Album Review- Cyndi Lauper’s Country “Detour”
Never could I have dreamed when I first decided to channel my passion for music into operating a country music website that I would be asked to comment on a country record released from Queens-born New Wave 80’s sensation Cyndi Lauper. Even with the incredible onslaught of country music carpetbaggers looking to cash out or create a soft landing for their dying careers who have come before, Lauper’s massively thick New York accent and decidedly non-country style seemed like uncompromising deal killers for such a career move, even in this current country music climate where anyone and everyone is looking to take a ride on the country music gravy train.
But this is not your average “gone country” project. This is not Lauper looking for attention after a lackluster run. Think of her new record Detour like a vanity project. Instead of cutting a bunch of hackneyed country songs written by Lauper with help lent from professional Music Row songwriters like we’ve seen with Steven Tyler and others, or Lauper stretching her own country songwriting wings under some false hope of finding a new home for her declining career in the genre, Lauper has instead assembled a selection of classic country songs and a couple of pop standards and put them into a project to share her passion for the older style of country music that she professes filled her home when she was a kid, despite being well ensconced in one of New York City’s most dug-in buroughs.
Cyndi Lauper covers Patsy Cline on this record. Twice. She collaborates with Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, and Emmylou Harris. She shows her appreciation for Ray Price, steel guitar, twin fiddle, and yodeling. This is in no way an effort to get the attention of the mainstream country radio masses. Becuase if it was, the joke would be on Lauper. This is her way to sincerely share her passion for classic country with her fans, and whomever else is up for listening.
Like when you see non-country celebrities show up to country music awards shows all decked out in authentic country duds and they end up being the most country-looking personalities there, Cyndi Lauper shows that she has a penchant for country music that is probably stronger than most of the current mainstream performers who profess to be playing it full time. There are a few songs on the 12-song Detour like “Funnel of Love” and “End of the World” that are better categorized as classic pop. But many of the country songs are styled authentically, and lo and behold, Lauper’s singing style, which already employs little hiccups that are not too far off from the yodels of country, slides quite nicely into authentically interpreted tunes.
The problem with this project is not Cyndi Lauper’s intentions, or the songs she selected, or how they are produced. It just still has a very Christmas album feel to it in the sense that you’re hearing the same songs you’ve already heard dozens and dozens of times, and sometimes by dozens of other performers, and it all begs the question if any of this is of any value or contribution to music at large. Basically, Cyndi Lauper’s Detour relies on the listener becoming enamored with a new famous voice singing well-worn songs. Because otherwise, it offers very little that is fresh, or original.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t some admirable moments. It takes guts to cover Patsy Cline, and I’ll be damned if Lauper doesn’t do the songs justice. Jewel’s yodeling capabilities have never been adequately showcased by the country world, and despite the campy feel of the track, “I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart” is pretty fun. This is a very campy record, as could only be expected from Lauper. But this resurgence in campy country, spearheaded by Kacey Musgraves and her neon cactus, has also helped usher in a more classic feel to country, so listeners shouldn’t be too quick to criticize.
There are also a couple of pretty rough moments on Detour, like when Lauper’s extremely thick and whiney Queen’s housewife accent emerges in the talking portions of “You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly,” making the duet with Vince Gill almost unbearable. And Willie Nelson’s contribution to “Night Life” is so lifeless and breathy, it makes you fear for the well being of Willie beyond anything else. Willie sounds as gaspy as death itself, and completely uninspired.
But you know, whatever. This album is harmless. It’s Cyndi Lauper wanting to get campy and scratch her country music bone. And now she’s done it. And now we have a version of Cyndi Lauper singing “Heartaches By The Number.” You know, just in case we need it in an emergency. There are much bigger fish to fry than Cyndi Lauper showing her love to some old country songs, and there are probably much better ways to spend your listening time. But if you happen to be a Lauper fan, and a country fan, you’ll really get a kick out of this record, and shouldn’t feel bad about it, even if I find it hard to envision ever listening to it again now that this review is written.
May 9, 2016 @ 8:00 am
Pretty much spot on. If the song title didn’t say “featuring Willie Nelson” i’m not sure i would have recognized the voice!
May 9, 2016 @ 9:13 am
I like it, never had any problems with Miss Lauper!
May 9, 2016 @ 9:27 am
Sad to hear about Willie… Loved the version of “Nightl life” he sang with the Highwaymen.And the guitar solo…
May 9, 2016 @ 9:29 am
I am a big fan of Cyndi Lauper!!!!!!!!
May 9, 2016 @ 9:44 am
I’m not listening to this, but I appreciate the review.
May 9, 2016 @ 1:47 pm
I’ve heard Funnel of Love…it sucked. Her version of Hard Candy Christmas also sucked. I’m good…no need to assault my ears with anymore.
