Emmylou Harris is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and
musicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. In addition to her work as a solo artist and
bandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a
singer-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, she is a sought-after
backing vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
and duet partner, working with numerous other
artistsA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
including
Gram ParsonsGram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
,
The BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
,
Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
,
Roy OrbisonRoy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
,
Dolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
,
Mark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
,
Guy ClarkGuy Clark is an American Texas Country artist. In his career, he has released more than twenty albums, primarily on major labels. He has also written singles for other artists, including Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Rodney Crowell....
,
Willie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
,
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
,
Rodney CrowellRodney Crowell is a Grammy Award-winning musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music....
, and
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
.
Early years
Emmylou Harris is the daughter of a career military family, her father, Walter Harris, was a military officer and her mother, Eugenia was a wartime military wife. Her father, a member of the
Marine CorpsA marine is a member of a force that specializes in expeditionary operations such as amphibious assault and occupation. The marines traditionally have strong links with the country's navy...
, was reported missing in action in Korea in 1952 and spent ten months as a prisoner of war. Born in
Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Emmylou Harris spent her childhood in
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and
Woodbridge, Virginia-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,941 people, 10,687 households, and 7,769 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,047.8 people per square mile . There were 11,026 housing units at an average density of 1,052.1/sq mi...
, where she graduated from
Gar-Field Senior High SchoolGar-Field Senior High School is a Senior High School in Woodbridge in unincorporated Prince William County, Virginia, USA, with students in grades 9 through 12....
as class
valedictorianValedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
. In high school she also won a drama scholarship to the
University of North Carolina at GreensboroThe University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...
, where she began to study music seriously, learning to play the songs of
Pete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
,
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
on guitar. Leaving college to pursue her musical aspirations, she moved to
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, working as a waitress to support herself while performing folk songs in
Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
coffeehouseA coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
s. She married fellow songwriter Tom Slocum in 1969 and in the following year recorded her first album,
Gliding BirdGliding Bird is an album by Emmylou Harris, released in 1970.Before she met mentor Gram Parsons and became a famous country singer, Harris began singing folk music; yet Gliding Bird, her obscure début album, displays an eclecticism that is found in her later work...
. Harris and Slocum soon divorced, and Harris and her newborn daughter Hallie moved in with her parents in the
MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
suburbs on the edge of
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
With Gram Parsons
Harris soon returned to performing as part of a trio with Gerry Mule and Tom Guidera. One night in 1971, members of the
country rockCountry rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
group
The Flying Burrito BrothersThe Flying Burrito Brothers was an early country rock band, best known for its influential debut album,The Gilded Palace of Sin . Although the group is most often mentioned in connection with country rock legends Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes.-Original...
happened to be in the audience. Former
ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
member
Chris HillmanChristopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
, who had taken over the band after the departure of its founder
Gram ParsonsGram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
, was so impressed by Harris that he briefly considered asking her to join the band. Instead, Hillman ended up recommending her to Parsons, who was looking for a female vocalist to work with on his first solo album,
GPGP is American singer-songwriter Gram Parsons' debut solo album. It was originally released in a gatefold sleeve in 1973. GP received critical acclaim upon release, but failed to reach the Billboard charts...
. Harris toured as a member of Parsons' band, The Fallen Angels, in 1973, and the couple shone during vocal harmonies and duets. Harris was quite pleased, and invested a lot emotionally in their relationship. Later that year, Parsons and Harris worked on a studio album,
Grievous AngelGrievous Angel was the second solo album by Gram Parsons, compiled from 1973 sessions and released four months after his death. It received great critical acclaim upon release, but failed to find commercial success, a fate shared with his previous efforts solo and with The Flying Burrito Brothers....
. Parsons died in his motel room near what is now
Joshua Tree National ParkJoshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act , it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree forests native to the park...
on September 19, 1973, from an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol. Parsons's
Grievous Angel was released
posthumously in 1974, and three more tracks from his last sessions with Harris were included on another posthumous Parsons album,
Sleepless Nights, in 1976. There was one more album of recorded material from that period of time that was packaged with the name,
Live 1973Live 1973 is a recording by Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels. It was recorded at Sonic Studios in Hempstead, New York on March 13, 1973 during a live radio broadcast from WLIR-FM, a station located in Garden City, New York...
