
In the 1970s, Tanya Tucker was country's wild teenage flame; in the 1980s, a prime purveyor of country pop. Then, like many stars, she found herself grounded for a while. Her ardent fan Brandi Carlile and her spiritual son Shooter Jennings have engineered a comeback for Tucker that rings remarkably true, writing and selecting songs that help her tell her whole life story, redolent of heartbreak, jokes, dreams, and realistic optimism. — Ann Powers