Fred Eaglesmith Lipstick Lies & Gasoline CD

Folk/Rock From Canada

Personnel: Fred Eaglesmith (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, Wurlitzer piano); Lynn Miles (vocals, electric guitar); Scott Merritt (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, reed organ, Wurlitzer piano, tambourine, percussion, background vocals); Kim Deschamps (guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo); Willie P. Bennett (mandolin, harmonica, background vocals); Ian Lefevre (lap steel guitar, bass); Richard Bell (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Paul Intson (acoustic bass, tambourine, shaker); Ralph Schipper (bass, background vocals); Tom McKay, Jeff Bird (bass); Peter Van Alten (drums, percussion).
Recorded at The Cottage, Guelph and The Canterbury Music Company, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Personnel: Fred Eaglesmith (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, Wurlitzer organ); Lynn Miles (vocals, electric guitar, background vocals); Scott Merritt (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, reed organ, Wurlitzer organ, tambourine, percussion, background vocals); Kim Deschamps (banjo); Willie P. Bennett (mandolin, harmonica, background vocals); Richard Bell (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, organ); Paul Intson (upright bass, shaker, tambourine).
Audio Mixers: Paul Intson; Scott Merritt.
Recording information: Canterbury Music Co., Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Cottage, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Photographer: Mark Rea.
Eaglesmith strips the sound down for this one, building a lot out of relentless rhythm tracks that beat at the frontal lobes until things give way. Eaglesmith's songs have an intimate relationship with force and fury, all carried through in the arrangement and delivery, providing a sense of menace to each tune. This is album noir from end to end. Great stuff. ~ Steven McDonald
He may be a gifted singer-songwriter from Canada, but Fred Eaglesmith is a far cry from the bookish-aesthete image of countrymen like Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell. Rather, Eaglesmith is a died-in-the-wool farm boy who owes more to Tom T. Hall than Tom Rush. He comes by his predilections honestly, though, and on LIPSTICK LIES he breathes new life into the Merle Haggard/Johnny Paycheck tradition of the hard-workin' country boy with a chip on his shoulder.
Even though songs like "Time To Get A Gun" and "Seven Shells" evoke the lives of hard-livin' men of the land, the production on this album represents a step forward for Eaglesmith. While much of the album features the same acoustic-oriented country/folk stylings he's favored for some time, there are a few cuts that venture further afield with some decidedly '90s-sounding production. Ultimately, it's Eaglesmith's songwriting and honest, impassioned singing that bring it all home.

Entertainment Weekly (12/19/97, p.78) - "...Canadian newcomer Eaglesmith mixes an edgy blend of folk, country, and rock, using only the sparest of backing, seemingly played on scavenged metal parts. Eaglesmith's power lies in constructing spooky interior worlds populated by characters consumed by dread, lust, and loathing..." - Rating: B+