Personnel includes: Lyle Lovett (vocals, acoustic guitar); Mac McNally (acoustic guitar); Dean Parks, Brent Rowan, Ray Herndon (electric guitar); Billy Williams (Spanish guitar); Paul Franklin, Tom Mortensen (steel guitar); Mark O'Connor (mandola, fiddle); Sam Bush (mandolin, background vocals); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); John Hagen (cello); Matt Rollings (piano); Viktor Krauss, Matthew McKenzie, Leland Sklar (bass); Paul Leim, Jeff Borree, Eddie Bayers (drums); Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Francine Reed, Harry Stinson, Jon Randall,J. David Sloan (background vocals).

Producers: Tony Brown, Lyle Lovett, Billy Williams.

Compilation producer: Jessie Noble.

Recorded at Ocean Way Recording and Sound Stage Studio, Nashville, Tennessee; Chaton Recordings, Scotsdale, Arizona.

"San Antonio Girl" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

As its title implies, this collection is drawn from quirky Texan singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett's first three albums, effectively chronicling his '80s output. The pot is sweetened by two new songs; "The Truck Song" is characteristically wry, juxtaposing hardcore-country imagery with references to Wim Wenders and Paris, while "San Antonio Girl" is a Western swing nod to Bob Wills. The nearly identical melodies of the two songs are plainly intentional, if still inexplicable.

The bulk of ANTHOLOGY finds Lovett cementing his legend during the most overtly country-sounding period of his career. He applies the lessons learned from country-folk songwriting mentors Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark to a more postmodern, ironic style that's also informed by Randy Newman. When Lovett adds a sarcastic sucker-punch to a scenario rife with honky-tonk tropes on "God Will," or turns the story-song "L.A. County" into an implied murder ballad, he's showing off both his modern narrative skill and his old-school country chops. Kudos as well to ANTHOLOGY for favoring the more obscure cuts from Lovett's breakthrough third album and eschewing the overplayed hits.