Lying to the Moon

Lying to the Moon
Studio album by Matraca Berg
Released	1990 (1990)
Genre	Country
Length	41:53
Label	RCA Nashville
Producer	Josh Leo Wendy Waldman[1]
Matraca Berg chronology
Lying to the Moon (1990) The Speed of Grace (1993)

Lying to the Moon is the debut album of American country music singer Matraca Berg. It was released in 1990 via RCA Records Nashville. The album accounted for the singles "Baby, Walk On", "The Things You Left Undone", "I Got It Bad", and "I Must Have Been Crazy". Berg co-wrote all ten of the tracks.

Content

The album's first two singles, "Baby, Walk On" and "The Things You Left Undone," both peaked at 36 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. Following these were "I Got It Bad" and "I Must Have Been Crazy" at 43 and 55 respectively. The album itself reached number 43 on Top Country Albums.

"Baby, Walk On" was later recorded as "Walk On" by Linda Ronstadt on her 1995 album Feels Like Home.

Critical reception

Mark A. Humphrey of Allmusic gave the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that she "sometimes delivers with brio."^[2] Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly rated it A-plus, saying that "Berg proves herself to be a songwriter of uncommon maturity" and calling her "unquestionably the first true country femme fatale of the '90s."^[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Matraca Berg and Ronnie Samoset except where noted.

1. "The Things You Left Undone" – 2:56
2. "I Got It Bad" (Berg, Jim Photoglo) – 3:36
3. "Lying to the Moon" – 3:49
4. "I Must Have Been Crazy" – 3:05
5. "You Are the Storm" – 4:14
6. "Calico Plains" (Berg, Mike Noble) – 3:40
7. "Appalachian Rain" – 3:39
8. "Baby, Walk On" – 3:08
9. "Alice in the Looking Glass" – 3:36
10. "Dancin' on the Wire" (Berg, Josh Leo, Wendy Waldman) – 3:30

Personnel

As listed in liner notes.^[1]

• Sam Bush – mandolin, fiddle
• Bruce Bouton – steel guitar, Dobro, Weissenborn
• Clara Callaway – background vocals
• Coleida Callaway – background vocals
• Sudie Callaway – background vocals
• John Catchings – cello
• Ashley Cleveland – background vocals
• Dan Dugmore – steel guitar, Dobro
• Rob Hajacos – fiddle
• Emmylou Harris – background vocals
• Bernie Leadon – acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, mandola, mandocello
• Josh Leo – acoustic guitar
• Tracy Nelson – background vocals
• Gary Prim – keyboards
• Lisa Silver – fiddle
• Harry Stinson – drums, percussion, background vocals
• Bobby Taylor – oboe
• Wendy Waldman – background vocals
• Biff Watson – acoustic guitar
• Willie Weeks – bass guitar, "cheap fretless bass"
• John D. Willis – electric guitar, acoustic guitar

Chart performance

References