Cindy Walker is one of the most under appreciated American country music songwriters among the listening public, but she’s a legend among her fellow musicians of several generations. When Americana singer songwriter Grey DeLisle — who counts Walker as among her chief influences — learned that Walker’s childhood home in Mexia, Texas, had fallen into disrepair, she gathered some friends to record some of Cindy’s hits. All of the streaming proceeds from It’s All Her Fault will be donated to the Cindy Walker Foundation to help with house renovations.
I first learned about Cindy Walker about 20 years ago when Willie Nelson recorded an album of her songs, You Don’t Know Me, which came out about the time she passed away. It remains among my favorite “recent” Willie records, and this new collection by an all female cast of various artists is a lovely complement to that one.
They had a lot to choose from. An estimated 500 of Walker’s songs have been recorded, and her songs made the top 40 country or pop charts more than 400 times, recorded by legends like Bob Wills, Roy Orbison, Eddy Arnold, and of course Willie … wait, Roy Orbison? Yep, her song “Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)” was a hit single for Orbison in 1962, and in fact was still being played on jukeboxes in the bowling alleys and pool halls I frequented in the late ’60s. Here it’s covered in a nice soulful way by Mandy Barnett.
To my shame I’m not familiar with several of the singers represented here, but the ones I do know are among my favorite in country and Americana. Like Kelly Willis, who had the first single from the album, “I Don’t Care,” a country western No. 1 which Cindy wrote with the great Webb Pierce in 1955. I can’t think of anybody better to sing this one.
Melissa Carper, who appeared with Willis and Brennen Leigh in the 2024 project Wonder Women of Country, croons the western swing two-step song “Take Me In Your Arms (And Hold Me)” and if I’m not mistaken that’s Melissa also playing stand-up bass on this song and most or all of the other tracks, but I don’t have complete credits at hand. It’s a sweet band, though, as you can hear on just about any track. Love the dual fiddles on “I Don’t Care,” the pedal steel throughout, particularly the great lead on the honky tonk waltz “Don’t Talk To Me About Men” sung by Summer Dean. And Gail Davies’ warm, emotive alto is perfect for another sad waltz, “The Warm Red Wine.” Twang queen Kimmi Bitter does a bang-up job on the double-time two step “Hey Mr. Bluebird.” The great Rosie Flores does a beautiful job on Walker’s best known song, the one that gives this collection its title, “You Don’t Know Me.” I was surprised to see one of my favorite indie folk singers, Jolie Holland, on this album, but her quirky vocal (and fiddle-playing) style is a good fit for “Don’t Be Ashamed Of Your Age.”
All in all, It’s All Her Fault is a delightful tribute album by a passel of singers who are obviously having fun with the material, and chipping in for a good cause. Streaming on Bandcamp, Spotify and elsewhere.
(Hummin’Bird Records, 2025)
