My sister has long named Lyle Lovett as her desert island artist (with the rather fanciful prerequisite that all of his future material would be delivered to the island as well).
Given Lovett’s spotty output over the last decade, that “future material” provision might not count for much anymore, but that doesn’t diminish the extraordinary quality of his first several albums.
I could make an argument for almost every one of Lovett’s first five records as his best work. My own choice is The Road to Ensenada but …and His Large Band, Joshua Judges Ruth and Pontiac are right there with it.
Pontiac might be my second favorite. It’s a refreshing mix of Lovett’s playful and plaintive sides, with the cheekily sexist ‘She’s No Lady’ and ‘M-O-N-E-Y’ bumping up against the mournful ‘Simple Song’ and title track. You don’t enjoy that kind of range in most careers, let alone on a single album.
Pontiac‘s closing track, ‘She’s Hot to Go,’ is a toe-tapping pleasure about a girl who is — and I just love this phrase — “ugly from the front.”
Ain’t an easy thing to do
You’ve got to know just what you’re looking for
And where to find it too
She’s hot to go she’s ready
She’s hot to go right now
She’s hot to go
You’ve got to know
That stop-and-do-it gal
We don’t have no lengthy shopping
You don’t have to stand in line
You don’t have to care who sees your hair
You don’t have to waste your time
She’s hot to go she’s ready
She’s hot to go right now
She’s hot to go
You’ve got to know
That stop-and-do-it gal
You can stop by in the morning
You can stop by late at night
You can stop by if you’re ugly friend
Or if you look all right
She’s hot to go she’s ready
She’s hot to go right now
She’s hot to go
You’ve got to know
That stop-and-do-it gal
Now I crept up from behind her
She looked so fine to me
But when I stepped around her man
My eyes could plainly see
She was ugly from the front
She was ugly from the front
She was ugly from the front
And I said ugly-ugly-ugly-ugly-ugly
Well I could handle it behind her
And I like it on the side
But don’t make me look around her man ’cause she’s
Ugly-ugly-ugly-ugly-ugly
She was ugly from the front
She was ugly from the front
She was ugly from the front
And I said this girl was so ugly…
But you ugly too
She’s hot to go she’s ready
She’s hot to go right now
She’s hot to go
You’ve got to know
That stop-and-do-it gal
Ah, such pure delight, as are so many of the songs from the great albums you mentioned. I so wish he would return to this kind of jazzy blues sound.
I have this vision of Amy being stuck on that island for the past 15 or so years, waiting so eagerly for that new Lyle record to literally “drop” from the sky, and then cursing the heavens as another collection of country covers and gospel tunes arrived.
And how cruel is it that the guy dropping the new Lyle records wouldn’t rescue Amy from that island!
Nope, I still stand by my fanciful prerequisite. After finally getting to see Lyle in concert again this past summer, too many years after last seeing him, I’d like to add a request that every few years Lyle – and any assorted group of exceptional musicians he might choose to gather – drop in every few years for a live performance😉
This is such a fun song, and, as you point out about Lyle’s other “cheekily sexist” songs, lyrics that could (maybe should?) come across as offensive work just fine when delivered by someone called out within his own song as “ugly too.”
And it sure is a toe-tapping pleasure.
Tapping my toes right now🙂