LeAnn Rimes (CD - 1999)

Personnel includes: LeAnn Rimes (vocals); Darrell Holt (conductor, vibraphone); B. James Lowrey, Jerry Metheny (acoustic & electric guitar); Marty Walsh (electric guitar); Milo Deering (steel guitar, fiddle); Junior Knight (steel guitar); Randy Fouts (piano, keyboards); Kelly Glenn (piano); Gary Leach (organ, keyboards, background vocals); Mike Brignardello (tic-tac, bass); Austin Deptula (keyboards, background vocals); Curtis Randall (bass); Paul Leim (drums, percussion); Fred Glieber (drums); Carl Albrecht, Charles Barnett (percussion); Rita Baloche, Perry Coleman, Annagrey LaBasse, Debi Lee, David Pruitt, John D. Sharp, John R. Sharp, Chris Wann, Matthew Ward (background vocals).

Includes liner notes by LeAnn Rimes.

Personnel: LeAnn Rimes (background vocals); Jerry Metheny, B. James Lowry (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Marty Walsh (electric guitar); Milo Deering (steel guitar, fiddle); Junior Knight (steel guitar); Kathryn Plummer, Karen Winkelmann, Elisabeth K. Small, Julia Tanner, Lee Harrison, Gerald Greer, Connie Ellison, Clara Olson, Denise Baker, Carole Neuen-Rabinowitz, Grace Bahng, Richard Grosjean, Kristin Wilkinson, Anthony LaMarchina, Robert Mason , Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Carl Gorodetzky, Pamela Sixfin, David Davidson , Alan Umstead, David Angell, Catherine Umstead, Gary VanOsdale (strings); Randy Fouts (piano, keyboards); Kelly Glenn (piano); Gary Leach (organ, keyboards, background vocals); Austin Deptula (keyboards, background vocals); Darrell Holt (vibraphone); Paul Leim (drums, percussion); Fred Glieber (drums); Carl Albrecht, Charlie Barnett (percussion); John R. Sharp, Chris Wann, Annagrey LaBasse, John D. Sharp, David Pruitt, Debi Lee, Matthew Ward, Rita Baloche, Perry Coleman (background vocals).

Recording information: Mike's Music Room, Franklin, TN; Rosewood Studios; The Sound Kitchen, Franklin, TN; The Village, Santa Monica, CA.

Editor: Austin Deptula.

Photographer: Andrew Southam.

Essentially, LeAnn Rimes is a covers album, with one new song ("Big Deal") tacked onto the end, which makes it a return to her roots -- which, in turn, means that it's sort of a salute to her main influence, Patsy Cline. Rimes tackles no less than five songs from Cline's 12 Greatest Hits, plus "Lovesick Blues," which Cline also recorded. It's a tricky situation for a singer pegged as a Cline soundalike with her first hit single, "Blue." If those comparisons bother Rimes, it's impossible to tell from her performance, since she sings these six songs exactly like Cline does. As it turns out, imitation is a crutch Rimes uses quite often, since she mimics Janis Joplin on "Me and Bobby McGee" and pretty much uses Marty Robbins as a guide vocal on "Don't Worry." Since she has a good voice and these are, by and large, great songs, it's hard to complain -- given the best set of songs of her career, she delivers good, professional performances, stumbling only on "Me and Bobby McGee" with Joplin-like histrionics. So, LeAnn Rimes winds up being one of her better efforts, even if her vocals are fairly mannered and the arrangements are fairly predictable. But the most curious thing about this covers album is that Rimes turns in her best performance on the lone new track. She sounds loose, confident and exciting on "Big Deal," and even more importantly, she never sounds like one of her idols -- she sounds like herself. And since it comes at the end of the record, you can't help but wish she'd recorded an album of new, pure country songs as good as "Big Deal" instead of a collection of covers, no matter how well she sang those covers. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

When Leann Rimes burst onto the country music scene as a full-fledged siren barely out of her teens, it was difficult to predict whether she'd have the staying power to last beyond her high school graduation. A few years later, this album featuring Rimes' versions of classic country tunes would make it evident that the young singer wasn't going anywhere but up. Despite the harsh words of detractors, she's far from the Britney Spears of country. Despite her years, Rimes possesses a truly remarkable voice and a style well beyond her years.

Despite the ostensible brashness of a '90s youngster taking on songs associated with Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, and other greats, Rimes displays enough chops to make for eminently convincing versions of such chestnuts as "Crazy" and "Lovesick Blues" (she packs a mean yodel, too). Traditionalists will be heartened to know that despite a touch of modern-sounding electric guitar, the arrangements echo the classic Nashville "countrypolitan" sound of decades bygone. minimize