The turn
Tanya Tucker takes on 2009's
My Turn, her first album in seven years, is her own distinctive take on 12 country tunes, all popularized by male singers.
Tucker isn't quite gender-bending the way
Lyle Lovett did when he sang "Stand by Your Man," but rather taking these songs directly, sounding as tough as any guy as she saunters her way through "Crazy Arms" and "Lovesick Blues." While it's true that
Pete Anderson's dry, unadorned production gives this muscle and grit, perhaps the most sympathetic setting
Tucker has had in decades, the triumph is all
Tanya's, as she digs deep into these songs, finding new meaning within them and proving that a great covers album need not reinterpret the sound of a song in order to reinvent it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine