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There are few visions in rock and roll more incendiary than the sight of Miss Lou Ann, trailing smoke, stalking out onto a stage in a miniskirt you could stick in a highball glass. The look, the attitude-its all there in the single hip-shot glance she gives the audience before launching a cigarette butt into the shadows with the flick of one insouciant nail. Read My Lips represents the latest chapter in the evolution of an impeccable song stylist. As a singer, she has the guts of a daylight burglar, and an infallible sense of where the heart of a song lies. The years and that voice have taken Lou Ann Barton from Fort Worth gin mills to the glittering showcase clubs that spangle both coasts. On Read My Lips, she comes home again, via the classic readings of songs from the repertoire of Slim Harpo, Wanda Jackson, Barbara Lynn, Jimmy Reed, Irma Thomas and more! undeniable feel for a song.

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