, but was not released until 1982.
The working relationship between Harris and Parsons is of great importance in country and country-rock music history. Parsons offered Harris a study in true country music, introducing her to artists like The Louvin Brothers, and provided her with a musical identity; Harris's harmony and duet vocals, on the other hand, were lauded by those who heard them, and helped inspire Parsons' performances. His death left her devastated at an emotional and musical crossroads. She eventually carried on with her own version of Parsons' musical vision, and was instrumental in bringing attention to his achievements. Harris's earliest
signature songA signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
, and arguably her most personal one, "
Boulder to BirminghamBoulder to Birmingham is a track from the 1975 album Pieces of the Sky by Emmylou Harris. The song was written by Harris and Bill Danoff. It has served as something of a signature tune for the artist and recounts her feelings of grief in the years following the death of country rock star and mentor...
", written shortly after Gram's death, showed the depth of her shock and pain at losing Parsons. It was, according to her best friend
Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, the beginning of a "lifetime effort to process what had happened", and was just the first of many songs written and/or performed by Harris about her life with (and without) Parsons.
- I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
- I would hold my life in his saving grace.
- I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
- If I thought I could see, I could see your face.
- —"Boulder to Birmingham
Boulder to Birmingham is a track from the 1975 album Pieces of the Sky by Emmylou Harris. The song was written by Harris and Bill Danoff. It has served as something of a signature tune for the artist and recounts her feelings of grief in the years following the death of country rock star and mentor...
"
- lyrics by Emmylou Harris
The Hot Band
Warner Brothers A&R representative Mary Martin introduced Harris to
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
producer Brian Ahern, who produced her major label debut album,
Pieces of the SkyPieces of the Sky is an album by Emmylou Harris, released in February 1975. It was effectively her debut.Although she had released the obscure folk-styled Gliding Bird five years earlier, Pieces of the Sky was the album that really launched the career of Emmylou Harris, and is widely considered to...
, released in 1975 on
Reprise RecordsReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
. The album was surprisingly eclectic, especially by
NashvilleNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
standards, including cover versions of
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "
For No One"For No One" is a song written by Paul McCartney that originally appeared on The Beatles' seventh album, Revolver. A baroque pop song about the end of a relationship, it was one of McCartney's most mature and poignant works upon its release...
",
Merle HaggardMerle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" and The Louvin Brothers' "
If I Could Only Win Your Love"If I Could Only Win Your Love" is a single by American country music artist Emmylou Harris. Released in June 1975, it was the second single from her album Pieces of the Sky. The song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks...
". It also featured "Bluebird Wine", a composition by young
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
songwriter
Rodney CrowellRodney Crowell is a Grammy Award-winning musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music....
, who was the first in a long line of songwriters whose talents Harris has championed. The record was one of the most expensive country records produced at the time, featuring the talents of
James BurtonJames Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
,
Glen HardinGlen D. Hardin is an American piano player, songwriter and arranger. He has performed and recorded with such notable artists as Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, Ricky Nelson and many others.-Career:...
, Ron Tutt, Ray Pohlman, and
Bill PayneBill Payne is a founding member of American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other piano rock musicians, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano rock and blues music artists...
, as well as two tracks ("Before Believing" and "Queen of the Silver Dollar") that were cut with the Angel Band. Two singles were released: "Too Far Gone", which initially charted at #73 (a 1979 reissue hit #13), and Harris's first big hit, "If I Could Only Win Your Love", a duet with
Herb PedersenHerb Pedersen is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past forty years including country, bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk, folk rock, country rock, and has worked with numerous musicians in many different...
(later a founding member of The Desert Rose Band), which peaked at #4.
