Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
This 1998 Grammy-winning release--Lucinda Williams's popular breakthrough--certainly merits the double-disc "deluxe edition" treatment. And it's hard to find significant fault with anything here: the remastered version of the original album, the second-disc live performance from that year featuring guitarists Kenny Vaughn and Bo Ramsey, and the smattering of outtakes (highlighted by a slower, sadder version of "Out of Touch" than the one Williams ended up releasing). Yet the set misses a glorious opportunity to document one of the more laborious (and notorious) recording projects, one that saw Williams switch cities, studios, and producers three times before she was satisfied with the results. And while the results confirm her judgment, fans would likely find it fascinating to hear a lot more takes from the original Austin sessions (featuring accordion master Flaco Jimenez and keyboardist Ian McLagan) or outtakes from the Nashville sessions with producer Steve Earle, before Williams overhauled the project in Los Angeles with Springsteen keyboardist Roy Bittan. Such a set could have put a revelatory spotlight on the creative process that resulted in an album widely regarded as Williams's masterpiece; instead, this release is more like souvenir snapshots. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Coming to full bloom October 31, 2006
19 out of 25 found this review helpful

Car Wheels on Gravel Road is the album that found Lucinda Williams coming to full bloom. To some it is even her definite album. It took Lucinda 6 years to produce Car Wheels. Some of it had to do with label difficulties but a lot of it had to do with Williams trying to find her voice, trying to get it perfect, a process that took several producers and found her back at the drawing board a few times. When the album finally came out Lucinda had changed from a mediocre but promising country singer in a majestic butterfly, albeit somewhat raggedy.

Even though the product had been 6 years in the making Car Wheels never sounds forced or overly produced. Instead we find astonishing honest songwriting where the music provides just the right amount of texture. The album paints vivid pictures of her youth, relations gone sour, disappointments and hopes. Lucinda bears her heart open for everyone to see. What her audience gets are no easy or clean-cut pictures, for that her persona is too complex and raggedy. Lucinda Williams can be a sensual angel and a venomous snake at the same time. These contrast shine through on the record and give her music a depth and humanity that a lot of other artists lack. It takes guts to show this level of honesty. Car Wheels rightfully put Lucinda Williams in the league of veterans as Springsteen and Dylan in terms of craftsmanship.

This special edition gives the record the attention it deserves. The added live performances are amazing and show a very different side of Lucinda. Her records are often a carefully produced affair where the music supports the song, her live shows are very often a fuse burning up to a raw explosion. By combining the two this deluxe edition gives a better view of the kind of artist Lucinda is than any best off package ever would. That makes it an excellent starting point for the curious but a joy for long time fans as well.

3 out of 5 stars

Nice extras, horrible sound January 27, 2007
16 out of 24 found this review helpful

Add one more title to the list of unfortunate recent remastering jobs: Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road".

I listened to the new version of "Car Wheels" (one of my two favorite Lucinda albums) through headphones for the first time last night and couldn't get beyond the second track. By now, this is a familiar story - anemic bass, too high volume levels that distort at normal listening levels, and shrill, harsh sound. It also sounds hollow and "phasey", which to me suggests low-bit-rate mp3s. There's no clipping, but every track is mastered at the maximum peak level (something which shouldn't happen given the variety exhibited in these songs).

If you've still got the original CD, hold on to it because that sounds wonderful, with warmth, texture, visceral bass. It rocks.

What happened to this disc answers one question. When it comes to reissues of older albums, I've often wished that the remasters could be compared to the original tapes, or even to an LP. Maybe the warmth and texture in the original CDs were actually the byproduct of analog distortion and deteriorating tapes. But when Cream's "Disraeli Gears" and Lucinda's "Car Wheels" have undergone almost exactly the same changes, that tells me the people doing the remastering are just willfully altering it to their own peculiar tastes. (I should have been forewarned by how badly the Universal "deluxe edition" of The Who's great debut album turned out. Lost Highway has denied having anything to do with this reissue, so I assume Universal is again to blame.)

Reviewing the "sound" of this reissue on a car stereo or portable player is missing the point. Does anyone even know what a well-recorded and reproduced piece of music sounds like anymore?

4 out of 5 stars

A must for fans, but especially for those new to Lucinda November 30, 2006
15 out of 19 found this review helpful

Is this "Deluxe Edition" significantly better or different to warrant plunking down $27--nearly three times the cost of the original issue?

First, the "digitally remastered" original material sounds identical to the first issue, at least to my ears via my Bose stereo.

Second, is there enough new material here to warrant buying this? The answer is yes. There are three new tracks: a blues number and two studio outtakes of Out of Touch and Still I Long for your Kiss. These versions are more tender and passionate than the originals, and are better versions.

The second CD included here is a live concert from 1998. Lucinda and band are in fine form, and their playing is better than the live CD she issued in 2005. Also, her voice is less ragged than on that CD. There's also a smokin' version of Hot Blood, which should be its definitive version.

It would have been kinder for Lost Highway records to have simply issued the live material with more studio outtakes (this CD took six years and multiple attempts) to make this a worthwhile buy (thus my four star rating). But if you don't own this CD or--especially--are new to Lucinda, then this is the one to buy.

This 1998 album has received enough accolades (including a Grammy; it went gold as well) to warrant inclusion in any collection.

For those who want to hear Lucinda live for free, go to NPR's "All Songs Considered" web site. They have a 2005 concert that has her and band in fine form, and has newer material than on this CD.

5 out of 5 stars

Yes, clearly worth trading up January 5, 2007
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

The original Car Wheels is a five-star album if there ever was one. This landmark work is beyond question on of the finest albums of the 1990s. But you probably already know that. But does it really sound better, as there is some debate in this review section? (And the original is hardly shabby.) First, the difference in my pretty good car system (VW Monsoon, so nothing truly special) was not suble, if that's any help. If you have anything approaching a high-end system in your home or car, this is an easy call. The instruments just jump out of the speakers in a way the original mastering did not. Second, the added songs are certainly worth it. Third, the live set is mandatory if you love Lucinda; it was a great period of her live performances. So there you have it. And if you're new to Lucinda, it is hard to figure any down side to buying this. Get it.

5 out of 5 stars

Great Concert in South Philly March 15, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

Up from DC to visit a woman I'd just started dating and she suggested going to the WXPN free festival being held right along the Delaware. Southern Culture on the Skids were just finishing, but we were there to see the sometime associate of Steve Earle, who my friend adored.

The next act was nothing short of revelatory. The guitars dueled to incredible intensity, the songs were simply brilliant, and I was completely enamored by the singer in jeans and cowboy hat. My friend was a little put out by my rapt attention, but I just couldn't help it. Lucinda Williams was performing the most magical show I had seen in more than a decade.

I went from zero to all of her stuff within a couple of days and caught a few more shows up through Essence. During that stretch, I know of no stronger composer and performer; and her rendition of Masters of War was enough to make you want to take to the streets.

Anyway, great album, great show, great artist in her prime. You'd be hard pressed to do better.

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