Music

Williams also talks Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, and Trey Anastasio in advance of her shows in Medford, Portland, and Providence.

When she was 10 or 11, little Lucinda Williams made a Beatles scrapbook – press clippings, photos — even a Bazooka bubble gum wrapper.

“The gum wrapper said something like: If you buy this gum, you get photos of the Beatles! I guess you had to send off for them,” Williams, 71, tells me in a recent call from her East Nashville home. 

Saving the wrapper?  “That’s how much of a fanatic I was,” she adds with a laugh. 

It seems only natural that the self-described “Beatles-fanatical girl” chose to cover the Fab Four for her next installment of Lu’s Jukebox: a series that sees her cover favorite artists like Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, the Rolling Stones.

Her cover choices will strike Williams fans as right up her alley: those Beatles bluesier, going-through-some-s*** songs: “So Tired,” “Long and Winding Road.”

Recorded at London’s Abbey Road studios, the aptly titled: “Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road” drops Dec. 6., after shows in Medford tonight, Portland, Maine on Thursday, and Providence, Rhode Island on Friday.

She’s actually on two tours at once: Medford will get a full band show, touring on her latest album, “Stories From A Rock N Roll Heart.” (Medford crowd, take note: She’s been dropping “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in live shows recently.) 

Meanwhile, Providence gets another side of Lucinda Williams: Her book tour, with stories and acoustic songs, which came through Boston last year. 

I interviewed her about that page-turning memoir, “Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You,” when it dropped last year. Remarkably candid, it reads like her diary. Relationships, her OCD, a troubled childhood, meanings behind songs. 

When interviewed, the three-time Grammy winner and 17-time Grammy nominee is always always genuinely surprised, humble to the point of almost being unaware that people like what she does. (“Really?” is a frequent response to any compliment.)

She studied under her father’s poetry “like an apprentice,” she tells me, it’s her smoky vocals, that Louisiana-drawl grabs you — in our conversation, “time” is pronounced “tom,” for example– then the lyrics gut-punch. There’s a reason Trey Anastasio fanboyed-out last month at the Robbie Robertson tribute. (Stay tuned for the Scorsese film.)

Here, we talked the Beatles, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Trey Anastasio, overcoming the pain from her 2020 stroke – and she sang her first-ever song, written at age 13.

Boston.com: So you told me you “still can’t really play” guitar since your 2020 stroke. How are you feeling?

Williams: Well, I’m struggling with [my hands]. It hurts. I can barely make a chord because it hurts so bad. It feels like what I imagine arthritis feels like. I probably have some of that. I don’t know how they diagnose arthritis — I haven’t been diagnosed officially — but the physical therapist looked at my hand and said, “Yep, looks like you got some arthritis.” I was like, “Well, can I find out for sure?”

[laughs] Right.

I’ve used salves, rubs, ointments, CBD. Nothing’s helped. Everybody says, “You gotta play through the pain.” But they don’t know what it feels like. 

Very true. Your voice still sounds amazing, though.

Thank you. I’m very blessed because it didn’t affect my speech or my singing. As long as I can sing, I’ve got my band to back me. That’s a blessing. 

I’ve been listening to your new “Lu’s Jukebox” album of Beatles covers. You recorded it at Abbey Road.

Yeah, it was daunting. We were going to be in London for a couple of shows, and my husband/manager Tom [Overby] said:  “If we’re going over there anyway, why don’t we do it at Abbey Road?” So they booked the studio. And it was kind of scary. 

I bet. How did you pick what songs to cover?

With great difficulty. What helped was just seeing how they felt when I sang them, figuring out the keys. Initially, I’d come up with a list of songs I liked as a kid. I love their early stuff, the pretty love songs: “Love Me Do,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I Should Have Known Better ” — all those.

I love that you did “Yer Blues.” 

Me too. Once I sunk my teeth into it, I was like, “Wow, this is pretty dark and heavy.”  I enjoyed doing that one, in particular.

You mentioned the early innocent songs, but you cover more of their darker, bluesier songs:  “Long and Winding Road,” “Something,” “I’m So Tired.” They feel very up your alley.

I’m drawn to the dark side. [laughs] I’ve always loved blues, that style, the words. A lot [of those songs] are like, “Wow, what was he going through?” Very bluesy and dark. But I like the young, innocent love songs, too. They’re so sweet.

You were a big Beatles fan as a kid. 

I was 10 when “Meet the Beatles!” came out.  I heard “I Want to Hold your Hand” on the radio, and oh, I was over the moon. Posters all over my bedroom wall.

Favorite Beatle?

I guess I liked Paul. All the girls liked Paul.

[laughs] Right.

As I grew older, I was drawn more towards George, his angular features. But yeah, I was crazy about them.

Do you remember when they were on Ed Sullivan?

No, I don’t think I saw that. That’s interesting. You’re the first person who’s asked me that. And I never saw them live, either — I was thinking about that yesterday.

What’s your favorite Beatles album now as an adult?

God, that’s a hard one.  I love “Rubber Soul.” There was a certain thing about that album that set it apart. I love that era.  It’s funny, when we found my scrapbook, one of the articles said something like, “Well, they’ve gotten older now, but they’re still making good music.”

[laughs] Had you ever worked with any of them?

