In the Studio: Lucinda Williams Cures Her Blues

"Whatever record I'm doing reflects my life," says Lucinda Williams with a smile, sitting in Los Angeles' Village Recorder studios. And guessing from the sound of the singer-songwriter's ninth album, Little Honey, an upbeat disc of bluesy rockers and contented love songs, Williams is feeling pretty good these days.

The sunny vibe clearly comes through in the rowdy arrangements on the 13-track set — co-produced by Eric Liljestrand and Williams' manager-fiance, Tom Overby — which bring the lively playing of guitar ace Doug Pettibone and her road band, the Buick 6, to the forefront.

Though Little Honey sounds strikingly different from 2007's downcast West, the majority of the songs were originally written for that album. And some of the material goes back even further. The ballad "Circles and Xs" dates to 1985; "Well, Well, Well" is from the demos for 1992's Sweet Old World and is revived here with bluegrass singers Jim Lauderdale and Charlie Louvin. Other guests include Elvis Costello, who plays the part of a drunken degenerate on "Jailhouse Tears"; and Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs add harmonies to the trippy, six-minute "Little Rock Star," inspired by seeing Pete Doherty in Rolling Stone. "It's an empathetic look at self-indulgent, little-brat rock stars," she says. "He's great, and you want to say, 'Snap out of it!' "

To close the set, Williams covers AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)." "At first, I didn't dig it," she says. "But I gave it a shot. And what do you know? It seems to have worked!"

[From Issue 1059 — August 21, 2008]

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

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