Executives of
Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
(Reprise Records's parent company) told Harris they would agree to record her if she would "get a hot band". Harris did so, enlisting guitarist
James BurtonJames Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
and pianist
Glen HardinGlen D. Hardin is an American piano player, songwriter and arranger. He has performed and recorded with such notable artists as Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, Ricky Nelson and many others.-Career:...
, both of whom had played with
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
as well as Parsons. Burton was a renowned guitarist, starting in
Ricky NelsonEric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
's band in the 1950s, and Hardin had been a member of
The CricketsThe Crickets are a rock & roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer/songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s. Their first hit record was "That'll Be the Day", released in 1957....
. Other
Hot BandThe Hot Band may refer to:* The backing band formed by American soul musician Sylvester James in 1973.* The backing band for Emmylou Harris from 1974 to 1991....
members were drummer John Ware, pedal steel guitarist Hank DeVito, and bassist
Emory Gordy, Jr.Emory Gordy, Jr., born December 25, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia, is an American musician and music producer. Since 1989, he has been married to country music artist Patty Loveless. Gordy was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1992...
, with whom Harris had worked while performing with Parsons. Singer-songwriter
CrowellRodney Crowell is a Grammy Award-winning musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music....
was enlisted as a rhythm guitarist and duet partner. Harris's first tour schedule originally dovetailed around Presley's, owing to Burton and Hardin's continuing commitments to Presley's band. The Hot Band lived up to its name, with most of the members moving on with fresh talent replacing them as they continued on to solo careers of their own.
Elite HotelElite Hotel was Emmylou Harris's second album to be released in 1975, following the widely acclaimed success of Pieces of the Sky, and surpassed it on the Billboard Music Charts, becoming her first #1 country album...
, released in December 1975, established that the buzz created by
Pieces of the Sky was well-founded. Unusual for country albums at the time, which largely revolved around a hit single, Harris's albums borrowed their approach from the album-oriented rock market. In terms of quality and artistic merit, tracks like "Sin City", "Wheels", and "Till I Gain Control Again", which weren't singles, easily stood against tracks like "
Together Again"Together Again" is a 1964 song by United States country singer and guitarist Buck Owens.The song, best known as the "B" side to Owens' No. 1 hit, "My Heart Skips a Beat", interrupted that song's run at Number One on the U.S. country charts...
", "Sweet Dreams", and "One of These Days", which were. While
Elite Hotel was a #1 country album, the album did sufficiently well as a crossover success with the rock audience. Harris appealed to those who normally disapproved of the country market's pull toward crossover pop singles ("Together Again" and "Sweet Dreams" both topped the country charts).
Elite Hotel won a Grammy in 1976 for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
Harris' reputation for guest work continued. Aside from contributing to albums by
Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
,
Guy ClarkGuy Clark is an American Texas Country artist. In his career, he has released more than twenty albums, primarily on major labels. He has also written singles for other artists, including Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Rodney Crowell....
and
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, Harris was tapped by
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
to perform on his
Desire album, but entirely uncredited. Harris also filmed one of the studio sequences, owing to her touring schedule, in
The BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
's
The Last WaltzThe Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco...
, singing "Evangeline".
Burton left the Hot Band in 1976, choosing to remain with Elvis Presley's band, and was replaced by English guitarist
Albert LeeAlbert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
. Harris's commercial apex was
Luxury LinerLuxury Liner was the second successive #1 country album for Emmylou Harris on the Billboard Music Charts, although, unlike the preceding Elite Hotel, there were no #1 hits from this album...
, released in 1977, which remains one of her definitive records. On
Luxury Liner, Harris's mix of songs from
Chuck BerryCharles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
("(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"),
Gram ParsonsGram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
(the title track and "She"), The Carter Family ("Hello Stranger") and
Kitty WellsEllen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
("
Making BelieveMaking Believe is a country music song written by Jimmy Work and best known for its chart-topping version in 1955 by Kitty Wells. The song is consistently on lists of all-time greatest country music songs and has been covered by scores of artists over the past fifty years, including Bob Dylan,...
