LeAnn Rimes "Everybody's Sweetheart" (Nor-Va-Jak Records, 1991)
Remarkably, Rimes made her recording debut at age nine(!) with a set that in some ways sketched out the contours of her career, from per precocious emulation of Patsy Cline ("Crazy") through odd pop inclinations ("Sunday Kind Of Love," "Somewhere Over The Rainbow") and even a bit of gospel (How Great Thou Art"). For some reason, her tiger-dad producer/manager Wilbur Rimes didn't take advantage of the sprawling network of independent studios in Dallas but chose instead to record at the Nor-Va-Jak label in Clovis, New Mexico.
LeAnn Rimes "From My Heart To Yours" (Nor-Va-Jak Records, 1992)
LeAnn Rimes "All That" (Nor-Va-Jak Records, 1994)
(Produced by Johnny Mulhair & Wilbur C. Rimes)
LeAnn Rimes "Blue" (Curb Records, 1996)
(Produced by Wilbur C. Rimes, Johnny Mulhair & Chuck Howard)
This album opens with a grand countrypolitan ballad, a song that was written for Patsy Cline, but left unrecorded, just waiting for the appropriate time and place. Teenaged LeAnn Rimes, all of thirteen years old, tore the song apart and pinned back every ear that heard her, earning what seemed, at the time, many deserved comparisons to the great Ms. Cline. The rest of the album, however, revealed her deeper pop inclinations, and the thinness of much of her vocal technique. She could really belt it out, but after a few tunes, it felt like a one-note show... Rimes went on to become a hugely successful crossover artist, and while this is her most "country" effort, it's actually not all that country. Worth checking out, particularly as it's a major touchstone of late-'90s Top 40 country, but for folks like me, this one is hardly the hard country Holy Grail. I'd give it a C-.
LeAnn Rimes "The Early Years" (Curb Records, 1997)
(Produced by Johnny Mulhair & Wilbur C. Rimes)
When her first album, Blue, came out, Rimes seems to have emerged fully-formed from the head of Zeus: the title song sounded so smooth and accomplished, folks marveled how she sounded so good straight out of the gate. Well, the missing piece of the puzzle was Rimes's juvenilia, a plunky set of twangy tunes that show her country roots, as well as her weaknesses as a stylist when she was starting out. This disc draws mainly on her third Nor-Va-Jack album, All That, which also included an early version of the "Blue," though apparently her earliest recordings from the first two albums were mostly felt to be better left unmined. And, sure, she had a really big voice for a little kid, but several of these songs show her awash in needless vocalese (the painfully prolonged vocal introduction to "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," the Whitney Houston-inspired warbling on "I Will Always Love You..."), though it is nice to hear her be all country and sound so young on tunes like "The Rest Is History," "Sure Thing" and her perky version of Patsy Montana's "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart." This is not that good or satisfying of an album, but it is an interesting historical footnote to a massively successful pop-country career... It's worth checking out, but hardly a keeper.
LeAnn Rimes "You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs" (Curb Records, 1997)
(Produced by Mike Curb, Chuck Howard & Wilbur C. Rimes)
A gospel set... Or, more properly, a set of "inspirational music," with some country touches like a subtle dash of pedal steel here and there. I gotta say, even though the pacing is somewhat monotonous, this album did give her the chance to stretch out and show off some vocal chops, paving the way for her subsequent jump into mainstream pop. If you like Christian pop, then this is a fairly strong release. If you don't, though, you'll definitely want to avoid this album. Many fans at the time may have thought this album was an odd, temporary detour, but after scaling the heights of pop and country fame, Rimes eventually devoted herself almost entirely to a career in religious music... including a seemingly unending string of Christmas albums. See below.
LeAnn Rimes "Sittin' On Top Of The World" (Curb Records, 1998)
(Produced by Wilbur C. Rimes)
Sorta country, but really not. A Debby Boone for the new millennium. Yeesh... what happened?
LeAnn Rimes "I Need You" (Curb Records, 2001)
Ye gods. What a loada shinola. A bombastic, super-overproduced synthpop tragedy, only barely -- and only occasionally -- masquerading as slick modern Nashville pop. The expanded second edition of this album includes a slew of tunes that appeared in film soundtracks, etc., as well as some material original to the album. Rimes may have a good voice (I don't care for it much, one way or another) but she sure has terrible taste in music. If you like "country," however you define the genre, you should definitely avoid this album.
LeAnn Rimes "God Bless America" (Curb Records, 2001)
...And God bless you, too, LeAnn. Such a sweet child. Patriotic tunes, gospel and even something for the holidays... Apparently this disc features older stuff that Curb repackaged as a "new" album; but folks who liked Rimes' early recordings will probably be glad to hear this as well.
