Pontiac (album)

Pontiac
Studio album by Lyle Lovett
Released	January 1988 [1]
Recorded	April 1987 [2]
Studio	Sound Stage Studios, Nashville, TN
Genre	Country blues [3] jazz [3]
Length	35:07
Label	MCA/Curb
Producer	Tony Brown Lyle Lovett Billy Williams
Lyle Lovett chronology
Lyle Lovett (1986) Pontiac (1988) Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (1989)

Pontiac is the second studio album by American singer Lyle Lovett, released in 1987.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Robert Christgau	B− [4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Music Hound	[6]
Pitchfork	9.0/10 [7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	10/10 [9]
Virgin	[10]

Pontiac was ranked at 201 in the list of the "500 Best Albums of All-Time" by the German edition of Rolling Stone in 2004. ^[11] The album was cited as one of the top 100 albums of the 1980s by the Italian magazines Il Mucchio Selvaggio ^{[ citation needed ]} and Velvet. ^[12] It is also one of 300 albums listed in the book 50 Years of Great Recordings, ^[13] and appeared at number 33 on the Village Voice's list of top albums of 1988. ^[14] A 2023 review by Pitchfork 's Nadine Smith described it as "a terrific showcase of his subversive and idiosyncratic country style", with its songwriting "land[ing] somewhere between magical realism and creative nonfiction". ^[7]

Chart performance

Pontiac reached number 12 on Billboard's chart for Top Country Albums, ^[15] and 117 on the Billboard 200. ^[16]

Track listing

All songs written by Lyle Lovett

1. "If I Had a Boat" – 3:06
2. "Give Back My Heart" – 3:00
3. "I Loved You Yesterday" – 2:56
4. "Walk Through the Bottomland" – 4:11
5. "L.A. County" – 3:17
6. "She's No Lady" – 3:13
7. "M-O-N-E-Y" – 3:15
8. "Black and Blue" – 3:58
9. "Simple Song" – 3:17
10. "Pontiac" – 2:24
11. "She's Hot to Go" – 2:30

Personnel

• Tony Brown – producer
• Paul Franklin – steel guitar
• Vince Gill – guitar, background vocals (track 2)
• John Hagen – cello
• Emmylou Harris – background vocals (track 4)
• Ray Herndon – electric guitar
• Simon Levy – art direction
• Lyle Lovett – acoustic guitar, vocals, producer
• Steve Marsh – saxophone
• Matt McKenzie – electric bass
• Glenn Meadows – mastering
• Edgar Meyer – double bass
• Peter Nash – photography
• Willie Pevear – engineer
• Francine Reed – background vocals (tracks 2, 7, and 11)
• Matt Rollings – piano, DX-7 synthesizer
• J. David Sloan – background vocals
• Harry Stinson – drums, background Vocals
• Steve Tillisch – engineer, mixing
• Ron Treat – engineer
• Billy Williams – acoustic and rhythm guitar, associate producer
• Marty Williams – second engineer

Chart performance

Chart performance for Pontiac

Chart (1988)	Peak position
US Billboard 200 [16]	117
US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [15]	12

References

1. "Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith". SPIN: 68. January 1988.
2. The Orange County Register, 2018 )
3. 1 2 3 Mark Deming, AllMusic (link)
4. Robert Christgau, Consumer Guide (link)
5. Lewis, Randy (17 January 1988). "Lyle Lovett Rides Again". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 20 May 2011.
6. Music Hound, USA, 1988-89 (4 "bones", scale 0-5)
7. Smith, Nadine (August 20, 2023). "Lyle Lovett: Pontiac Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved August 20, 2023.
8. Rolling Stone Album Guide, USA, 1992, 2004
9. Sandow, Greg (1995). "Lyle Lovett". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 229–230. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.
10. Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, UK, 2002
11. "The 500 Best Albums of All Time", Rolling Stone (Germany), 2004 (link)
12. Velvet, 1990 (according to rocklistmusic.co.uk (link ^{[ usurped ]})
13. 50 Years of Great Recordings, Thunder Bay Press, November 9, 2005
14. see villagevoice.com (link Archived 2012-03-30 at the Wayback Machine )
15. "Lyle Lovett Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
16. "Lyle Lovett Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2023.