Margo Price – That’s How Rumors Get Started

I am a Margo Price super fan. I can’t hear this new release with a clear head – we named our new puppy in her honor after all.

Margo Price does not want to be boxed into a genre. After two magnificent country albums (I mean real country, not Nashville pop) she has released a 70s rock album and it is fantastic! There are so many influences: Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac, the Stones, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Linda Ronstadt – so many influences that it sounds original. Rather than copying her influences, she has been inspired by them.

For this album, she assembled an incredible team – starting with the production team of singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson (Rick Rubin’s engineer for the Johnny Cash sessions). For the band, she has guitarist Matt Sweeney (Adele, Iggy Pop), bassist Pino Palladino (D’Angelo, John Mayer), drummer James Gadson (Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye), and keyboardist Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) along with her main partner in crime, husband Jeremy Ivey. The production/arrangements are perfect for these songs.

There is not a bad song on the album, but some of the highlights for me are:

• “That’s How Rumors Get Started” – the titular track has a Fleetwood Mac vibe with Margo purring like Stevie Nicks
• “Hey Child” a remake of an old song from her Buffalo Clover band that has a Delaney & Bonnie psychedelic gospel feel
• “I’d Die For You” an epic power ballad the is begging to be covered by Lady Gaga
• “Twinkle Twinkle” a catchy rock song that is Margo’s autobiography in three and a half minutes

I am going to stop there, or I will end up listing every song on the album.

The album is streaming in Master quality on Tidal. The physical vinyl is in multiple packages depending on how you source it. I bought mine via Margo’s website/label. It is pressed in great-looking heavyweight gold vinyl with a 45 single as a bonus. The sound is top-notch. My only complaint is that Loma Vista Recordings went on the cheap and shipped via USPS media rate which meant it took eleven days to get from Chicago to Minneapolis – roughly twice as long as it would take to walk. I paid Loma Vista $6.19 for that slow walk.

This is a great album and Margo Price is on a roll with three excellent albums in a row. If you like 70s Southern California soft rock (Eagles, Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, etc.) you are going to like this album.