Lucinda Williams

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

• Mercury

In the great Southern literary tradition, Lucinda Williams writes songs that could be novels, getting the most out of every single word and the spaces between them. Exquisitely sparse, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road rides on gentle folk/country flavors that blend beautifully with the writer's gift for vivid imagery. Just listen to the subtle eroticism of the album opening “Right in Time” or the melodically laced torch 'n' twang saga “Metal Firecracker.” It's all in place. What makes it all the more amazing is that the album is marvelously cohesive, even though it took several years and several producers (Steve Earle, Ray Kennedy and the E Street Band's Roy Bittan) to complete.