Step Inside This House

Step Inside This House is the seventh album by Lyle Lovett, released in 1998. In contrast with his earlier albums, populated mostly by songs penned by Lovett, House is a double-length album of cover songs written by fellow Texans.

In choosing songs to record, Lovett favored songwriters whose works influenced his own style instead of immensely popular artists whose name recognition might boost sales. The writers selected include Robert Earl Keen, Michael Martin Murphey, Willis Alan Ramsey, Eric Taylor, and Guy Clark. The second disc is largely dedicated to songs written by Steven Fromholz, Townes Van Zandt and Walter Hyatt, with the final track being a traditional piece.

The title track was written by Guy Clark but does not appear on any of his albums. After learning the song from Clark, Lovett fell in love with it, and Clark gave him permission to include it on this album.

Track listing

Disc one

"Bears" (Steven Fromholz) – 3:04

"Lungs" (Townes Van Zandt) – 2:18

"Step Inside This House (Step Inside My House)" (Guy Clark) – 5:29

"Memphis Midnight/Memphis Morning" (Eric Taylor) – 4:23

"I've Had Enough" (Vince Bell, Craig Calvert) – 3:02

"Teach Me About Love" (Walter Hyatt) – 3:52

"Sleepwalking" (Willis Alan Ramsey) – 5:39

"Ballad of the Snow Leopard and the Tanqueray Cowboy" (David Rodriguez) – 5:51

"More Pretty Girls Than One" (traditional) – 2:56

"West Texas Highway" (Boomer Castleman, Michael Martin Murphey) – 3:32

"Rollin' By" (Robert Earl Keen) – 4:06

Disc two

"Texas Trilogy: Daybreak" (Fromholz) – 3:17

"Texas Trilogy: Train Ride" (Fromholz) – 2:35

"Texas Trilogy: Bosque County Romance" (Fromholz) – 4:53

"Flyin' Shoes" (Van Zandt) – 4:38

"Babes in the Woods" (Hyatt) – 3:04

"Highway Kind" (Van Zandt) – 3:27

"Lonely in Love" (Hyatt) – 2:45

"If I Needed You" (Van Zandt) – 3:46

"I'll Come Knockin' " (Hyatt) – 3:24

"Texas River Song" (traditional) – 4:09

Personnel

Lyle Lovett – vocals, acoustic guitar

Sam Bush – mandolin

Russ Kunkel – drums

Luis Conte – percussion

Jerry Douglas – dobro, Weissenborn

Stuart Duncan – fiddle

Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar

Dean Parks – electric guitar

Don Potter – acoustic guitar

John Hagen – cello

Deschamps Hood – harmony vocals

Alison Krauss – harmony vocals

David Ball – harmony vocals

Viktor Krauss – bass

Leland Sklar – bass

Matt Rollings – piano

Production notes

Produced by Lyle Lovett and Billy Williams

Robert Hadley – mastering

Ron Lewter – mastering

Doug Sax – mastering

Nathaniel Kunkel – engineer

John Nelson – assistant engineer

James Gilmer – production assistant

Vance Knowles – production assistant

Kathi Whitley – production coordination

Jonas Livingston – art direction

Tim Stedman – design

Keith Tamashiro – design

Michael Wilson – photography

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1998 albums

Lyle Lovett albums

Tribute albums

MCA Records albums

Music of Texas