Jump to content

Read My Lips (Lou Ann Barton album)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Read My Lips
LP cover
Studio album by
Lou Ann Barton
Released1989
GenreBlues, rock and roll
LabelAntone's Records and Tapes[1]
ProducerPaul Ray
Lou Ann Barton chronology
Forbidden Tones
(1986) 		Read My Lips
(1989) 		Dreams Come True
(1990)

Read My Lips is an album by the American singer Lou Ann Barton, released in 1989.[2][3] The Plain Dealer called the album a throwback to a time when "regional styles flourished, were celebrated and enriched popular music."[4]

Barton's two earlier 1980s albums were already out of print by the time of Read My Lips' release.[5] The album's title is a reference to George H. W. Bush's 1988 campaign promise.[6]

Production

[edit]

A covers album, Read My Lips was recorded with several guest musicians, including saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman and members of the Fabulous Thunderbirds.[7][8] The main players included guitarist Derek O' Brien, bassist Jon Blondell, and drummer George Rains.[9] The album was produced by Paul Ray.[10]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[12]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]

Spin thought that the album "captures the sound and spirit of a 50s Excello or Duke recording without sacrificing 80s technology."[14] The Austin American-Statesman wrote that "'Shake Your Hips', in particular, is a masterful use of rock 'n' roll, gutter guitar licks bolstering a mean, low-down and dirty blues song about a dance undoubtably outlawed except in the darkest of clubs."[9] The Daily Breeze opined that Read My Lips "sounds like just the kind of thing you'd want to hear blasting away in a Texas roadhouse—lowdown, sweat-drenched rhythm-and-blues."[15]

The Toronto Star wrote: "The good thing about Barton, unlike so many blues-by-number advocates, is that it is hard to know which way she'll turn next. She takes a playful novelty piece like Slim Harpo's 'Te Ni Nee Ni Nu' and invests it with almost inappropriate urgency, while her cover of 'You'll Lose A Good Thing' is casually ironic instead of emotionally heated."[16] The Chicago Tribune deemed the album "down and dirty Texas blues and boogie."[17] The Tulsa World determined that Barton's "version of Wanda Jackson's 'Mean, Mean Man' is hard-driving, pouty rock 'n' roll, sounding like what might have happened if Betty Boop had sung lead with the Flamin' Groovies."[18]

AllMusic wrote: "Wisely free of attempts to update or modernize her timeless Texas-style blues-rock, Read My Lips is a rockin' good time."[11] The Rolling Stone Album Guide called the album "a set of scorching performances that remind us not of what she might have been, but what she is—a natural-born singer who's learned hard lessons by living them."[5] The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings argued that Barton's "métier is rock rather than blues."[13]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."Sugar Coated Love" 
2."You'll Lose a Good Thing" 
3."Sexy Ways" 
4."Shake a Hand" 
5."Good Lover" 
6."Mean Mean Man" 
7."Shake Your Hips" 
8."Te Ni Nee Ni Nu" 
9."Can't Believe You Want to Leave" 
10."You Can Have My Husband" 
11."It's Raining" 
12."Rocket in My Pocket" 
13."I Wonder Why" 
14."Let's Have a Party" 
15."High Time We Went" 

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Hadley, Frank-John (October 8, 1993). The Grove Press Guide to the Blues on CD. Grove Press. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  2. ^ "Lou Ann Barton Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  3. ^ Dicaire, David (November 5, 2015). More Blues Singers: Biographies of 50 Artists from the Later 20th Century. McFarland. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  4. ^ Derwae, Robert (June 23, 1989). "Read My Lips Lou Ann Barton". News. The Plain Dealer.
  5. ^ a b c The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 37–38.
  6. ^ Harrington, Richard (12 Apr 1989). "Odds and Ends". The Washington Post. p. B7.
  7. ^ "Lou Ann Barton". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  8. ^ Oermann, Robert K. (July 28, 1989). "So far, 1989 has been a somewhat so-so music year, but there are still glimmers of excitement coming out of the stereo speakers". USA Today.
  9. ^ a b Monahan, Casey (6 July 1989). "Lou Ann documents ultimate barroom set". Austin American-Statesman. p. F5.
  10. ^ "Obit: Paul Ray". Austin American-Statesman. 24 Jan 2016. p. B5.
  11. ^ a b "Read My Lips". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  12. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 452.
  13. ^ a b The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books. 2006. p. 26.
  14. ^ Gordon, Robert (Oct 1989). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 5, no. 7. p. 106.
  15. ^ Gnerre, Sam (July 28, 1989). "Read My Lips Lou Ann Barton". Daily Breeze. p. E12.
  16. ^ MacInnis, Craig (12 Jan 1990). "Lou Ann Barton Read My Lips". Toronto Star. p. D16.
  17. ^ Heim, Chris (28 Apr 1989). "Old-timers league". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. 88.
  18. ^ Wooley, John (July 30, 1989). "Record Reviews". Tulsa World. p. H2.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Read_My_Lips_(Lou_Ann_Barton_album)&oldid=1211827375"