A stunning debut album by a woman who has written excellent tunes for most of the country outlaws. Blessed with a deep, sexy voice, Chapman is one of those multi-talented artists that comes along all too infrequently. -- THE WASHINGTON STAR (May 10, 1977) Marshall Chapman's debut album is a landmark. Though many of the songs are about love lost and love gained, they are not your typical Nashville platitudes and laments. They are clear and direct, but the attitudes they express are more complex and sound like they were hard-earned. She's an unabashed romantic, but there's a tough edge to her that reminds me of the best female blues singers: down sometimes, maybe, but never out. "Somewhere South of Macon" is a touching song about what's lost and what's gained from leaving home, and "Rode Hard and Put Up Wet," a hilarious rocker sung from the depths of a destructo hangover. The singer tells of roaring all night, then going home and visiting her neighbors in her underwear. There she is treated to a jug of moonshine and proceeds to finish herself off. I shudder to think what might happen if she tried that song on a typical Opry audience. The music is equally strong. She favors a modified Waylon Jennings beat (which itself ain't nothin' but a modified Johnny Cash beat), and there's some particularly sweet dobro picking (played by Buddy Emmons), but what really distinguishes 'Me, I'm Feelin' Free' is its use of strings. They are somehow both lush and funky, like on the great soul records of the mid-sixties. Nashville producers tend to add strings as an after-thought, and it always sounds like it, but here they are seamlessly integrated into the songs, and they set off her deep, husky voice just right. Sometimes the backup singers distract more than they compliment, and a couple of motifs get used once too often. But most of the shortcomings here are the sort that result when you try to put everything you've got into one ambitious, debut LP. This one is very ambitious, and very successful. -- JOHN MORTHLAND (PHONOGRAPH RECORD MAGAZINE - February, 1977) This is one tremendous record. -- THE MIAMI HERALD (May 8, 1977)