") illustrate a continuity and artistic merit to country music often overlooked at the time. Despite Top Ten singles with "C'est La Vie" and "Making Believe", the album's best known track is the first recorded cover of
Townes Van ZandtJohn Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...
's classic "
Pancho & LeftyPancho & Lefty is a honky tonk album by outlaw country musicians Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, released in 1983. A blockbuster album, Pancho & Lefty dominated country music for the year and helped establish both artists as two of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed of the genre...
", which would be a #1 hit for
Willie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
and
Merle HaggardMerle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
in 1983. At the end of 1977, Crowell left the Hot Band to pursue a solo career; his replacement was
bluegrassBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
multi-instrumentalistA multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
and singer
Ricky SkaggsRickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
.
Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent TownQuarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town was a #3 country album for Emmylou Harris on the Billboard charts, with three charting singles: "To Daddy" at #3, "Two More Bottles of Wine" at #1 , and "Easy from Now On" at #12...
signaled a slight change of direction from Harris's previous three albums. Rather than mixing classic and contemporary, the album is made up largely of recently written songs, though from a wide variety of writers. "Two More Bottles of Wine", written by
Delbert McClintonDelbert McClinton is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist....
, became Harris's third #1 single, "
To Daddy"To Daddy" is a country song, written by Dolly Parton. It was also performed by Emmylou Harris in the 1970s, and included on her album Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town....
", written by
Dolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, went to #3, and a third single, "Easy From Now On", went Top Twenty. The album included two songs apiece from Crowell ("I Ain't Living Long Like This" and "Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight") and songwriter
Jesse WinchesterJesse Winchester is a musician and songwriter who was born and raised in the southern United States. To avoid the Vietnam War draft he moved to Canada in 1967, which is where and when he began his career as a solo artist. His highest charting recordings were of his own tunes, "Yankee Lady" in 1970...
("Defying Gravity" and "My Songbird"), and
Utah PhillipsBruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips was a labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet and the "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest". He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist...
' "Green Rolling Hills".
The Roots Records
In 1977 (January), Harris married Brian Ahern. Their (Harris' second) daughter, Meghann, was born in 1979. During this time, Harris cut three studio albums that reflected a shift toward traditional country (the industry, on the other hand, was about to embrace
Urban CowboyReleased as a 2× vinyl record album, re-released on CD in 1995.Side A:#Hello Texas – Jimmy Buffett #All Night Long – Joe Walsh #Times Like These – Dan Fogelberg #Nine Tonight – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band...
). The first key to the change in direction was her
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning 1979 album
Blue Kentucky Girl. Apart from a cover of
The DriftersThe Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
' "
Save The Last Dance For Me"Save the Last Dance for Me" is the title of a popular song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, first recorded in 1960 by Ben E. King with The Drifters....
", the album was largely made up of classic-styled country material in the vein of
Loretta LynnLoretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
and Kitty Wells. One of her best-loved albums, the record includes songs ranging from The Louvin Brothers' "Everytime You Leave" to
Willie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
's "Sister's Coming Home" to Gram Parson's signature "Hickory Wind".
Wesley RoseWesley Rose was an American music industry executive and record producer.The son of songwriter Fred Rose, he was born in Chicago, Illinois, and studied to become a Chartered Accountant...
took special interest in Harris' recording of "Beneath Still Waters", which became a #1 smash.
A Christmas album,
Light of the StableLight of the Stable is a Christmas album by Emmylou Harris. It was originally released in 1979 by Warner Bros. Records, but has since gone through several intervening releases. The 1992 Warner release was a remastered version of the original with a different album cover. The latest edition was...
, was released in 1979; its title track featured backing vocals by
Dolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
,
Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
and
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, all three of whom Harris had been working with sporadically since the mid-1970s, and would continue to collaborate with through the 2000s. (Harris, Parton and Ronstadt began working on a planned trio album during this time, though it would remain unfinished for nearly a decade; a few of the tracks recorded for the project surfaced on the women's respective solo albums in the interim.) The album is largely acoustic, featuring readings of traditional fare such as "Silent Night", "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "The First Noel".
