Car Wheels on a Gravel Road [Limited] (CD - 1998)

Personnel: Lucinda Williams (vocals, acoustic guitar, dobro); Buddy Miller (acoustic & electric guitars, mando guitar, background vocals); Steve Earle (acoustic & resonator guitars, harmonica, background vocals); Gurf Morlix (6 & 12 string electric guitars, electric & acoustic slide guitars, background vocals); Charlie Sexton (electric & slide guitars, dobro); Johnny Lee Schell (electric & slide guitars, dobro); Bo Ramsey (electric & slide guitars); Ray Kennedy, Greg Leisz (12 string electric guitar, mandolin); Richard "Hombre" Price (dobro); Roy Bittan (accordion, Hammond B-3 organ, organ); Michael Smotherman (Hammond B-3 organ); John Ciambotti (acoustic & electric basses); Donald Lindley (drums, percussion); Jim Lauderdale, Emmylou Harris (background vocals).

Principally recorded at Room And Board Studio, Nashville, Tennessee.

All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.

CAR WHEELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. "Can't Let Go" was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Personnel: Lucinda Williams (acoustic guitar); Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale (vocals); Kenny Vaughn (guitar); Kenny Greenberg, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller (acoustic guitar); Johnny Lee Schell (electric 6-string guitar); Greg Leisz, Gurf Morlix, Ray Kennedy (electric 12-string guitar); Richard 'Hombre' Price, Bo Ramsey, Charlie Sexton (dobro); Gene Elders (fiddle); Roy Bittan (accordion); Ian McLagan (organ); Michael Smotherman (Hammond b-3 organ); John Ciambotti, Richard Price (bass guitar); Fran Breen, Donald Lindley (drums); Harry Stinson (background vocals).

Williams's fans waited a long six years for this album, as Lucinda went through music business hassles and a revolving door of producers. The reward for their patience is an album full of rootsy, heartfelt observations that alternately rock and mourn. CAR WHEELS is full of songs about loss and longing, like "Metal Firecracker," "Drunken Angel" and "I Lost It," but even when she's bemoaning her own lack of happiness on the bluesy "Joy," she lets loose with so much passion that it seems inevitable she'll find her emotional center again.

Produced largely by Steve Earle, CAR WHEELS is immersed in that late-'90s alt-country sound, full of slide guitar, accordion, dobro and other Americana touches. It's a tribute to Williams's unique artistic vision that she distinguishes herself from the No Depression crowd by virtue of her idiosyncratic songwriting. Full of lust, sadness and the occasional glimmer of hope, CAR WHEELS is one small step for Lucinda Williams and one giant leap for those tuned into her wavelength. minimize