Leann Rimes - Lady and Gentlemen - Music & Performance - CD

Lady And Gentlemen is a creative concept album co-produced by LeAnn Rimes, country superstar Vince Gill and successful writer, Darrell Brown. It features country classic songs by the likes of George Jones, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings, all sung from a modern female's perspective. Says LeAnn, "This album was born out of the memories of when I first fell in love with country music and in reflecting, I realized that almost all of my favorite country songs from back then were sung by men. I am honored to take a step back in time and sing these songs from a woman's perspective and hopefully help reintroduce them to a new audience." The album features the Grammy Award nominated song "Swingin'" (Best Female Country Vocal Performance) along with the moving single, "Give," "Crazy Women" and an anniversary edition of "Blue" as bonus tracks.

As concept albums go, LeAnn Rimes' 2011 album Lady & Gentlemen is a good one: a collection of masculine country classics reinterpreted by a female singer. Sometimes, this reinterpretation amounts to little more than swapping a gender -- "The Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" becomes "The Only Mama That'll Walk the Line," Charlotte in John Anderson's "Swingin'" becomes Charlie -- and some of these songs are standards that have often been sung by either gender ("Help Me Make It Through the Night"), but there are a few songs that do feel slightly different when sung by Rimes, including "A Good Hearted Woman" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today," neither given a gender switch yet changing slightly with the perspective shift. Generally, though, Lady & Gentlemen isn't much more than a good straight-ahead covers album, given grit and tradition from co-producers Vince Gill and Darrell Brown, who give John Conlee's "Rose Colored Glasses" a dusty beer joint kick and Gill's own "When I Call Your Name" a soulful sway, and transform Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" into a slow, spooky crawl, all moves that more than compensate for the too frenetic take on "Swingin'." Throughout it all, Rimes hits her marks with ease, and the new version of her breakthrough hit "Blue" illustrates just how far she's come -- how she's become a stronger, more nuanced singer over the years. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Performer	LeAnn Rimes
Music genre	Country
Music release type	Album
Media format	CD
Original release date	2011
Language	English
Is collectible	Y
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Awards won	Grammy Awards
Track listing	Swingin', Wasted Days and Wasted Nights, The Only Mama That'll Walk the Line, I Can't Be Myself, 16 Tons, Help Me Make It Through the Night, Rose Colored Glasses, A Good Hearted Woman, When I Call Your Name, He Stopped Loving Her Today, Blue, The Bottle Let Me Down, Crazy Women [Bonus Track], Give [Bonus Track]
Record label	Curb
Music producer	LeAnn Rimes, Vince Gill, Darrell Brown
Track name	Swingin'
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N