Lucinda Williams’ 1988 self-titled album feels like a debut but was actually her third album. She released her first record, a collection of covers, in 1979 and her second, the minor Happy Woman Blues, in 1980 before taking a lengthy hiatus.

It was a full eight years before this album came out and launched her career critically if not commercially. At least three songs on Lucinda Williams became hits for other artists but the album itself has sold only 100,000 copies to date.

But no doubt all 100,000 people who bought it became instant fans. This is a record that gets under your skin from the first listen — it has an elemental quality, as if it somehow existed long before it was committed to tape.

The album is modest in every aspect but the extraordinary songwriting. In that way it reminds me a lot of Randy Newman’s early albums (such as 12 Songs and Sail Away). No studio trickery or ornate instrumentation necessary — just an artist, a small band, a microphone and an amazing collection of songs.

Lucinda Williams features ‘Passionate Kisses’ and ‘Side of the Road,’ which alone would qualify it for a best-of list. But every song here is special, from the Cajun shuffle of ‘Crescent City’ to the rock stomp of ‘Changed the Locks’ (later covered by Tom Petty) and the intimate balladry of ‘Like a Rose.’

Ten years later, Williams would release her masterpiece, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, but this record sits on a pedestal just below it.