Trouble with the Truth (CD - 1996)

Personnel: Patty Loveless (vocals); Biff Watson, Steve Gibson (acoustic & electric guitars); Brent Mason, Tom Britt (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore (steel guitar, lap steel guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (lap steel guitar, dobro); Stuart Duncan (fiddle, mandolin); David Davidson, Connie Ellisor, Mary Olsen, Pamela Sixfin (violin); Kristin Wilkinson, Jim Grosjean, Kathryn Plummer, Gary Vanosdale (viola); John Catchings (cello); Butch Lee (Hammond B-3 organ); John Hobbs, Mike Lawler, Mike Rojas (keyboards); Lonnie Wilson (drums); Kathy Burdick, Vince Gill, Tim Hensley, Liana Manis, Donna McElroy, Carmella Ramsey, Dawn Sears, Harry Stinson, Jeff White, Curtis Young, Jim Rushing (background vocals).

Recorded at Woodland Digital, The Rec Room and Emerald Sound Studios, Nashville, Tennessee

Patty Loveless won the 1996 Country Music Association Award for Female Vocalist Of The Year.

THE TROUBLE WITH THE TRUTH was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Country Album. "The Trouble With The Truth" was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Personnel: Patty Loveless (vocals); Jim Rushing (bass voice); Biff Watson, Steve Gibson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Tom Britt, Brent Mason (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore (steel guitar, lap steel guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (lap steel guitar, dobro); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Connie Ellisor, Pamela Sixfin, David Davidson (violin); Kathryn Plummer, Kristin Wilkinson, Jim Grosjean, Gary VanOsdale (viola); John Catchings (cello); John Hobbs, Mike Lawler, Mike Rojas (keyboards); Craig Krampf, Lonnie Wilson (drums); Carmella Ramsey, Curtis Young, Dawn Sears, Donna McElroy, Harry Stinson, Jeff White, Vince Gill, Liana Manis, Tim Hensley, Kathy Burdick (background vocals).

Having broken through at the tail-end of the neo-traditionalist trend in country in the 1980s, Patty Loveless was one of the few established artists to navigate the transition into the post-Garth pop-country trend of the '90s. Trouble with the Truth, her third album and the follow-up to the CMA Album of the Year When Fallen Angels Fly, found her again relying on her steady stable of writers -- Gary Nicholson, Jim Lauderdale, Tony Arata, Matraca Berg -- for another series of songs that acknowledged the country tradition of twang, yet kept to a sharp beat, and that maintained the female country sensibility of faithful loving, while avoiding victimization. "You Can Feel Bad," the album's first single and a number one hit, was a breakup song with a twist or two, while the second single, "A Thousand Times a Day," treated love as a 12-step addiction, and "I Miss Who I Was (With You)," caught a sense of regret tempered with acceptance. Some of the writing was a bit abstract, notably the title track, and there didn't seem much reason to cover Richard Thompson's up-tempo, Cajun-flavored "Tear-Stained Letter," which Jo-El Sonnier took into the Top Ten in 1988 (except, of course, that it's a great song). But Trouble with the Truth was a consistent collection that consolidated Loveless' prominent place in the country music scene of the mid-'90s. ~ William Ruhlmann

The neo-Nashville superstar lives up to her name on this collection of songs about broken romance and regret. Loveless gains points for adventurousness right off the bat by leading off with a cover of Richard Thompson's rollicking "Tear-Stained Letter" (although she inexplicably rewrites it to excise a reference to the Clash). The heartbreak train continues rolling, making stops at "She Drew A Broken Heart," Jim Lauderdale's "I Miss Who I Was With You" and several other tales of lovelorn despondency. Even statements of ostensible self-possession like "You Can Feel Bad" and "A Thousand Times A Day" betray a wistful sadness at their core.

This is state-of-the-art Nashville country-pop, and, fittingly, it remained on the pop charts for most of 1996. It maintains the consistent standards Loveless has set with her previous releases. Her silken voice and tasteful interpretive abilities remain undiminished. minimize