LeAnn Rimes "Twisted Angel" (Curb Records, 2002)
(Produced by Desmond Child, Peter Amato & Gregg Pagnani)
LeAnn Rimes "What A Wonderful World" (Curb Records, 2004)
(Produced by Peter Amato & Gregg Pagani)
Well, she hadn't really been a "country" singer for a long, long time, so the pop vocals/big band feel on LeAnn's holiday album shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to anyone. Copping a few tricks from Harry Connick, Jr. and Norah Jones, Rimes croons her way through a set of oldies and a few new tunes... Many have a wham-bam Doc Severinsen-like brassiness, courtesy of bandleader Ray Herrmann, which frankly is preferable to the slower numbers, on which she indulges in a bit of soul-inflected vocalese. It's a very slick, competent affair -- I couldn't wait to get it out of my stereo, but fans of Rimes and this brand of mainstream holiday music will definitely not be disappointed. (For more Christmas music, see my Hillbilly Holiday section)
LeAnn Rimes "This Woman" (Curb Records, 2005)
(Produced by Dan Huff)
LeAnn Rimes "Whatever We Wanna" (Warner/Curb Records, 2006)
(Produced by Dan Huff & Justin Niebank)
LeAnn Rimes "Family" (Curb Records, 2007)
(Produced by Tony Brown, Dan Huff & Reba McEntire)
Leann Rimes "Lady And Gentlemen" (Curb Records, 2011)
(Produced by LeAnn Rimes, Darrell Brown & Vince Gill)
Leann Rimes "Spitfire" (Curb Records, 2013)
(Produced by Darrell Brown)
I was all set to get all snarky and make a prediction that this isn't going to be her big back-to-basics honkytonk/bluegrass album. But then I actually listened to it and was surprised to find that, indeed, this was her big roots-rock record! Now, I had pretty much given up on Leann Rimes about a decade ago when she went full-on high-tech pop, and figured that was pretty much it for her... But on this new album (which still has a hefty dose of overproduced pop and rock stylings) Rimes dips back into twang, though this time she's in a tough-edged party girl mode, reminiscent of Gretchen Wilson or Miranda Lambert. So, things do change, though naturally not without some controversy... Apparently there are people out there who are utterly scandalized by Rimes having recorded a few raunchy songs recently... Including some folks who don't seem to be aware that she grew up and became a legal adult a couple of decades ago. Oh, well. I say let Leann be Leann... This still isn't my cup of tea, but it's nice to hear her doing some kind of country again.
LeAnn Rimes "One Christmas -- Chapter One" (2014)
LeAnn Rimes "Today Is Christmas" (Prodigy Entertainment, 2015)
(Produced by LeAnn Rimes, Dave Aude, Niko Bolas & Darrell Brown)
LeAnn Rimes "Remnants" (RCA Records, 2016)
(Produced by LeAnn Rimes, Niko Bolas & Darrell Brown)
LeAnn Rimes "It's Christmas, Eve" (EverLe Records, 2007)
(Produced by LeAnn Rimes, Cave Aude & Darrell Brown)
LeAnn Rimes "Live From Gruene Hall" (EverLe Records, 2019)
(Produced by LeAnn Rimes, Niko Bolas & Darrell Brown)
A vinyl-only, limited edition (Record Store Day) release, capturing a live show at the fabled Texas venue, Gruene Hall. It's mostly a secular set of country classics, though she also covers stuff like the Oasis song, "Wonderwall," and a few of her own songs. Not sure what year the concert took place, though.
LeAnn Rimes "Chant: The Human And The Holy" (EverLe Records, 2020)
LeAnn Rimes "God's Work" (EverLe Records, 2022)
(Produced by LeAnn Rimes & Darrell Brown)
LeAnn Rimes "Greatest Hits Christmas" (Curb Records, 2025)
(Produced by LeAnn Rimes)
LeAnn Rimes was still a dominant force in the Country Top Forty when I was a commercial radio deejay, though I gotta say her stuff, along with the legions of pop-country-soul singers she inspired, never did much for me. Born in Mississippi but raised near Dallas, Rimes was a child prodigy who performed in local musical theater and also appeared on -- and won -- the network television talent show, Star Search. Forging a career in country music, she appeared as a guest on Johnny High's "Country Music Revue," a regional mini-opry based in Arlington, Texas, and made her recording debut on the Lone Star indie label Nor Va Jak Records
emerged as a
