Real Live Woman (CD - 2000)

Personnel includes: Trisha Yearwood (vocals); Dan Dugmore (acoustic, electric, slide & lap steel guitars, dobro); Al Anderson (acoustic & electric guitars); Darrell Scott (acoustic guitar, bouzouki); Richard Bennett, Johnny Garcia (acoustic guitar); Mike Henderson (acoustic slide guitar); Kenny Vaughan (6- & 12-string electric guitars); Sam Bush (mandolin); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Steve Nathan (piano, harpsichord, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Steve Cox (Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Keith Horne (bass); Greg Morrow (drums, maracas, tambourine); Tom Roady (percussion); Stephanie Bentley, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kim Richey, Matraca Berg, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Bob Bailey, Vicki Hampton, Kim Fleming (background vocals).

Recorded at Sound Emporium, Nashville, Tennessee.

REAL LIVE WOMAN was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Album and "Real Live Woman" was nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Personnel: Dan Dugmore (acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar); Johnny Garcia, Richard Bennett (acoustic guitar); Kenny Vaughn (electric guitar); Mike Henderson (slide guitar); Sam Bush (mandolin); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Bobby Wood (piano); Steve Cox (organ); Greg Morrow (drums, tambourine); Eddie Bayers (drums); Tom Roady (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Chuck Ainlay.

Recording information: Sound Emporium, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Andrew Southam.

The last cut on Trisha Yearwood's ninth CD, REAL LIVE WOMAN, is called "When A Love Song Sings the Blues," and that's no coincidence. Drawing on stellar material from Matraca Berg, Linda Ronstadt, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kim Richey and even Bruce Springsteen, REAL LIVE WOMAN focuses on the downside of love, and Yearwood sings about it with the gut-wrenching emotion of someone who's definitely been there.

Though she brings in famous pals like Emmylou Harris and Jackson Browne to provide backing vocals, her own voice is the highlight here. From the Bonnie Raitt shadings of bluesy numbers like "Some Days" and "Wild For You Baby," to the falsetto of "Sad Eyes," to the pleading tones of "Try Me Again," Yearwood simply sings rings around her country/pop compatriots. Other highlights include the gospel-y "One Love," the funny, rollicking "Too Bad You're No Good" and the chiming "Where Are You Now." But the title track is the real find: it's the down-home affirmation of an average woman who's at complete peace with herself. "I offer no apologies/for the things that I believe and say," sings Yearwood. "And I like it that way." Like its title, REAL LIVE WOMAN is wise, sexy, earthy, strong and beautiful--and one of Yearwood's best. minimize