May 9, 2016 @ 1:51 pm
I’m a glutton for punishment…not horrible, but not good, either.
May 9, 2016 @ 10:13 am
Harmless is a good word. I couldn’t care less.
I probably will buy it just for the novelty aspect.
May 9, 2016 @ 12:20 pm
Sounds similar to Cyndi’s ‘At Last’ project from over a dozen years ago; there, she also tackled a bunch of favorite tunes she grew up with, but that was mostly standards and a bit of ’60s pop — and indeed, had a lot of songs that even by 2003 had probably already been just-about covered to death, like the title track and “Unchained Melody.”
It’s not a CD I listen to a whole lot (especially since I have similar albums by artists like Diana Krall and Holly Cole who pretty much built their careers on this stuff), but it certainly has its moments of heart and quirky personality.
As for ‘Detour,’ I don’t know if I’m in any hurry to get it without sampling it first — I have other albums of classic-country covers by the likes of Patty Loveless (‘Sleepless Nights’) and Rosanne Cash (‘The List’) — but again, I think Cyndi’s own personal take on such familiar material might be worth a listen for the emotion and sense of fun she brings into it…
May 9, 2016 @ 1:51 pm
Man, I wouldn’t have guessed that Cyndi Lauper was influenced by country music in anyway. I’m personally not a huge fan or anything, but I think it’s cool that she did this.
Just wait ’til Sturgill returns the favor by performing an unplugged country version of “Time After Time” on one of his albums. (I’m kidding, but… there’s about a 50% chance that will actually happen.)
May 9, 2016 @ 7:08 pm
I remember watching one of those VH1 countdown shows well over a decade ago. I think it was the greatest woman singers of something or other and they made a place for Patsy Cline. On the segment for Patsy Cline, Cyndi Lauper was one of the talkers, saying “I love Patsy.” She seemed to mean it.
May 9, 2016 @ 2:46 pm
I kind of like how her “non-country” voice fits in with the music. Overall, I thought it was decent – nothing awful and most of the songs were well-done.
May 9, 2016 @ 2:52 pm
Cyndi Lauper is still more country than Sam Hunt.
May 9, 2016 @ 3:26 pm
…and Steven Tyler and Brett Michaels, to put it mildly (IMHO).
May 12, 2016 @ 9:49 am
Cindy Lauper was more country that Sam Hunt even before she recorded this album.
May 9, 2016 @ 4:02 pm
Wow, listening to ” after midnight” I never would have guessed that was Cyndi Lauper.
I’m impressed , but won’t be buying it.
Good on her though.
May 9, 2016 @ 8:42 pm
By god that is the worst rendition of “You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” I’ve ever heard..
May 12, 2016 @ 9:50 am
It’s not good, but if you think it’s the worst you need to get out and listen to low-end cover bands more often.
May 10, 2016 @ 4:46 am
To me, Misty Blue is the absolute highlight of the album, and I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned at all. It is the one song that is the closest to something I would expect Cyndi to sing on a regular album and she does a bang-up job on it. The Patsy covers are OK and the rest is just “eh” for me.
May 10, 2016 @ 7:19 am
Harmless homage , Vanity album , Good clean ,non-threatening foray into the genre ( and mostly the pop end of the genre , at least for the time of most of these songs ) by CL . For me , it’s a good karaoke singer entertaining with some favourites for a girl’s night out or ‘ Mom’s birthday’ party with friends and family . No more , no less , ho harm . . Knock yourself out Cyndi . Girl just wants to have fun
May 10, 2016 @ 1:42 pm
I always liked Lauper as a singer–in contrast to, say, Madonna. Just my opinion.
Cyndi, by the way, also got involved with pro wrestling, back in the ’80s, when it was still old-school, and other celebrities had nothing to do with it. She got heel manager Lou Albano to play her father in a video for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” in an inspired bit of casting.
May 12, 2016 @ 5:26 pm
Cyndi Lauper is a longstanding fan of Wanda Jackson – I was shocked back in 1984 when I saw her interviewed on that Casey Kasem top 10 countdown tv show where she named Wanda among the two or three singers who most influenced her vocals – shocked because at the point I had no idea that Wanda had a cult following among rock n’ roll fans (apparently quite new at the time) or that anybody in 1984 knew who she was beyond the country classics audience. Of course “The End of the World” is more than slightly pop but it was a #2 country hit for the beloved Opry star Skeeter Davis and covered by many country artists (wish though Cyndi had chosen one of Skeeter’s more obscure records as she did with Wanda’s “Funnel of Love” as “End of the World” has been covered by everyone from Susan Boyle to John Cougar Mellencamp in the last decade or so.)
May 14, 2016 @ 1:13 pm
Nice metaphor: Christmas album. I like a lotta Cyndi’s stuff. I’ll have to check it out.