal of a gum-shoe in Robert Altman's "The Player." He will appear in Altman's next film as well.
All of which has only boosted Lovett's growing popularity. It's almost enough to go to your head, Lovett says. "It might be fun to get a guitar-shaped swimming pool . . .
"Just to let people wonder whether you were serious or not."
LYLE LOVETT AND HIS ACOUSTIC QUARTET: Tonight, 8 p.m., Roanoke Civic Center auditorium. Reserved-seating tickets, $22.50, at the civic center box office and through TicketMaster outlets. 981-1201.
Keywords:
PROFILE