Cyndi Lauper’s celebrated musical journey takes an unexpected southern
turn on
DETOUR, her 11th studio album, which finds the Grammy®, Emmy® and
Tony®-winning singer-songwriter putting her signature spin on a dozen classic
country songs.
DETOUR showcases Lauper’s unmistakable voice on country classics from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s and features guest appearances from county music stars Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Willie Nelson. Lauper recorded the album in Nashville alongside a band comprised of the city’s top session players.
Lauper sounds right at home from the start, beginning with the album opener, “Funnel Of Love,” a track Wanda Jackson, the Queen of Rockabilly, recorded in 1960. Another highlight is the rollicking take on “Heartaches By The Number,” a country standard previously covered by everyone from George Jones to Waylon Jennings to Dwight Yoakum. DETOUR also features stunning covers of two classic Pasty Cline songs, “Walkin’ After Midnight” and her #1 smash, “I Fall To Pieces.” Lauper says, “I spent a lot of time in my room singing with Patsy. I had to sing a Patsy Cline song – or two – because her voice was like one of my girlfriends. That’s how close I felt to her.”
For the album, Lauper duets with several special guests, including country
music royalty:
Emmylou Harris (on the title track), Willie Nelson (“Night Life,” a song he
wrote over 50 years ago), Vince Gill (Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty’s
“You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly”) and Alison Krauss (Dolly Parton’s
“Hard Candy Christmas.” Jewel also makes an appearance on
DETOUR, showcasing her prodigious yodeling skills on “I Want To Be
A Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” which was the first country song by a woman to
sell one million copies.