Read My Lips

• Artist: Lou Ann Barton
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1989
• Total Time: 49:40
• Genre: Blues

Review

Lou Ann Barton didn't have the best of luck in her early career. Incongruously signed to a major label for 1982's Old Enough, she delivered a fine debut that was utterly out of step with the times. Shunted to a tiny indie in her adopted hometown of Austin, she recorded 1986's oddly poppy Forbidden Tones, an album of John Hiatt and Beatles covers that recalled Marti Jones' albums from the same period; it was a fine record, but it was a complete stylistic aberration. Barton returned to her blues-rock roots for 1989's Read My Lips. Cutting out the synthesizers and pop gloss of Forbidden Tones for a more traditional sound and recording with longtime friends like the Fabulous Thunderbirds' Kim Wilson and Jimmie Vaughan, Barton delivers her strongest set of tunes. As always, the song selection is heavy on the covers, including a new, heart-wrenching version of Irma Thomas' "It's Raining" that beats the pants off the too-slick version she recorded on Old Enough. Barton also salutes her influences on solid covers of Barbara Lynn's "You'll Lose a Good Thing" and a rave-up rendition of Wanda Jackson's rockabilly anthem "Let's Have a Party," not to mention the tough-chick standby "You Can Have My Husband." Wisely free of attempts to update or modernize her timeless Texas-style blues-rock, Read My Lips is a rockin' good time. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Sugar Coated Love	J.D. Miller	Lou Ann Barton	(3:56)
You'll Lose a Good Thing	Huey P. Meaux, Barabra Lynn Ozen	Lou Ann Barton	(3:27)
Sexy Ways	Hank Ballard	Lou Ann Barton	(2:39)
Shake a Hand	Joe Morris	Lou Ann Barton	(3:54)
Good Lover		Lou Ann Barton	(4:04)
Mean Mean Man	Wanda Jackson	Lou Ann Barton	(2:30)
Shake Your Hips	James Moore	Lou Ann Barton	(5:00)
Te Ni Nee Ni Nu	James Moore	Lou Ann Barton	(3:07)
Can't Believe You Want to Leave	Lloyd Price	Lou Ann Barton	(2:49)
You Can Have My Husband	Dorothy LaBostrie	Lou Ann Barton	(3:20)
It's Raining (Lyrics)	Naomi Neville	Lou Ann Barton	(2:51)
Rocket in My Pocket	Jimmie Logsdon, Vic McAlpin	Lou Ann Barton	(2:53)
I Wonder Why	Joe Josea, Riley King	Lou Ann Barton	(3:27)
Let's Have a Party	Jessie Mae Robinson	Lou Ann Barton	(2:26)
High Time We Went	Joe Cocker, Chris Stainton	Lou Ann Barton	(3:35)

Credits

Derek O'Brien (Guitar), Cameron Randle (Executive Producer), Tommy Shannon (Bass), Jeff Rowe (Cover Photo), Denny Freeman (Guitar), Jeff Rowe (Photography), Lou Ann Barton (Mixing), Mel Brown (Piano), Stuart Sullivan (Engineer), Paul Ray (Vocals (Background)), Michael Kindred (Piano), Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff (Saxophone), Bill Narum (Art Direction), Derek O'Brien (Mixing), Derek O'Brien (Slide Guitar), Fran Christina (Vocals (Background)), Joe Sublett (Saxophone), Derek O'Brien (Assistant Producer), Lou Ann Barton (Producer), Kim Wilson (Vocals (Background)), Joe Sublett (Guitar), Lou Ann Barton (Vocals), Joe Sublett (Sax (Tenor)), Reese Wynans (Piano), George Rains (Drums), Reese Wynans (Organ), Jon Blondell (Bass), Jimmie Vaughan (Guitar), Kim Wilson (Harmonica), David "Fathead" Newman (Sax (Tenor)), Paul Ray (Producer), Clifford Antone (Executive Producer), Rocky Morales (Saxophone), Paul Ray (Mixing), David Grissom (Guitar)