In the 1980s, Harris pursued country music's history even further with the
bluegrassBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
-oriented recording of
Roses in the SnowRoses in the Snow was a 1980 album by Emmylou Harris. While Harris' previous release, 1979's Blue Kentucky Girl featured traditional, straight-ahead country , Roses in the Snow found Harris performing Bluegrass-inspired music, with material by Flatt and Scruggs, Paul Simon, The Carter Family, and...
, featuring
Ricky SkaggsRickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
,
Tony RiceTony Rice is an American acoustic guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New...
,
Albert LeeAlbert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
, Emory Gordy Jr. and
Jerry DouglasJerry Douglas is an American record producer and resonator guitar player. Called "Dobro's matchless contemporary master," by The New York Times, and lauded as "my favorite musician" by John Fogerty, Douglas is one of the world’s most renowned Dobro players.-Career:In addition to his twelve solo...
. Harris's versions of the traditional "
Wayfaring Stranger"The Wayfaring Stranger" , Roud 3339, is a well-known American spiritual/folk song likely originating in the early 19th century about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. It became one of Burl Ives's signature songs, included on his 1944 album The Wayfaring Stranger...
" and
Paul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
's "
The Boxer"The Boxer" is a folk rock ballad written by Paul Simon in 1968 and first recorded by Simon & Garfunkel. It was released as the follow-up single to their number one hit "Mrs. Robinson", and reached #7 in the US charts. It later appeared on their last studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, along...
" were strong singles.
In 1980, Harris recorded "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again" with
Roy OrbisonRoy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
. The duet was a Top 10 hit on both the Country and Adult Contemporary charts. They would win the
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. She would also be featured on
Paul KennerleyPaul Kennerley is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer working in the American contemporary country music industry. His works include the concept albums, White Mansions and The Legend of Jesse James...
's concept album
The Legend of Jesse JamesThe Legend of Jesse James is a 1980 country music concept album by various artists singing songs by English songwriter Paul Kennerley, based on the story of American Old West outlaw Jesse James....
, which also featured
Levon HelmMark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
of
The BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
and
Johnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
.
Pop-chart success, songwriting
In 1981, Harris reached the Top 40 on the
BillboardBillboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
pop chartThe Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
with a cover of "Mister Sandman"—again Top 10 Country as well as Adult Contemporary—from her
Evangeline album. (The album version of the song was a track from the ill-fated
Trio sessions with
Dolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
and
Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, but neither Parton's nor Ronstadt's record companies would allow their artists' vocals to be used on the single, so Harris re-recorded the song, singing all three parts.)
Harris moved to Nashville in 1982.
White ShoesWhite Shoes was a 1983 Emmylou Harris album, composed of an eclectic collection of material. A rockish version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", a country remake of the Donna Summer hit "On the Radio", and a version of Sandy Denny's "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz" were all included...
in 1983 included an eclectic pairing of the rockish reading of "
Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a song introduced by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , which was written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin...
" with a remake of the
Donna SummerLaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
hit "On the Radio", as well as tracks from a diverse group of songwriters such as Hot Band member Crowell,
Sandy DennySandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
and
T-Bone BurnettJoseph Henry Burnett , widely known as T-Bone Burnett, is an American musician, songwriter, and soundtrack and record producer.He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band on the Rolling Thunder Revue...
and was her last album produced by Brian Ahern until
All I Intended to BeHarris stated that “Sailing Round the Room” was inspired by Terri Schiavo and is a celebration of life and death; “How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower” refers to the relationship between A. P. and Sara Carter and was inspired by a documentary that Harris, together with Kate and Anna McGarrigle,...
in 2008.
