ALBUMS THAT SHOULD EXIST :: LYLE LOVETT Canada 1997

Lyle Lovett - West End Cultural Center, Winnipeg, Canada, 10-23-1997

Oh, my! As Paul says it IS about time and I haven’t posted any new Lyle for a dog’s age!

 I love this man and bought his first album when it came out (who else can make you sit up and take note singing a song about riding your pony on your boat as you sail out to sea?!) and I have followed him ever since, discovering him via a guest spot on a John Prine gig televised and broadcast from the Point in Dublin, Ireland back in 1989 I think on the most extraordinary set where John let Lyle and cellist, John Hagen, play 4 songs I think in a mid-set spot of his own concert! If you can still find it, get it, download it and just enjoy both artists at their peak and Lyle at his outset! It still contains the best live version of Saddles in The Rain IMHO but they are both on FIRE!

Paul says 'It's high time I finally post some music by Lyle Lovett. I'm not a big of most typical country music, but Lovett's music is different. He mixes country, jazz, folk, gospel, blues, and more, and adds in a quirky sense of humor. So you might like his stuff even if you don't typically listen to country.

The sound quality of this concert is freaking amazing. Yes, it's a bootleg (and a soundboard), but it's hard to imagine a concert being recorded any better. During the quiet parts between songs, you could have heard a pin drop. The performance is excellent too, and the set list is strong. If you were to listen to just one live recording from him, I would suggest this one, even over his one official live album, "Live in Texas." That one came out in 1999, so not too distant in time from this one, but many of the songs performed are different anyway. Besides, this one is nearly twice as long!

Lovett has typically performed his concerts with three backing bands: his Large Band, his Small Band, and in an even smaller acoustic format. This concert was performed with his Large Band. 

I wish all bootlegs were this easy to deal with. Not only is the sound quality fantastic, there were no problems to fix. The only change I made was that I cut out some dead air between songs, mostly guitar tuning.'

This concert is an hour and 55 minutes long. 

01 Which Way Does That Old Pony Run 
02 talk
03 Good Intentions
04 talk 
05 God Will 
06 Give Back My Heart
07 talk
08 Sleepwalking
09 talk 
10 Fiona
11 talk
12 Fat Babies
13 talk
14 Fat Babies [Reprise
15 If I Were the Man You Wanted
16 talk 
17 Her First Mistake
18 talk
19 This Old Porch
20 talk 
21 Nobody Knows Me
22 L.A. County
23 If I Had a Boat 
24 talk 
25 Walk through the Bottomland 
26 She's No Lady
27 talk 
28 Family Reserve
29 Church
30 talk
31 Closing Time 
32 talk
33 You Can't Resist It
34 Road to Ensenada

35 Simple Song