Patty Loveless - Sleepless Nights (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

Outstanding covers of country oldies

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 09/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Covers albums aren't always appreciated by those who are familiar with the songs already, but I love them as long as they are done well, as this one is. Indeed, I've heard a few great ones by country singers in recent years, notably Twang on a wire (Kate Campbell), The chain (Deana Carter), Those were the days (Dolly Parton) and Timeless (Martina McBride). I expected Patty's album to be of a similar quality, especially when I saw the track listing and so it has proved.

Patty has selected songs from the fifties, sixties and seventies that particularly appealed to her. Four of them (Why baby why, He thinks I still care, Color of the blues, That's all it took) were originally made famous by George Jones, the last-named originally being a duet performed by Gene Pitney and George Jones, which Gram Parsons later covered; his version can be found on G.P./Grievous angel. Maybe the possibility crossed Patty's mind to do an entire album of George Jones songs, but she obviously decided not to do that as the rest of the album features songs original recorded by other singers as follows:-

The pain of loving you - originally a duet by Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, later re-recorded by Dolly with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris on Trio.

Sleepless nights - originally recorded by the Everly Brothers in the sixties, later covered by Emmylou Harris in the seventies and by the Judds in the eighties.

Crazy arms - originally recorded by Ray Price, this has been covered by plenty of other singers including Jerry Lee Lewis, Patsy Cline and Barbara Mandrell.

There stands the glass - originally recorded by Webb Pierce. It's great to find one of his songs included because not many singers cover his songs. There's a fine cover of this song by BR5-49 on the multi-artist Caught in the Webb, the only tribute album to Webb Pierce that I`ve come across. Van Morrison also included this song and two other Webb Pierce covers on his country album Pay the devil, but although I haven't heard Van's album, I understand that it's not as good as it might have been.

I forgot more than you'll ever know - originally recorded by the Davis sisters, but I particularly like Jann Browne's version.

Next in line - originally recorded by Conway Twitty, I've never heard anybody but Conway sing this song before although I know that Jack Greene included a cover on one of his albums.

Don't let me cross over - originally a number one country hit for Carl and Pearl Butler, since recorded by several other country singers including Jim Reeves, the Kendalls and Dolly Parton.

Please help me I'm falling - originally recorded by Hank Locklin, but recorded by many others since, my favorite being Janie Fricke`s version.

There goes my everything - originally a country number one hit for Jack Greene but better known via pop covers by Engelbert Humperdinck and Elvis Presley.

Cold cold heart - originally written and recorded by Hank Williams, this song became a huge American pop hit for Tony Bennett early in his career.

So those are the songs that you'll find on this album, each and every one of them performed superbly by the great Patty Loveless in a style that fans of country music from the fifties, sixties and seventies enjoy."

No Risks Taken, But Solid

Mark D. Prouse | Riverdale (Bronx), NY | 09/27/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Patty Loveless has long been one of my favorite country singers. This new addition to her impressive catalog is full of tight, traditional country music arrangements, using the usual instruments of the trade: acoustic, steel and electric guitars, fiddles, mandolins, etc. The drums keep a steady beat throughout these mostly mid-tempo and slow tunes. These are almost all what one would call Standards, and Loveless and company have done very little fussing over them. They are straight forward and simply presented. The sound is clean and pure (one reviewer thought the sound quality was "abysmal"; he must have gotten hold of a bad copy somehow. I've been listening to this in my headphones, and it sounds wonderful, with, crisp stereo separation and just the right touch of ambience).

My one small complaint is that this production did not venture into anything resembling risky territory. This is all such solid, reliable stuff that one would be hard pressed to find fault with it, and the songs are almost impossible to ruin, so why not have a little more fun with the arrangements and instrumentation? Martina McBride did a similar set of standards a short while back, and she too avoided taking any risks, turning out a lovely recording, but nothing truly special. Like the standards of The Great American Songbook, many artists are afraid to play with them, handling them with kid gloves, doing little more than blowing some dust off of them. The trouble with this approach is that there is one true risk: boredom.

Fortunately, Patty Loveless is doing some of her most impassioned singing these days, and her pitch is spot on. Her phrasing is just perfect, and these qualities are what bump this album up above what could have been boring in the hands of any number of other singers attacking this material using the exact same arrangements. My slight reservations aside, I love hearing Patty sing these old, familiar songs. Loveless is just great, and her voice holds me captive whenever I hear it. She has few equals in the business, and I will continue to look forward to future work from her. If you love classic country done the old fashioned way, you cannot go wrong with SLEEPLESS NIGHTS. The title song, done with Vince Gill, "There Stands The Glass," and "The Pain Of Loving You" are my favorites so far. Doubtless, you will find some of your own among these gems. If you love real country music, and/or are a Patty Loveless fan, I do recommend this CD."

