Album Review: Patty Loveless – Sleepless Nights

Too many cover albums fall into the comfortable paradigms of reserved, standard interpretations of oft-covered standards (Martina McBride, Timeless and recent Shanachie Records projects by Gene Watson and David Ball) and irreverent statements of artistic independence (Various Artists, Johnny Cash Remixed). Despite the proliferation of projects in these categories, most of the artistry of the cover album is to be found in the middle ground that Sleepless Nights occupies.

To its credit, Sleepless Nights is not an album of comfortable covers. It’s not that Patty Loveless herself is or sounds uncomfortable with the material she’s chosen; rather, the fact that she performs so well makes Sleepless Nights 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. Take the album’s most uncomfortable choice, “I’ve Forgotten More Than You’ll Ever Know,” the forgotten sole hit for the (literally) short-lived Davis Sisters, which is difficult to listen to not because of Loveless’ performance but because she sings a song seldom heard outside of a vinyl record.

Even some more familiar standards are uncomfortable for interpretive reasons: “Cold, Cold Heart,” is performed pensively and plodding and with only a hint of the trademark steel guitar, and “Crazy Arms,” is taken down a notch from the Ray Price shuffle. These choices aren’t intrinsically misguided (“Cold, Cold Heart” works particularly well) but will doubtless bother some listeners and exacerbate the sole problem with Loveless’ album construction: save album opener “Why Baby Why,” Sleepless Nights is seriously deficient of up-tempo material. Two unusual choices, however, are truly great: the Osborne Brothers’ “The Pain of Loving You,” sounds made for Loveless’ mountain siren and harbors a strongly Appalachian flavor and title track “Sleepless Nights” is buoyed by Vince Gill’s stunning harmony vocal.

Loveless finds her wheelhouse on songs that are no-less classic but nonetheless haven’t achieved corner bar ubiquity. She plays the part of the conflicted woman well in “Don’t Let Me Cross Over” and “Please Help Me, I’m Falling” and accentuates the imagery of “The Color of the Blues” even if she doesn’t touch George Jones’s definitive version. Like any great country artist, she possesses the versatility to perform any one of the endless permutations on heartache, from the despair of “There Goes My Everything” to the denial of “(S)He Thinks I Still Care.” A studio ensemble that includes legends Pig Robbins and Harold Bradley preserves much of the spirit of the original recordings, even if Sleepless Nights is unlikely to be mistaken for a vintage record.

The success of these songs is equal testament to Loveless’ outstanding country voice and the timeless quality of the material she’s selected. Loveless manages to assemble a collection of classics that remain sufficiently unperformed that even standard interpretations by such a great vocalist sound refreshing and deeply satisfying. The philosophy underlying Sleepless Nights ought to provide a template for other country artists as they prepare their own cover albums.