Harris's major-label releases thus far had included few self-penned songs, but in 1985 her songwriting skills were much in evidence with the release of a concept album
The Ballad of Sally RoseThe Ballad of Sally Rose is an album by Emmylou Harris released in May 1985. It marked a significant departure for Harris, as all the songs were written by her and her husband Paul Kennerley. Additionally, it is a concept album, loosely based on Harris's relationship with the late Gram Parsons...
, for which she co-wrote all of the songs. The album was semi-autobiographical in theme, based loosely on her relationship with Parsons. Harris described it as a "country opera", and a "huge commercial disaster". Her co-writer and producer on the album was
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
songwriter and musician
Paul KennerleyPaul Kennerley is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer working in the American contemporary country music industry. His works include the concept albums, White Mansions and The Legend of Jesse James...
, writer of the hit singles "Born to Run" (on Harris's 1981
CimarronCimarron was a 1981 Emmylou Harris album that, like its predecessor, Evangeline, was composed mostly of outtakes from other recording sessions that hadn't fit into any of Harris' other albums. As a result, critics at the time complained that the album was "choppy" and lacked a unifying sound. ...
album) and "In My Dreams" (on
White Shoes). Kennerley also produced her next album,
ThirteenThirteen was a 1986 Emmylou Harris album. The title came from its status as her thirteenth studio album...
. They were married in 1985 and divorced in 1993.
In 1987, nearly a full decade after they'd first attempted to do so, Harris teamed up with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt for their long-promised and much-anticipated
TrioTrio was a collaboration album by three of the most successful American female singers of the 1970s and 1980s, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris...
disc. The album was the biggest commercial success of Harris's career, spending five weeks at #1 on Billboard's Country Albums chart (also quickly reaching the Top 10 on the Pop Albums chart), sold several million copies and produced four Top 10 Country hits, including "
To Know Him Is To Love Him"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. It was first recorded by his first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958...
", which hit #1. The disc was nominated for the coveted
Album Of The YearThe Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
Grammy award (given to
U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
that year for
The Joshua TreeThe Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release The Unforgettable Fire, U2 aimed for a harder-hitting sound on The Joshua...
) and the three women won the statuette for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; the album's
Linda ThompsonLinda Thompson is a British singer. Born Linda Pettifer in Hackney, Thompson became one of the most recognised names—and voices—in the British folk rock movement of the 1970s and 1980s, in collaboration with her former husband and fellow British folk rock musician, guitarist Richard...
-penned track "
Telling Me Lies"Telling Me Lies" was a song written by Linda Thompson and Betsy Cook, that was included on Thompson's 1985 One Clear Moment album...
" reached #3 Country, #25 Adult Contemporary, and was also nominated for a Grammy as 1987's Best Country Song.
Harris also found time in 1987 to release a solo album,
Angel Band"Angel Band" is an American Gospel music song. The poem, in Common Metre, was originally titled "My Latest Sun Is Sinking Fast," and was written by Jefferson Hascall . The lyric was first set in J. W. Dadmun's tunebook The Melodeon in 1860, to a tune by Dadmun...
, featuring traditional
gospel songsGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, on which she worked with, among others, rising country star
Vince GillVincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
.
In 1989, she recorded two songs with the
Nitty Gritty Dirt BandThe Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...
on their album,
Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume II. In a snippet of studio chatter included on one of the tracks, she talked during the recording session about her beginnings and how music had changed:
Around 1991, she dissolved The Hot Band and formed a new band of acoustic musicians—
Sam BushSam Bush is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style.- History :...
on fiddle, mandolin and vocals,
Roy Huskey, Jr.Roy Milton Huskey was a prominent American upright bass player in country music from Nashville, Tennessee. Huskey performed alongside musicians such as Chet Atkins, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, George Jones, Steve Earle, Doc Watson and many others...
on bass and vocals, Larry Atamanuik on drums,
Al PerkinsAl Perkins is a Texas-born American guitarist. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential Dobro player", and even began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" Dobro in 2001 - designed and autographed by Perkins....