Country Roots Sprout a Hit

Dana49 | New England | 09/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The newest album by Patty Loveless has taken 14 country music classics and translated them into a wonderful, contemporary country sound. Love, sadness, and misery, common themes found in most of the older country music songs, are used to teach today's listeners that no matter how much life changes, it pretty much remains the same. Her beautiful voice and musical arrangements make this CD a true classic. As Patty stated, "It's a little bit of a history lesson, but I think once you hear the songs, the stories ... you're going to be drawn to it.""

Loveless' Memorable "Nights"

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 09/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: The Pain of Loving You, Why Baby Why, Sleepless Nights

To tackle the classic songs of country music's copious canon is a parlous exercise. In lesser hands, such a venture could misfire. Loveless, on the other hand, succeeds in bringing these sonic pillars of country music back to life with her creative yet reverent interpretations. After a list of 500 songs, Loveless and hubby cum producer Emory Gordy Jr. have narrowed down to these 14 lucky entries. And they certainly cover the whole gamut from the oft-covered Ray Price's "Crazy Arms," Webb Pierce's "There Stands the Glass," and George Jones' "Why Baby Why" to the more obscure Osborne Brothers' "The Pain of Loving" and Gram Parsons' "That's All It Took." Most gorgeous though is that Gordy Jr. has allowed Loveless to belt out these songs with an Appalachian distilled immediacy with equal doses of controlled fury as well as passionate empathy. Never has Loveless sounded better.

The disc begins on an ominous note with the lead single "Why Baby Why." In keeping with most of Loveless' first single from each of her albums (think "Try to Think of Elvis" and "Lovin' All Night"), Loveless gives this love gone wrong George Jones classic a feminine sensibility augmented with attitude and verve. Fans of a traditional persuasion will indulge in another Jones' number "He Thinks I Still Care" where Loveless teases out heartbreak's entanglements with the right measures of mournful steel and fiddles. Another permutation of the broken heart is the Osborne Brothers' "Pain of Loving You," a track revived in the 80s by the trio (Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt). Of interest is that the accompanying Gospel-like harmonies on Loveless' rendition bears a striking similarity with that of the Trios'. To show that Loveless does not just slavishly adhere to the original renditions, she demonstrates her indomitable creativity by decelerating Ray Price's "Crazy Arms" to a more languid pace slowly lavishing in the euphoria of love's embrace.

Bringing her friends from high places Vince Gill's distinguished tenor adds a layer of lonesome to the plaintive title cut "Sleepless Night," a gorgeous old-fashioned sounding ballad. While former MCA artist Jedd Hughes helps Loveless clears the dust off the almost forgotten "That's All It Took" making it sparkle like it's a newly written gem. A listen to "Color of the Blues" reveals why some of these classics are so endearing. No one today writes with such poetic acumen as on this George Jones standard: "Up above me are the skies like the twinkle in your eyes/These things are the colors of the blues/In the mail your letter came the ink and paper looked the same/

Blue must be the color of the blues." Most tantalizing is Loveless' tortured read of Hank Sr.'s "Cold Cold Heart," here Loveless demonstrates why she's still the mountain soul siren that few can resist.

Though it is a common venture for most established artist to record an album of classics, few can pass muster. Few can strike a balance, as Loveless can, to treat these chestnuts with reverence, yet bold enough to present them in a way as if they were the first to cut them. When Loveless sings of these stories of heartbreak, broken homes, cheating and love found, she sings them as if she were singing about her own life. Invested with personality, these paeans receive face-lifts that are undeniably fresh, engaging and heartfelt. Loveless has indeed made a classic album of these classics.

"

These Nights Really Are Sleepless

Joseph Brotherton | Greensboro, NC | 11/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My girl wanted tickets to see Patty when she was in our town in October. So, I bought a couple of good ones and they hung on the refrigerator for a couple of months until the day of the show.

Understand that I liked Patty just fine before the show. She wasn't Emmylou, but good, good, good. I didn't even know about "Sleepless Nights" when we walked through the doors of the Carolina Theater. "That's All it Took" lived up to it's name and more. I kept hearing these fine old songs and kept thinking "Where did this come from?"

No kidding, we went home from the show, turned on the computer and downloaded the record. Burned it, put it in the car, and listened to it for THREE WEEKS straight. It's true. Every song is a gem. Even Emmylou's song, and nobody (but Patty now) can sing Emmylou. Almost all of these tunes are the best versions of the songs that I've ever heard.

I've heard it said that you can tell how good a girl country singer is by counting how many syllables she can make out of a one syllable word. It's a good test and by this and every other measure Patty Loveless is great. Buy two copies just in case you lose one or like someone enough to give them one."

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