- Pontiac · 1987
- Greatest Hits · 1989
- Pontiac · 1987
- Step Inside This House · 1998
- Pontiac · 1987
- Lyle Lovett · 1986
- Toy Story (An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack) · 1995
- Willie Nelson American Outlaw (Live) · 2020
- The Road to Ensenada · 1996
- Greatest Hits · 1989
- Pontiac · 1987
- Pontiac · 1987
- Smile · 2003
Essential Albums
- Looking like a character from a quirky cult film and sounding like a cross between George Strait, Bob Wills, and Randy Newman, Lyle Lovett turned the country world on its ear with Pontiac, and even earned attention from the rock world. With straight-razor wit and poetic precision, his remarkable second album gets into the heads of murderers (“L.A. County”) and potential psychos (the title track), while still leaving room for loose-limbed, good-time love songs (“Give Back My Heart,” “She’s Hot to Go”).
- Like his predecessors Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell, Lyle Lovett worked the Texas folk circuit and sold songs to bigger names before getting the chance to cut his solo debut in 1986. It’s a soulful, plainspoken work, just short of austere. “Cowboy Man” and “Why I Don’t Know” prove that Lovett understood what folks in the country dancehalls wanted to hear. But his gallant presence and understated sincerity keep his material from getting tacky, even on the somewhat out-of-place pop-rock nugget “You Can’t Resist.” Lovett’s voice—as dry and smoldering as the Texas highway and as dashing as a freshly pressed tuxedo—does best on the numbers that allow for a slow build. “God Will,” “If I Were the Man You Wanted," and “The Waltzing Fool” approach the form of the love song in a way that has nothing to do with clichés or double entendres. His mastery is shown in the way he notices things that other songs would omit entirely. This skill is epitomized by “Closing Time,” which portrays everything that happens at a concert after the music stops.
- 2022
- 2012
Music Videos
- 2022
- 2022
- 2022
Artist Playlists
- Meet the long, tall Texan who was alt-country before the term existed.
- Funky grooves, theological lessons, and more are on the menu.
Live Albums
Compilations
About Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett has built an eclectic and literate body of work steeped in the folk, country, and Western swing traditions of his home state of Texas. Born in 1957 and raised on a ranch in Klein, Lovett started writing songs while attending Texas A&M in the late ‘70s. A few years later, Guy Clark passed on Lovett’s demo tape to MCA Records, which resulted in Lovett’s self-titled 1986 debut, a poetic, often witty collection rooted in classic country (“God Will”) that also offered glimpses of stylistic diversity (the upbeat pop of “Why I Don’t Know”). In 1987, Pontiac provided more insightful lyricism, expanding on Lovett’s sound with wistful folk (“If I Had a Boat”), jazzy numbers, and slinking rock. He moved toward jazz with 1989’s Lyle Lovett & His Large Band; explored R&B and gospel on 1992’s Joshua Judges Ruth; and returned to twangier fare with 1996’s The Road to Ensenada. Though he’s never stopped working—he’s also an actor—Lovett took a 10-year hiatus from studio albums in the 2010s, returning with 2022’s swinging 12th of June.
- FROM
- Klein, TX, United States
- BORN
- November 1, 1957
- GENRE
- Country