Lyle Lovett
Nothing but a good time
Just about halfway through my conversation with Lyle Lovett, I thought I was in line for something really juicy.
We were discussing his involvement in Robert Altman�s films � most prominently 1992�s The Player and 1993�s Short Cuts � and he said the words journalists just love to hear.
�I probably shouldn�t talk about this because it�s bragging,� he began. I clicked my pen and anxiously put it over my notepad.
�[Altman] asked me and Tom Waits originally to play the parts in Prairie Home Companion that ended up being played by Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly. But the movie kept getting delayed for various reasons and it got to a point where, because of scheduling, neither of us could do it.�
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the full extent of Lyle Lovett�s arrogance. 2006 marks the 30th anniversary of Lovett�s first performances, the 20th anniversary of his first album and the continuation of a career that�s earned incessant critical acclaim, garnered multiple Grammy awards and defied genre placement. The cockiest thing he can possibly muster out of all that is that he was originally offered a role in an old friend�s movie.
Simply put, Lyle Lovett is a class act. Mixing the best traits of a southern gentleman with an almost ridiculous modesty, Lovett is quicker than a whip to sing the praises of his cohorts (�James Gilmer�s been playing with me since 1978 � I can�t tell you how much that means to me� ), his peers (�Alejandro Escovedo is a musical Lance Armstrong!� ), and his influences (�There�s no good reason that my recording of Ray Charles� �What�d I Say� needs to exist� ), but shies away from the mere suggestion that he himself isn�t half bad, either.
But it is the truth. Mixing a lyrical ability that can be as biting and subversively humorous as Randy Newman or as plaintive as Sammy Cahn with an open-ended musical ability, Lovett is consistently cited as one of this era�s most solid songwriters. While the �country� tag may be the easiest to put on him, it�s not the most accurate. Equally steeped in blues, gospel, jazz, folk, swing and bossa nova, Lovett�s albums contain an array of styles that their author consistently seems to pull off with inconceivable ease.
�In most of the work you do as a songwriter, it�s in your imagination,� he says. �You don�t ever really want to work in a certain context � songwriting is a matter of finding out what the song wants.
�The first time I got money for a gig was in 1976 when I was 18, and I still feel like that guy, standing there with a guitar just imagining how a song might sound if you could do it the way you really wanted. So for me, every time I get to go out with the Large Band it�s a thrill just to be in the middle of all of it and listen to it as I�m playing.�
It will be a full summer of thrills then, for Lovett, as he leads the Large Band on a jaunt around the country in July and August. The tour includes a date in Madison (July 27), Lovett�s first-ever stop in Oshkosh (29), and two nights at Milwaukee�s Northern Lights Theater (30 and 31).
And while it�s a lot of work � Lovett says the 17-piece outfit needs to play five to six nights a week to make the tour profitable � the opportunity to be surrounded by a stellar group of musicians fleshing out songs� full arrangements is the kind of work he�s all too happy to do.
�It�s great fun,� he says. �There�s so much versatility and we can do the songs any way at all. The first time we called the band the Large Band was in 1988, and we had three saxophone players and one female vocalist. In the 1990s, we expanded the horn section and got the four-man vocal group, which now all surround the rhythm section. We work hard, but it�s great to be out there in the summer.�
The roster�s growth over the decades hasn�t fazed the bandleader, either. In addition to being able to name every member of the Large Band without hesitation, Lovett can rattle off the name of seemingly every musician he�s shared a studio with in the last 20 years (and tell you how great they are). Sure, duets with the likes of Randy Newman and Al Green are memorable, but so too is Matt Rollings� piano part on �I Can�t Love You Anymore.�
�There�s nothing better than getting to work with smart, talented people,� he says. �That�s why I feel so lucky to have these people I tour with, and have the opportunity to work with people who have influenced me. It�s really what keeps me interested and inspired in music.�
Lovett also attributes his development in Texas as a major source of motivation, and can see why a whole new crop of Texan artists is starting to gain headway across the rest of the country.
�You have places to play there, and the mindset of listeners is not �I want to hear a cover band,�� he says. �They�re ready and willing to seek out new and original music and that really lends itself to artists indulging themselves in songwriting. There�s a great songwriting tradition in Texas, and it�s really a great place to work on your craft because you�re away from the business aspects that permeate places like New York and L.A.�
Not that La-La Land is all that bad. Hollywood has maintained an avid interest in Lovett for both acting duties and soundtrack work. While the 2003 compilation Smile showcased many of these highlights (including stellar versions of standards like �Summer Wind,� �Blue Skies� and �Moritat� ), it was by no means the last word on his tinsel-town involvement. He recently contributed a version of �Little GTO� to RV, and just got back from Capitol Studios, where he cut a version of the Frank Sinatra standard �Chicago� for an upcoming animated film called Everybody�s Hero.
�A lot of times, the way songs are used in a film, you don�t always know they�re in there, and I was really proud of those recordings, so that�s why I put that compilation together,� he says. �But they�re all songs I never would have thought of to do myself if a director hadn�t called asking me to do them. On one hand, there�s just no reason for me to sing a song like �Summer Wind.� There�s just no good reason. But if I�m hired to do it as a job, it gives me a way to rationalize it, and in doing it, it�s really fun. I mean, being able to sing �Blue Skies� or �What�d I Say� is just so cool.�
As is, he says, getting to work with one of America�s most legendary directors.
�From my point of view, my responsibility is very limited in terms of what I�m used to doing,� says Lovett of being in front of the camera. �The thing that�s wonderful about working with Robert Altman is that he�s very open with his process. He has such confidence about what he�s doing that he doesn�t mind anybody watching. He encourages you to come to the set on days you�re not supposed to be there. You really feel like you�re part of the whole process, and for me, at the end of The Player, I felt like I had learned how they make movies.�
And though he didn�t get to be in Altman�s latest, he is glad one particular star got the opportunity.
�To hear the press that Lindsay Lohan is getting for Prairie Home Companion is pretty neat, because you see her getting the Altman experience for the first time, and it�s exciting to watch,� he says. �I�m not so experienced in the world of film, but every actor I�ve ever worked with on an Altman film says it�s just an unusual experience in the world of film. Look at the casts he puts together. People want to work with him.� Even Ms. Lohan isn�t exempt from Lovett�s rapid-fire goodwill.
Following the completion of the summer tour, Lyle and the band will head into the studio to cut his first new album since 2003�s My Baby Don�t Tolerate. What can you expect? Musically, as always, anything�s possible. He�ll be previewing some of the new material on tour for the audience to draw its own conclusions on, but at least two things are a safe bet: a classy black and white cover shot and a classy guy in the middle of all of it who can still wow you three decades on. VS
Paul Snyder is currently finishing his final semester at Marquette University. In addition to the numerous intern duties he took on with Vital Source, he is also a contributing writer and editor for the magazine.
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