on banjo, guitar,
DobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
guitar and vocals, and
Jon RandallJon Randall Stewart is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Records in 1995, he debuted that year with the album What You Don't Know. A second album for RCA, 1996's Great Day to Be Alive, was recorded but never released...
on guitar, mandolin and vocals—which she named The Nash Ramblers. They recorded a
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning
live albumAt the Ryman is a 1992 live album by Emmylou Harris and her then-newly formed acoustic backing band, The Nash Ramblers, recorded at the Ryman Auditorium, most famously known as the one-time home of the Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville, Tennessee. Harris had by this point disbanded her legendary Hot...
in 1992 at the
Ryman AuditoriumThe Ryman Auditorium is a 2,362-seat live performance venue, located at 115 5th Avenue North, in Nashville, Tennessee and is best known as the historic home of the Grand Ole Opry....
in
Nashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, which led to the $8 million restoration of the facility into a premium concert and event venue. It was her last album with
Reprise RecordsReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
.
New directions
By the 1990s, Harris started receiving less airplay as mainstream country stations began shifting their focus to the youth-oriented "new country" format. Harris's albums
Bluebird and
Brand New Dance (1989 and 1990, respectively) received ample critical acclaim and sold reasonably well, yet her chart success was on the wane. 1993's
Cowgirl's PrayerCowgirl's Prayer is a 1993 Emmylou Harris album. Coming immediately after 1992's live acoustic At the Ryman album, Cowgirl's Prayer was a collection of similarly subdued material . Released at a time when older artists Cowgirl's Prayer is a 1993 Emmylou Harris album. Coming immediately after...
—the first album since her switch to
Elektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
—was critically praised but received very little airplay, and its lead single, "High Powered Love" charted very low, peaking at #63, prompting her to shift her career in a new direction.
In 1995, Harris released one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the decade,
Wrecking BallWrecking Ball is a 1995 album by Emmylou Harris in which she moves away from the traditional acoustic sound for which she had become known, to team up with rock producer Daniel Lanois and engineer Mark Howard...
, produced by
Daniel LanoisDaniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
, best known for his work with
U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
,
Peter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
and
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. An experimental album for Harris, the record included Harris's rendition of the
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
-penned title track (Young himself provided guest vocals on two of the album's songs),
Steve EarleStephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
's "Goodbye",
Julie MillerJulie Miller is a songwriter, singer, and recording artist currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. She married Buddy Miller in 1981...
's "All My Tears",
Jimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's "May This Be Love",
Kate and Anna McGarrigleKate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
's "Goin' Back to Harlan" and
Gillian WelchGillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
's "Orphan Girl". U2's Larry Mullen, Jr. showed up to play drums for the project. The album received virtually no country airplay whatsoever, but did bring Harris to the attention of
alternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
listeners, many of whom had never listened to her music before.
Harris then took her
Wrecking Ball material on the road, releasing the live
SpyboySpyboy is a 1998 live album by Emmylou Harris and her backing band, Spyboy, which she formed for a tour to perform songs from her 1995 career-redefining album, Wrecking Ball. Taking a stripped-down approach, Harris is backed by a power trio comprising country singer-songwriter Buddy Miller on...
in 1998, backed with a
power trioA power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
comprising Nashville
producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
,
songwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and
guitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Buddy MillerBuddy Miller is a country singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee...
and New Orleans musicians, drummer
Brady BladeBrady L Blade Jr. is an American rock, pop and country drummer, record producer and composer, who currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden....
and
bassistA bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
-vocalist-
percussionistA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Daryl Johnson. In addition to performing songs from
Wrecking Ball, the album updated many of Harris's career hits, including "Boulder to Birmingham".
Also in 1998, she appeared prominently on
Willie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
's moody, instrumentally sparse
Teatro album, produced by
Wrecking Ball producer Lanois.
During the summer of 1997 and 1998, Harris joined
Sarah McLachlanSarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
's all-woman musical touring festival, the
Lilith FairLilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 to 1999, and was revived in the summer of 2010. It...
