Lucinda Williams kicked off her unusual five-night career retrospective Saturday night with a loose, informal performance of her “World Without Tears” (Lost Highway) album that only got looser as the night went along.Williams told stories about the songs – sometimes the influences, sometimes the personal events, sometimes the reactions to them – letting people into her songwriting process. “I’m not going to give everything away, though,” she said at the sold-out Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza.
She talked about how the lovely “Those Three Days” was inspired by Ryan Adams’ “Come Pick Me Up,” how “Sweet Side” was about a failed relationship with a bass player, and how “Righteously” was not her attempt to create a new genre called “hip-billy” and she was “not trying to be Li’l Kim.”
She also ran into a bit of a mental block as she introduced “Atonement” and tried to recall the name of preacher Jay Bakker. “He was the son of...,” Williams said, searching for the name of minister Jim Bakker.
“God?” said someone in the audience.
“Jesus!” screamed someone else.
“No!” Williams said, laughing. “But I do love how y’all are so involved.”
Williams encouraged non-violent dissent as she introduced “American Dream,” which also included her reading a poem from Lawrence Ferlinghetti called “Pity the Nation.” (“Don’t worry, it’s short,” she said, “This isn’t a poetry slam.”)
“I’m a patriot, my brothers and sisters,” she said. “I love this country. That’s why I speak out.”
PHOTO: Lost Highway Records
Though Williams opened the evening a bit tight, revealing how she was nervous about the evening being filmed and recorded. But by the time she hit “Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings,” she hit her stride.
The second half of her show was a mix of new songs and special guests, including the great Charlie Louvin, who matched her dance moves on “Get Right With God,” Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez, who helped her tackle “Wild Thing” and Jim Lauderdale, who sang the new duet “Jailhouse Tears” with her.
The best of the bunch, though, was the unreleased “Honeybee,” a stomping rocker that would be more likely to come from Courtney Love than Williams.
Williams’ run of playing her previous albums in their entirety continues Tuesday (“Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”), Wednesday (“Sweet Old World”) and Thursday (“Lucinda Williams”) at Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., Manhattan.
SETLIST: (Part One) Fruits Of My Labor / Righteously / Ventura / Real Live Bleeding Fingers And Broken Guitar Strings / Overtime / Those Three Days / Atonement / Sweet Side / Minneapolis / People Talkin’ / American Dream / World Without Tears/ Words Fell / (Part Two) Pineola / Headed for the Hills (with Jim Lauderdale) / King of Broken Hearts (with Lauderdale) / Jailhouse Tears (with Lauderdale) / Crescent City (with Carrie Rodriguez, Lauderdale) / I Don’t Wanna Play House Any More (with Chip Taylor, Rodriguez) / Wild Thing (with Taylor, Rodriguez) / When I Stop Dreaming (with Charlie Louvin) / Get Right With God (with Louvin) / Honeybee.
The second half of her show was a mix of new songs and special guests, including the great Charlie Louvin, who matched her dance moves on “Get Right With God,” Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez, who helped her tackle “Wild Thing” and Jim Lauderdale, who sang the new duet “Jailhouse Tears” with her.
The best of the bunch, though, was the unreleased “Honeybee,” a stomping rocker that would be more likely to come from Courtney Love than Williams.
Williams’ run of playing her previous albums in their entirety continues Tuesday (“Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”), Wednesday (“Sweet Old World”) and Thursday (“Lucinda Williams”) at Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., Manhattan.
SETLIST: (Part One) Fruits Of My Labor / Righteously / Ventura / Real Live Bleeding Fingers And Broken Guitar Strings / Overtime / Those Three Days / Atonement / Sweet Side / Minneapolis / People Talkin’ / American Dream / World Without Tears/ Words Fell / (Part Two) Pineola / Headed for the Hills (with Jim Lauderdale) / King of Broken Hearts (with Lauderdale) / Jailhouse Tears (with Lauderdale) / Crescent City (with Carrie Rodriguez, Lauderdale) / I Don’t Wanna Play House Any More (with Chip Taylor, Rodriguez) / Wild Thing (with Taylor, Rodriguez) / When I Stop Dreaming (with Charlie Louvin) / Get Right With God (with Louvin) / Honeybee.