Three Best Songs By Lyle Lovett

Lyle Lovett (Image courtesy of On Tour PR)

Another artist whose repertoire forces me to make some hard choices. But, I’m just the man to decide what are the three best songs by Lyle Lovett.

3) “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)” (from The Road to Ensenada): Excusing the painfully obvious use of the song to attract tourists to Texas (argh…), this Lyle Lovett toe-tapper (co-written with Alison Rogers and cult hero Willis Alan Ramsey) smokes like armadillo over hot mesquite coals. Bonus points on the original version, which features Sweet Pea Atkins and Sir Harry Bowens singing the gospel.

2) “Here I Am” (from Lyle Lovett And His Large Band): Though he’d cut a couple successful records before this one showed up in ’89, it was this album — and, specifically, this song — that introduced the masses to the dry-as-a-bone sense of humor that was Lyle. “What Hank Williams is to Neil Armstrong…can you doubt we were made for each other?”

Make mine a….cheese….burger.

Extra credit: Francine Reed sings the gospel.

1) “Step Inside This House” (from Step Inside This House): On this dazzling interpretation of fellow Texas songwriters like Robert Earl Keen, Michael Martin Murphey and Willis Alan Ramsey, Lyle owns Guy Clark’s bittersweet of simple treasures. Simply marvelous.