1. Right in Time
2. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
3. 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
4. Drunken Angel
5. Concrete and Barbed Wire
6. Lake Charles
7. Can't Let Go - Lucinda Williams, Weeks, Randy
8. I Lost It
9. Metal Firecracker
10. Greenville
11. Still I Long for Your Kiss
12. Joy
13. Jackson
Amazon.com's Best of 1998
Six years in the making, Car Wheels somehow lives up to its lofty expectations because of Williams's direct songwriting and her wonderfully unaffected vocals. With assistance from cohorts such as Steve Earle, Williams uses the acoustic accents of Dobros, mandolins, slide guitars, and accordions to add color to her grooves, whispers, and rumbles. Her lyrics are undisguised as she presents to us the travelogue of her memory. We can't wait for 2004! --Marc Greilsamer
Amazon.com essential recording
Lucinda Williams makes this whole music thing seem so simple: Write in plain language about the people and places that crowd your memory; add subtle flavors of a mandolin here, a Dobro there, perhaps an accordion or slide guitar; above all, sing as honestly and naturally as you can. Of course, it took her six years to achieve this simplicity, an amazing achievement considering the number of knobs that were turned. Her exquisite voice moans and groans and slips and slides--she delivers a polished tone in a coarse manner. On the superb "Concrete and Barbed Wire," soft acoustic guitars are punctuated by electric slide, accordion, mandolin, and Steve Earle's harmony. Williams's deeply personal stories are matched with bluesy rumbles, raunchy grooves, and plaintive whispers. The entire Deep South is reduced to a sleepy small town filled with ex-lovers, dive bars, and endless gravel roads. --Marc Greilsamer
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Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
- Audio CD: 0 pages (1998-06-30)
- Publisher: Island / Mercury
- Label: Island / Mercury
- Studio: Island / Mercury
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 282 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #2403
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Avg. Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: It would be boring if it wasn't so grating. 2008-11-12
Comment: I'm really baffled by the great reviews of this record. Williams' voice is horrible. It's not that her voice is unpolished; Dylan, Steve Earle, and many others pull off less than perfect voices by the strength of their delivery. Williams tries too hard to sound soulful, ending up sounding desperate, grating. The melodies are flat and uninteresting, and the lyrics are uninspired. Skip this and pick up a Steve Earle, or Blue Rodeo CD for some great "American" music.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Lucinda's Best 2008-10-16
Comment: I own all her cd's...will keep this short Best Lucinda cd out there. But with that said. Only certain people like her style and country drawl, sing through the nose voice (i guess not pretty) But she has so much soul and can write songs with the best of them.... she is special.....I like her voice too....also good musicians
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must have! 2008-10-15
Comment: I don't know how long Amazon will be offering this fantastic album download at such a low price ($1.99!) but you would be certifiably insane to let it pass you by.
Lucinda's voice alone is worth the regular price but add on to that her remarkable songwrting and you have an album to cherish. When trying to describe her to those not familiar I say Lucinda Williams is like Sheryl Crow...with talent.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Over-rated, but I love the way she sings 2008-06-07
Comment: A couple of good songs, but all in all a bit too squared off. Not much imagination, roots music doesn't have to be so dry. I was drawn to her by her appearance at the Gram Parson Tribute concert. When she has great songs to sing she is really fine.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Lucinda I fell for years ago 2008-01-18
Comment: I used to own this album when it first came out, it was my first taste of Lucinda Williams. At the time, I loved all the hits (title track, Too Kool 2 B Forgotton, etc). Now, I've grown tired of those songs and when purchasing and listening to this album again, it is her other songs on it that captivate me. I would say there is not one song on this album that isn't great. I know that some of her other work is fairly sad, or dark, but this one is not. If you like anything you have heard from Lucinda Williams, you'll love this album!
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Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
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