| Bitter Sweet | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | Mercury [1] | |||
| Producer | Angelo; John Leventhal on "I Know" | |||
| Kim Richey chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bitter Sweet is the second album by the American musician Kim Richey, released in 1997. [2] [3]
The album peaked at No. 53 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. [4] Richey supported Bitter Sweet by playing shows with Junior Brown, Robert Earl Keen, and Wilco, among others. [5] [6]
The album was produced by Angelo and John Leventhal, who also cowrote some of the songs. [7] [8] [9] Richey either wrote or cowrote all of its songs. [10]
Bitter Sweet was recorded with Richey's touring band as the backing musicians. [11] Kenny Vaughan played guitar on the album; Sam Bush played mandolin. [12] [13] "I'm Alright" employs accordion, mandolin, and banjo. [14] John Crooke duetted with Richey on "Fallin'". [15]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [16] |
| Chicago Tribune |  [17] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [18] |
| Lincoln Journal Star | [19] |
| Los Angeles Daily News | [20] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [8] |
| The Republican | [15] |
| Spin | 8/10 [21] |
The Chicago Reader wrote that "a few tunes suggest the mid-70s turquoise and denim of Linda Ronstadt, but there are also a number of gritty, loose songs." [22] Spin determined that the "best tracks tastefully tangle alternative country's string band purity and mainstream country's gloss." [21] The Chicago Tribune thought that Richey's band "plays with the rapport of the Jayhawks and the Band before them, laying barbed-wire guitar leads and earthy harmonies over acoustic strumming and rough-and-tumble rhythms." [17]
Stereo Review stated that Richey "cuts through country's plastic heart to usher in the genre's new realism." [23] The Los Angeles Daily News called the album "excellent," and praised the "terrific vocals and top-notch country-rock musicianship." [20] The Lincoln Journal Star concluded that Richey "cements her growing reputation as the rare artist who manages to appeal to both Nashville's most hidebound factions and its alternative-minded strains." [19]
The Dayton Daily News deemed Bitter Sweet the best album of 1997; the Nashville Banner and The Province listed it among the year's best country albums. [24] [25] [26]
AllMusic wrote that "Richey is a fine lyricist, capable of taking a cliché and twisting it or reinvesting everyday language with meaning." [16]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Every River" | Angelo Petraglia, Tom Littlefield, Kim Richey | 4:00 |
| 2. | "I'm Alright" | Petraglia, Larry Gottlieb, Richey | 4:01 |
| 3. | "Wildest Dreams" | Petraglia, Richey | 4:33 |
| 4. | "Straight as the Crow Flies" | Petraglia, Richey | 4:20 |
| 5. | "I Know" | John Leventhal, Richey | 3:13 |
| 6. | "Fallin'" | John Crooke, Richey | 4:33 |
| 7. | "To Tell the Truth" | Petraglia, Gottlieb, Richey | 3:28 |
| 8. | "My Whole World" | Tia Sillers, Richey | 4:25 |
| 9. | "The Lonesome Side of Town" | Petraglia, Gottlieb, Richey | 3:58 |
| 10. | "Don't Let Me Down Easy" | Petraglia, Littlefield, Richey | 4:21 |
| 11. | "Let It Roll" | Petraglia, Richey | 4:35 |
| 12. | "Why Can't I Say Goodnight" | Petraglia, Richey | 3:11 |