This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Rickie Lee Jones seems to be one of those songwriters who needs a creative jumpstart now and then. Looks like she got a good one lately — from none other than George Dubya. And you almost want to thank him for inspiring the boho troubadour to make The Evening Of My Best Day, her first album of new material in six years and one of the strongest CDs of her career.
Fuelled by Jones’ anger over Bush’s controversial election and policies, the eclectic and electrifying Evening is brimming with political passion and humanist compassion. If the smoky-jazz opener Ugly Man (“He grew up to be like his father / Ugly inside / And he’ll tell you lies”) isn’t obvious enough, there’s always the conspiracy-theory funker Little Mysteries (“In a race too close to call / The election quietly slips into the third door down the hall”) or the self-explanatory soul-blues Tell Somebody (Repeal the Patriot Act). Not all dozen tracks are topical, mind. Lap Dog (amazingly) is a lazy puppy-love blues. Sailor Blues is a gorgeous, yearning ballad. Closer A Face In The Crowd is a woozy, gnarly tale of obsession. Nice as they are, though, Jones burns hottest and brightest when she’s roasting Bush. If he can keep spurring her to this level of greatness, we might put up with a second term.
