Sleepless Nights is the fifteenth album by American country music artist Patty Loveless. The album was released on September 9, 2008 (see 2008 in country music).[1] Her first album for the Saguaro Road Records label, it is also her first studio album since Dreamin' My Dreams in 2005. Sleepless Nights comprises cover versions of traditional classic country music songs.[2] "Why Baby Why", a song originally recorded by George Jones which has also been a chart hit for several other artists, was released in September 2008 as the first single from the album.
| Sleepless Nights | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 9, 2008 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 43:01 | |||
| Label | Saguaro Road | |||
| Producer | Emory Gordy, Jr. | |||
| Patty Loveless chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sleepless Nights | ||||
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Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (78/100)[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |   [4] |
| Allmusic |  [5] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[6] |
| The Daily Vault | A[7] |
| Mojo | [3] |
| PopMatters |   [8] |
| Q | [3] |
| Slant Magazine | [9] |
| Engine 145 | [10] |
Allmusic critic Thom Jurek gave Sleepless Nights a four-star rating out of five, saying "Loveless takes each of these cuts deep into the well of her heart and let's [sic] them rip." Jurek also said that Emory Gordy, Jr., Loveless' husband and producer, "showers [the songs] in emotion and Loveless simply needs to open her mouth to tell the story behind the words to get it across to the listener, where it resonates deeply."[5]
Matt C., a critic for Engine 145, also gave the album a four-out-of-five rating. He described Sleepless Nights as "a thoroughly arresting listening experience, as Loveless lays twenty-first century gloss, if not sensibilities, on a few songs that haven’t been dusted off in quite some time." Although he criticized the album's lack of up-tempo songs and felt that some of the covers were "uncomfortable", he nonetheless commended Loveless for "find[ing] her wheelhouse on songs that are no-less classic but nonetheless haven’t achieved corner bar ubiquity", also saying "The success of these songs is equal testament to Loveless’ outstanding country voice and the timeless quality of the material she’s selected."[10]
Slant Magazine critic Jonathan Keefe also criticized the album for its lack up-tempo material, but gave it four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying "Loveless has offered another unqualified masterpiece with Sleepless Nights and reasserted her place as one of the premier artists not just of the country genre but of contemporary popular music."[9]
Sleepless Nights received a nomination for Best Country Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.
Track listing
edit| Track | Song Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist | Original Release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Why Baby Why" | Darrell Edwards, George Jones | George Jones | 1955 | 2:18 |
| 2 | "The Pain of Loving You" | Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner | Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton | 1971 | 2:46 |
| 3 | "He Thinks I Still Care" | Dickey Lee | George Jones | 1962 | 2:59 |
| 4 | "Sleepless Nights" (featuring Vince Gill) |
Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant | Everly Brothers | 1960 | 4:21 |
| 5 | "Crazy Arms" | Ralph Mooney, Chuck Seals | Ray Price | 1956 | 4:00 |
| 6 | "There Stands the Glass" | Audrey Greisham, Russ Hull, Mary Jean Shurtz | Webb Pierce | 1953 | 2:35 |
| 7 | "That's All It Took" (featuring Jedd Hughes) |
Darrell Edwards, Carlos Grier, Jones | George Jones & Gene Pitney | 1966 | 2:35 |
| 8 | "Color of the Blues" | Jones, Lawton Williams | George Jones | 1958 | 3:06 |
| 9 | "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" | Cecil Null | The Davis Sisters | 1953 | 3:30 |
| 10 | "Next in Line" | Wayne Kemp, Curtis Wayne | Conway Twitty | 1968 | 3:06 |
| 11 | "Don't Let Me Cross Over" | Penny Jay | Carl Butler and Pearl | 1962 | 3:23 |
| 12 | "Please Help Me I'm Falling" | Hal Blair, Don Robertson | Hank Locklin | 1960 | 2:40 |
| 13 | "There Goes My Everything" | Dallas Frazier | Jack Greene | 1966 | 2:50 |
| 14 | "Cold, Cold Heart" | Hank Williams | Hank Williams | 1951 | 2:53 |
| 15* | "We'll Sweep out the Ashes in the Morning" | Joyce Ann Allsup | Carl Butler & Pearl | 1969 | 3:14 |
| 16* | "If Teardrops Were Pennies" | Carl Butler | Carl Smith | 1951 | 2:38 |
.* Bonus Track, only available via download[12]
Personnel
edit
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Chart performance
edit| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 86 |
References
edit- ^ Patty Loveless Covers Country Bases
- ^ a b Patty Loveless’ Covers Album Celebrates Youth
- ^ a b c Critic reviews at Metacritic
- ^ "About.com review". Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ a b Allmusic review
- ^ "Billboard review". Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ The Daily Vault review
- ^ PopMatters review
- ^ a b Slant Magazine review
- ^ a b Engine 145 review Archived 2014-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Patty Loveless readies new CD". Country Standard Time. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
- ^ Album bonus track information listed on official website
