Happy Woman Blues

Happy Woman Blues is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released in 1980, by Smithsonian Folkways.

Happy Woman Blues
Studio album by
Lucinda Williams
Released1980
RecordedApril–June 1980
StudioSugar Hill Studios, Houston, Texas
Genre
Length35:13
LabelSmithsonian Folkways
ProducerMickey White, Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams chronology
Ramblin' on My Mind
(1979)		 Happy Woman Blues
(1980)		 Lucinda Williams
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]
The Village VoiceA− [2]

While her debut album, Ramblin' on My Mind (1979), consisted entirely of cover recordings, all of Happy Woman Blues was written solely by Williams.[2] She also produced the album, alongside Mickey White.[3] Supported by a six-member band, the songs are a mix of traditional and alternative country, folk, and blues that reflect her Louisiana roots.[4] The album has received critical acclaim.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave Happy Woman Blues an "A–" and called Williams a "guileless throwback to the days of the acoustic blues mamas" who "means what she says and says what she means".[2] In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Kurt Wolff gave it four out of five stars and said "King of Hearts", "Sharp Cutting Wings", and "Lafayette" are well composed, emotionally powerful "classics" on an album that was bold, refreshing, and "stunning for its mixture of blues, folk, and country traditions with [Williams'] captivating, complex, and visceral approach to writing and singing".[1] Trouser Press felt the record was more "rock-oriented" than Williams' debut album, writing that she used timeworn ideas such as "smoke-stained bars, open roads and a heart that never learns" but reimagined them "in a way that is both contemporary and uncynical".[5]

Track listing

All songs by Lucinda Williams

Side one
  1. "Lafayette" – 3:40
  2. "I Lost It" – 2:52
  3. "Maria" – 3:45
  4. "Happy Woman Blues" – 3:08
  5. "King of Hearts" – 4:02
Side two
  1. "Rolling Along" – 2:46
  2. "One Night Stand" – 2:53
  3. "Howlin' at Midnight" – 3:49
  4. "Hard Road" – 2:29
  5. "Louisiana Man" – 2:23
  6. "Sharp Cutting Wings (Song to a Poet)" – 3:26

Personnel
  • Lucinda Williams – lead vocals, acoustic guitars
  • Mickey White – acoustic rhythm and lead guitars, harmony vocals
  • Rex Bell – electric bass, harmony vocals
  • Andre Mathews – electric rhythm, lead and slide guitars
  • Ira Wilkes – drums
  • "Uncle" Mickey Moody – pedal steel guitar
  • Malcolm Smith – fiddle, viola
Technical
  • "Uncle" Mickey Moody - engineer
  • Ronald Clyne - cover design

References
  1. Wolff, Kurt. "Happy Woman Blues". AllMusic. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  2. Christgau, Robert (October 5, 1981). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  3. "Happy Woman Blues - Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  4. "Happy Woman Blues". Smithsonian Folkways. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  5. "Lucinda Williams". Trouser Press. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
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