Classic Rewind: Norma Jean – ‘Heartbreak, USA’

Norma Jean was a regular on The Porter Wagoner Show from 1961 to 1967, when she quit to start a family.  She was replaced by a relatively unknown singer-songwriter named Dolly Parton.  This song was made famous by Kitty Wells:

Abbreviated Album Review: Chely Wright – ‘Lifted Off The Ground’

To kick off a new feature at My Kind of Country, here’s an abbreviated album review of Chely Wright’s new album, Lifted Off the Ground. Chely. The recently-outed country star who scored hits a decade ago with songs like ‘Shut Up and Drive’ and ‘Single White Female’, has a new album out on the Vanguard label. If you’d like to read a complete review of Lifted Off the Ground, check out Blake Boldt’s excellent synopsis at The 9513. Here are my thought’s on the singer’s new release:

With her new album – which I considered mostly part of a publicity stunt to announce her sexuality – I didn’t expect as much I got from Chely Wright.  What I found after listening was a brilliant blend of country and folk with tinges of rock and pop, aided in part by Rodney Crowell’s encouragement to pursue the songwriter within.  Lifted off the Ground finds the singer ably making the leap to a mature, serious, and literate artist in the vein of Mary Chapin Carpenter and Rosanne Cash, a path I didn’t think the ‘Shut Up and Drive’ singer could venture down so flawlessly.

Here a few choice tracks from the album:

‘Broken’ is a mid-tempo track with a smooth melody.  The basis has the narrator hoping to opt another heart to open up open while offering a diary on her own heartaches.

‘Like Me’ finds the singer directly addressing the issue of her sexuality.  But first, it’s a song about how much a friend know’s about the other.  Then it asks the question: ‘Who’s gonna end up holding your hand?, A beautiful woman or a tall handsome man, There’s no doubt they’ll love you, but it’s yet to be seen’.

‘Damn Liar’  makes Miranda Lambert’s ‘White Liar’, and most every other female get-back-at-him song sound tame compared to this.  It’s a great song with a helluva catchy melody.  ’Damn Liar’ is an angrywoman song, and there’s not enough of those in country music.  Chely is spitting anger with her vocals on this one.  The final line even finds her proclaiming ‘you fuckin’ liar’, making it not appropriate for squeamish ears.

‘Object of Your Rejection’ provides another drawing melody again with insightful lyrics, and again with the intent of vengeance.  Anger seems to be a recurring theme of the album.  This time, it finds the bitter heart-broken lover threatening to be the voice of dissent for all-time, akin to Ronnie Milsap’s ‘There’s No Gettin’ Over Me’, but with more tangible consequences.

Lifted Off the Ground, provides a glimpse into a meaningful and poised artist with something to say and much to unload.  Chely Wright has found her muse.

Grade: A

You can purchase Lifted Off the Ground at amazon.