POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Low-Key, High-Presence Lovett Is Country’s Brightest Hope

Lyle Lovett, who will be at the Crazy Horse in Santa Ana on Monday night, is the least countrylike country music hit maker around today, pal Rosanne Cash not withstanding.

At the sold-out Roxy in West Hollywood on Thursday, Lovett’s presence was decidedly presence--the conservative black suit with dull red tie, the funky Tom Waits-meets-Eraserhead haircut, the deadpan cerebral one-liners, the rhythm-and-bluesy big backing band (with three-man horn section and genuine female soul singer included).

Bucking both the Country Establishment and the by-now old-hat New Traditionalists, Lovett is a real miracle.

The up-and-coming Texan trotted out his recent country hits--such as the upbeat “Give Back My Heart.” He also has a number of wry, sensitive, quasi-Springsteenian ballads in his repertoire.

But the biggest portion of Lovett’s set was taken up by relaxed, ‘40s and ‘50s-style R & B--and it was full-tilt, uptown stuff--not just a little tinge here and there.

It is hard not to speculate that if Lovett had become a star three or four decades ago, “roots” music and “race” music might never have been forced to take such divergent courses.

Not that the quiet-voiced Lovett--whose stiff presence is part of his low-key charm--is about to give Sam Cooke any runs for his money; he is vocally obviously better suited to the country stuff.

But he is smart enough to afford quality vocal time to backup singer Francine Reed (who sang thrilling lead on “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues”) and to give his sax players room to move when the music takes a drive to the city. These citified tendencies and his rather dada-ist sense of humor seem not to have gotten in the way of his becoming successful in the sticks.

More than Dwight Yoakam or Steve Earle even, right now he is country’s brightest hope.

LYLE LOVETT

Monday, 7 and 10 p.m.

Crazy Horse Steak House, 1580

Brookhollow Drive, Santa Ana.

$18.50

Information: (714) 549-1512.