Personnel includes: Vic Chesnutt (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, Fender Rhodes); Emmylou Harris (vocals); Alex McManus (acoustic & electric guitars, whistle, accordion, euphonium, background vocals); Paul Niehaus (electric & pedal steel guitars, whistle, baritone saxophone, percussion, background vocals); Kurt Wagner (electric & lap steel guitars, whistle, recorder, background vocals); Tina Chesnutt (electric guitar, whistle, bass, background vocals); Jonathan Marx (whistle, clarinet, trumpet, percussion, background vocals); Deanna Varagona (whistle, baritone saxophone, percussion, background vocals); Marc Trovillion (whistle, bass, percussion, background vocals); Allen Lowrey (whistle, drums, percussion, background vocals).

Recorded at Treasure Isle, Quad, The Castle and Wedgetone, Nashville, Tennessee. Includes liner notes by Vic Chesnutt.

Singer-Songwriter Chesnutt is the kind of gifted weirdo for whom the term "cult hero" was invented. Somehow the folks at Capitol got the idea that they could make him a star (maybe it was the Michael Stipe association). Presumably, after coming to terms with the fate of unconventional artists like Chesnutt in the music marketplace, they handed SALESMAN AND BERNADETTE off to Capricorn Records. That's not to say this isn't the most fully realized, (relatively) broad-scale work Chesnutt's done--backed by his buddies Lambchop, he turns observation into art again and again here. Over a pillow of lush, largely acoustic instrumentation, he tackles everything from "Arthur Murray" to "Woodrow Wilson" with equal quirky aplomb. His southern drawl is at its most expressive here, and on some cuts he emotes to a previously unimagined extent. As ever, his combination of surreal poetry and everyday imagery makes for some winning, highly individualistic compositions.

Rolling Stone (12/10/98, p.126) - 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5) - "...this gift - the ability to conjure fever dream narratives from such seeming stream-of-consciousness babble that makes Chesnutt such a rare treasure."

Spin (1/99, pp.115-116) - 8 (out of 10) - "...Lambchop are simpatico, though this only makes THE SALESMAN AND BERNADETTE a sustained, mature achievement by one of rock's most rarefied, frustrating depressives. But remember: When everything slows down, everything stands out. The harder you're willing to look into this album, the harder it'll stare back."

Entertainment Weekly (12/18/98, p.87) - "...The arrangements (imagine a Salvation Army band playing Memphis soul) have the burnished feel of a favorite coffee mug, and Chesnutt's touchingly lumpy songs find unexpected resonance in duty-free shops, Arthur Murray, and men who resemble ex-presidents." - Rating: A-

CMJ (11/09/98, p.20) - "...Here he crafts delicate, tragic, country-folk ballads backed by th moaning lap steel guitar, piano and vibraphone textures of Nashville's Lambchop....his countryish style are what make him the genre's much needed cult hero."