Lone Star State of Mind

Lone Star State of Mind is Nanci Griffith's fifth album, and her first album for MCA Records. Griffith's music took a turn from her original folk music base into more commercially viable country music. For this album, she enlisted the talents of veteran country producer Tony Brown. The album garnered her first appearance on the Billboard Country charts, rising to #23 on the Country Albums chart, and is her highest charting album. The title track, "Lone Star State of Mind," became the first of only three Griffith singles to enter the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It peaked at #36, while two other singles from the album, "Cold Hearts/Closed Minds" and "Trouble in the Fields", reached #64 and #57 respectively. "From a Distance" failed to chart because it was released only as a promotional single in the USA.[3] That song successfully hit the charts when Bette Midler covered it in 1990.

Lone Star State of Mind
Studio album by
Nanci Griffith
Released1987
RecordedJuly 1986, Soundstage/The Back Stage Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
GenreCountry
Length35:38
LabelMCA Records
ProducerTony Brown and Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith chronology
The Last of the True Believers
(1986)		 Lone Star State of Mind
(1987)		 Little Love Affairs
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]
Robert ChristgauB [2]

Critical reception

Thom Owens of AllMusic writes, "Lone Star State of Mind was Nanci Griffith's commercial breakthrough, largely because it was her first step directly toward mainstream contemporary country."[1]

This album was given a mark of "B" by Robert Christgau in his review. He begins by saying, "Band's the same, and there's not a whole hell of a lot of distance between Jim Rooney, a marketwise old folk pro, and Tony Brown" and concludes with, "Too often, though, she's still a folkie playing just folks."[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nanci Griffith, except as indicated.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lone Star State of Mind"Fred Koller, Patrick Alger, Gene Levine3:56
2."Cold Hearts/Closed Minds" 2:40
3."From a Distance"Julie Gold4:10
4."Beacon Street" 2:49
5."Nickel Dreams"Mac McAnally, Don Lowery2:48
6."Sing One for Sister"Robert Earl Keen, Jr.3:20
7."Ford Econoline" 2:10
8."Trouble in the Fields"Griffith, Rick West3:18
9."Love in a Memory" 3:17
10."Let It Shine on Me"Paul Kennerley2:59
11."There's a Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)" 4:21
Total length:35:38

Musicians

Production
  • Producer - Tony Brown
  • Producer - Nanci Griffith
  • Recorder and Mixer - Steve Tillisch
  • Second Engineers - Mark J. Coddington, Tim Kish, Russ Marting, Marty Williams
  • Project Coordinator - Jessie Noble
  • CD Art Direction - Simon Levy
  • CD Design - Camille Engel Advertising
  • CD Coordinator - Katie Gillon, Sherri Halford
  • Photography - McGuire

Track information and credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[4]

Chart performance
Chart (1987) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 23[5]

References
  1. Thom Owens. "Lone Star State of Mind - Nanci Griffith | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  2. "CG: nanci griffith". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  3. "From a Distance by Nanci Griffith (Single): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  4. Lone Star State of Mind (liner notes). Nanci Griffith. MCA Records. 1987. MCAD-31300.CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. "Nanci Griffith Album & Song Chart History - Country Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
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