I met Ringo. I almost played with him. Ringo does this thing every year for his birthday, where he invites musician buddies for jam-session in LA [his “Peace and Love Birthday Celebration.”] You had to be invited [to play], and I got an invitation. 

I was so shy, I didn’t want to join the jam-session. But Tom and I went because we wanted to meet Ringo. He was sweet as could be, just adorable. We got our picture taken with him, and he was doing his peace symbol thing with his hand. He said something like, “You probably think this is really corny, don’t you?” And I said, “Oh, no, not at all. Quite the contrary. I think it’s wonderful that you do that. It’s really cool.” 

[laughs] I love that. Speaking of covering cool songs, I saw you on Warren Zanes’s PBS “Nebraska” special. How did that come about?

Tom and I kind of have a connection with Bruce [Springsteen] just from, over the years, running into him. I was in London performing, and he showed up and ended up sitting in with us on a song. Then we went to see him perform in LA. After the show, we hung out; he took everybody to this restaurant that stayed open late for us. We have this mutual admiration for each other’s music. 

We got him to sing on “Stories from a Rock N Roll Heart.” He and Patti [Scialfa], his wife, did some harmony vocals. Patti emailed us this really nice letter after saying how much they enjoyed doing it, and how nobody’s writing songs like that anymore. 

That’s awesome. 

Yeah, so he’s kind of like a member of the family now, almost.

He seems like such a nice guy.

He really is. He’s just a doll. He’s so sweet, down to earth. I really look up to him as an artist. 

You had a haunting cover of “Born in the USA” on that special. When I interviewed Warren Zanes about the show, he said your cover made people tear up.

Really?

Yeah.

Wow. Thank you. Wow. 

So when did you know that you wanted to be a singer?

When I was 12, I started taking guitar lessons. But as far back as I can remember, I wanted to play guitar so I could sing. As soon as I was old enough to write, I started writing little poems and stories. Once I learned guitar, I was off and running.

All I wanted to do was listen to records — Gordon Lightfoot, Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan. I bought songbooks from music stores — I couldn’t read music, but the songbooks had lyrics and chords. That’s pretty much how I filled up all my time back then.

When did you start writing your own songs?

I wrote my first little song when I was around 13. You’ll never hear it, it’ll never be on an album. [laughs] 

[laughs] 

It’s called “The Wind Blows.” I wasn’t aware of irony at that point. It’s very, very innocent. 

That’s so sweet. 

It’s kind of sweet. It had a sweet little melody. It was like [sings, almost like a lullaby] The wind blows/ and it blows through the town/ and the people in the town hear it blow/ The wind blows/ and it blows through the town/ and the people in the town hear it blow. 

That is so sweet. I love that. 

Because I loved melodies. I was drawn to really sweet melodies. Beatles, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell.

You’re also doing a book show in New England. I was surprised, reading your book, how many songs are lifted almost exactly from your life. Are there any you feel the most connected to?

In “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” there’s a line: “Child in the backseat, ’bout four or five years/Lookin’ out the window/ Little bit of dirt mixed with tears…” Right after I first wrote that, I played the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, and my dad was in the audience. He came up after and told me how sorry he was. I said, “Dad, what do you mean?” He said, “That new song you have — you’re the child in the backseat.”  I hadn’t realized it was me until he pointed it out. It really took me aback. He was saying sorry. Isn’t that sweet?

That’s beautiful. 

Bless his heart.

He was a big influence on you as a writer.

Yeah, I’d ask his opinions. He’d give constructive criticism. That was really how I learned, almost like an apprenticeship. He’d say, “This might sound better if you took this word out.” Tiny details he’d always be right about.

I saw Trey Anastasio posted a photo with you, from the Robbie Robertson tribute concert in LA.

I’d never met him before. He was adorable.  I didn’t realize he was a fan. He said, “I was hoping you’d be here. Of all the people here, you’re the one I wanted to get my picture taken with the most.” [laughs] So sweet.

That show must’ve been amazing.  Bob Weir, Taj Mahal, Don Was — it was pretty star-studded.

Jim James did a blistering version of “Makes No Difference.”

Oooh, I love that song.

I do too. He sang the hell out of it.

Do you have any favorite songs of yours to sing?

One is “Joy.” We usually end the night with “Joy,” because it gets people up on their feet. But there’s other softer, quieter songs I like. “Blue” and “Over Time.” I’m partial to that song. The special thing is Willie Nelson picked it to record. I actually sang it with him at one of his shows. He invited me to come sing that. I found it on YouTube at one point. He just nails it.

I’ve seen that. You’re right, it’s a very Willie-esque song, actually. Almost like “Buddy,” but talking to the ex.

That was one of the highlights of my career, probably. Any time anybody does one of your songs, it’s a real honor, one of the coolest things anybody can do for another artist.

What would be some other favorite covers? 

Emmy Lou Harris recorded “Crescent City” and “Sweet Old World” and does really beautiful versions. The biggest one probably was when Mary Chapin Carper recorded “Passionate Kisses.” 

That was a major radio hit. That must’ve felt surreal.

It was surreal, hearing it in the supermarket.

[laughs] I bet.

She had to fight for it, though. The powers that be frowned on the idea of her releasing it as a single – they said it wasn’t country enough. Then it won the Grammy for best country song of the year. 

That’s awesome.

Yeah. I love telling that story. [laughs]

Interview has been edited and condensed. 

Lauren Daley is a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.

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