Like a lot of people I first heard of Shelby Lynne through the rave reviews she received for her "Debut" album I am Shelby Lynne. With that Debut she eventually went on to win the Grammy for best new artist - when she noted in her acceptance speech "Thirteen years and six albums to get here," At the time many and justified comparisons were made with Dusty Springfield's classic Dusty in Memphis album.
However in a sense it was a debut of Shelby as her own artist. Prior to that, at least according to the current legend is that until then she was being manufactured as a typical Nashville type artist with all the false starts and manipulation that that apparently entails.
I am Shelby Lynne contained a series of self written country soul style songs delivered in almost demo form. There were some outstanding songs on that album including a bunch of what would have been classic sounding songs Leavin', Thought it would be easier, Dreamsome, Lookin' Up, Where I'm From, and Black Light Blue. If they had been recorded at the end of the 60's they could well have been massive hits and now been considered classics by now.
There were also a number of funkier songs including Life is Bad and the opening double tracked vocals of Your Lies.
All in all a classic album of the 2000s.
The consistent sound and feel to the album certainly had the feel of an artist making a stand and staking a personal claim to her career. Not something that happens that often six albums into a career.
The sheer power of the album was such that I quickly chased down copies of earlier albums picking up two or three of them and the difference was stark in terms of authenticity with, to my ears only Temptation giving any indication of the Shelby's potential and capabilities.
Like a lot of people who were so captured by the I am Shelby Lynne I both eagerly awaited and was disappointed in the follow up album. The songs on I Love Shelby weren't as engaging, the production was glossier, the cover and the movie sountrack tie-in hit single indicated that maybe the big business marketing was taking over again.
The question immediately came to mind - was I am Shelby Lynne to simply be a one off album. Something that would not be repeated but that we should all be grateful for. When this happens my reaction is to decide to not pay full price for the next album. I wait for a cheap or second hand version to appear so I do not invest too much to find out whether the magic has been restored.
Thankfully I did not have to wait too long to pick up a copy of the next album and find out the magic was back. The title Identity Crisis seemed to acknowledge what the new fans were feeling. The album itself followed a similar template to that "first" album with sparsely recorded country soul songs that really came out as authentic. While I enjoyed the rockier songs on the first album it was the slower ones I kept coming back to. This time the funkier sound of songs like 10 Rocks and Gotta Be Better had equal appeal. However there were still the soulful classics there including Telephone, If I were Smart and One with the Sun.
Since then Shelby has released a slew of excellent albums which show in my opinion an artist confident in the place she has eked out in the industry. Defintely deserving of more plaudits than she gets. In 2008 the comparisons with Dusty were made a lot more obvious when she recorded of set of Dusty related songs on the excellent Just a Little Loving album. And while I come back most often to Identity Crisis and I am Shelby Lynne every time I play the later albums Suit Yourself and Revelation Road I am always impressed by the quality of the songs and singing and left wondering why she does not have more success.
However in a sense it was a debut of Shelby as her own artist. Prior to that, at least according to the current legend is that until then she was being manufactured as a typical Nashville type artist with all the false starts and manipulation that that apparently entails.
There were also a number of funkier songs including Life is Bad and the opening double tracked vocals of Your Lies.
All in all a classic album of the 2000s.
The consistent sound and feel to the album certainly had the feel of an artist making a stand and staking a personal claim to her career. Not something that happens that often six albums into a career. The sheer power of the album was such that I quickly chased down copies of earlier albums picking up two or three of them and the difference was stark in terms of authenticity with, to my ears only Temptation giving any indication of the Shelby's potential and capabilities.
Like a lot of people who were so captured by the I am Shelby Lynne I both eagerly awaited and was disappointed in the follow up album. The songs on I Love Shelby weren't as engaging, the production was glossier, the cover and the movie sountrack tie-in hit single indicated that maybe the big business marketing was taking over again.
The question immediately came to mind - was I am Shelby Lynne to simply be a one off album. Something that would not be repeated but that we should all be grateful for. When this happens my reaction is to decide to not pay full price for the next album. I wait for a cheap or second hand version to appear so I do not invest too much to find out whether the magic has been restored.
Thankfully I did not have to wait too long to pick up a copy of the next album and find out the magic was back. The title Identity Crisis seemed to acknowledge what the new fans were feeling. The album itself followed a similar template to that "first" album with sparsely recorded country soul songs that really came out as authentic. While I enjoyed the rockier songs on the first album it was the slower ones I kept coming back to. This time the funkier sound of songs like 10 Rocks and Gotta Be Better had equal appeal. However there were still the soulful classics there including Telephone, If I were Smart and One with the Sun.
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