#305 - Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)

MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:

BACKGROUND – LUCINDA WILLIAMS

Lucinda Gayle Williams was born in Lake Charles Louisiana in 1953. Her father was a poet and literary professor, and her mom was an amateur pianist. Williams started writing music as early as 6 years old, and learned guitar by the age of 12. She played her first live gig when she was 17 in Mexico City, and was doing live shows in Texas by her early 20s. She released her first album “Ramblin On My Mind” in 1979, which was a collection of country and blues covers. One year later, her second album “Happy Woman Blues” was released, and was comprised of original material, but it didn’t do well. She moved to LA briefly before settling in Nashville, and released her third album (self-titled) in 1988. It was received well critically, and is credited with developing the Americana movement (more on that later). This album had the popular track “Passionate Kisses” on it. She released her 4th album, Sweet Old World in 1992, which was a follow-up hit to the self-titled release. The positive reviews led to her commercial breakthrough on her next album that we’re discussing today. 

Her follow up album to Car Wheels On A Gravel Road was titled “Essence” and released in 2001, and was nominated for the Best Folk Album Grammy. Her next album, World Without Tears in 2003 was her first Top 20 Album. She released 6 more albums through 2020 (13 total under her own name), as well as collaborating on other projects. 

In 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music. She was also named one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time that same year. In 2015 she was ranked #79 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

ALBUM BACKGROUND – CAR WHEELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD

This is the 5th studio album from Williams, released June 30th, 1998. Recording sessions for the album began as early as March 1995, but it was all scrapped when Lucinda wasn’t happy with her vocal recordings. “I was trying to grow. I didn't want to make another Sweet Old World" she said. Apparently a very large chunk of the album had been done before it was scrapped. Recording sessions picked up later that year, but gained full steam the following summer with a revised approach, recording her parts live with the backing back versus individually.  

It won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1999, and peaked at #68 on the Billboard 200, and remained on the charts for 5 months. This was Williams' first album to be certified gold and is her best-selling album to date, selling close to a million copies. 

The record was ready in 1997, but the release experienced a lengthy delay. Album producer Steve Earle explained “We got the album finished. It was in the can for an entire year or more, because American Recordings was going under. Rick Rubin was in the process of switching distribution between Warner and Sony, so the album was held up.” Eventually Mercury Records stepped in and convinced Rick to sell the masters to them so they could put the album out, which then caused another delay when there was a legal dispute. The sale of the master tapes was reported as $450,000 dollars.  

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road explores a variety of music genres,  including country, pop, blues, and folk. The lyrics of Car Wheels on a Gravel Road evoke imagery of Williams' life while living in the Deep South, and discusses events that occurred in nondescript locations like backroads and dilapidated shacks.