The look, the attitude, and ... the voice. A buzz saw fueled by honey, it is a voice that can cut a swath through lust and love, and the million shades of blues in between.

It is a formidable weapon to be placed in the hands of a Fort Worth girl whose daddy drove a truck, and whose mama runs a bookstore. Even today, there is still a lot of Cowtown in the whiskey frosting she puts on words like "time" and "cry" and "man".

But there is too, in the strength and supple wisdom of that voice, the legacy of years spent fronting bands with wonderful names like "The Fabulous Thunderbirds" and "Roomful of Blues" and "The Five Careless Lovers," and "Lou Ann and the Fliptops".

The years and that voice have taken Barton from Fort Worth gin mills to the glittering showcase clubs that spangle both coasts. On her album, Read My Lips , she comes home again, via classic readings of songs from the repertoires of Slim Harpo, Wanda Jackson, Barbara Lynn, Jimmy Reed, Irma Thomas, and others.

This third album represents the latest chapter in the evolution of an impeccable song stylist. As a singer, she has the guts of a daylight burglar and an infallible sense of where the heart of a song lies.

It was that ingrained gift which caught the ear of legendary soul/blues producer Jerry Wexler one night in 1980, when Lou Ann was performing in a Manhattan club. Wexler offered to produce the singer virtually on the spot, and her debut effort (co-produced by Wexler and Glenn Frey) was released as Old Enough, on the Asylum label in 1982. She earned rave reviews from just about every critic in America, including "four-star" ratings in Rolling Stone and the New York Times. It was the only debut album of the year to appear on MTV's Top Ten list.

Unfortunately, Barton was dropped from the label during a corporate shuffle. An abortive follow-up project never materialized, and some personal demons conspired to dampen her momentum. It wasn't until 1986 that Lou Ann reemerged on the independent Spindletop label with Forbidden Tones, an album that never received the distribution it deserved. In reviewing that album, Rolling Stone called Barton, "the most commanding white female belter to erupt out of Texas since Janis Joplin. In less prosaic, but more pungent language, Linda Ronstadt observed, "this woman scares me to death.

All of which mattered not at all to her fans in Austin and around the country. She and fellow chanteuse Angela Strehli have been playing ping-pong with the "Best Female Vocalist" award in the Austin Chronicle Reader's Poll for the past several years (Lou Ann captured the honor in 1984,'86 and '87.) She was even lionized in an issue of Esquire as one of the "Women We Love" in a feature by that name.

Listeners can be forgiven for believing that now is indeed Lou Ann's time. Read My Lips incorporates the cream of Austin's blues players (including members of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble, the Antone's, and the Joe Ely Band, along with guests like David "Fathead" Newman and Bobby "Blue" Bland alumnus Mel Brown.)

One of the songs Lou Ann covers on her album is Wanda Jackson's "Mean Mean Man." Of Jackson, a prototypical '50s rocker, journalist Nick Tosches wrote, "Her voice, a wild fluttering thing of sexy subtleties and sudden harshnesses, feral feline purrings and raving banshee shriekings, was a vulgar wonder to hear. She was a girl who could growl..."

Tosches didn't know it, but he was writing about Lou Ann Barton as well.

Albums by artist:
Read My Lips
Old Enough
Bringing You The Best in Blues

Listen:
To listen to sample tracks, click the album of choice above.

Artist's Links:
All Music Guide compreshensive misc. info
Austin City Limits Lou Ann preforms