, where new artists like
Patty GriffinPatty Griffin, born Patricia Jean Griffin, March 16, 1964, is an American Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and musician. She is especially known for her down-home crafting of songs and her connection to musicians including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, and the Dixie Chicks, who have played with...
could share new experiences and ideas with seasoned musicians like Harris and
Bonnie RaittBonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
.
In January 1999, Harris released
Trio 2Trio II is the second album featuring collaboration between American singer/songwriters Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Dolly Parton....
with Parton and Ronstadt. Much of the album had actually been recorded in 1994, but remained unreleased for nearly five years because of
record labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
and personnel disputes, conflicting schedules, and career priorities of the three artists.
Trio 2 was much more contemporary-sounding than its predecessor and was certified Gold. It included their version of Neil Young's classic "After The Gold Rush", which became a popular music video and won another Grammy—this one for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Harris and Ronstadt then released a duet album,
Western Wall: The Tucson SessionsWestern Wall: The Tucson Sessions is a 1999 album by American singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt and singer/songwriter/guitarist Emmylou Harris.The album was well-received critically and landed on several year-end Top Ten lists...
, later the same year. The two superstars toured together during the fall months in support of the disc. Both albums made the Top 10 of Billboard's Country Albums chart and did well on the pop side as well.
Also in 1999, Harris paid tribute to her former singing partner
Gram ParsonsGram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
by co-executive producing
Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons is a 1999 tribute album to pioneering country-rock musician Gram Parsons, co-produced by his one-time singing partner, Emmylou Harris and featuring cover versions of songs written/co-written by or popularized by Parsons, performed by Harris,...
, an album that gathered together more than a dozen artists. Harris performed duets with
BeckBeck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
,
Sheryl CrowSheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
and
The PretendersThe Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
on this album's tracks.
In 2000, Harris released her solo follow-up to
Wrecking Ball,
Red Dirt GirlRed Dirt Girl is an Emmylou Harris album from 2000, which reached #3 on the Billboard country album charts and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2001. The album was a significant departure for Harris, as eleven of the twelve tracks were written or co-written by her. She was...
, produced by Lanois protégé
Malcolm BurnMalcolm Burn is a Canadian-born music producer, recording engineer and musician. In 2001, he won a Grammy Award with Jim Watts and Emmylou Harris for his work on Harris's Red Dirt Girl. -Biography:...
. For the first time since
The Ballad of Sally RoseThe Ballad of Sally Rose is an album by Emmylou Harris released in May 1985. It marked a significant departure for Harris, as all the songs were written by her and her husband Paul Kennerley. Additionally, it is a concept album, loosely based on Harris's relationship with the late Gram Parsons...
, the album contained a number of Harris's own compositions. Like
Wrecking Ball, the album's sound leaned more toward alternative rock than country. Nevertheless it reached #5 on Billboard's Country Albums chart as well as a healthy #54 on the pop side. It also won Harris another of her 12 Grammy awards, in the category of Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Harris also accompanied on
alternative countryAlternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
singer
Ryan AdamsDavid Ryan Adams is an American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Initially part of the group Whiskeytown, Adams left the band and released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000...
' solo debut
HeartbreakerHeartbreaker is the debut studio album by alternative country musician Ryan Adams, released September 5, 2000 on Bloodshot Records. The album was recorded over fourteen days at Woodland Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. It was nominated for the 2001 Shortlist Music Prize...
and on
Tracy ChapmanTracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
's fifth album
Telling StoriesTelling Stories is the fifth album by American singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman, released in 2000 , five years after her previous album, New Beginning...
.
Also in 2000, Harris joined an all-star group of traditional
countryCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
,
folkFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
artists for the
T-Bone BurnettJoseph Henry Burnett , widely known as T-Bone Burnett, is an American musician, songwriter, and soundtrack and record producer.He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band on the Rolling Thunder Revue...
-produced
soundtrackO Brother, Where Art Thou? is the soundtrack of music from the 2000 American film of the same name, written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman....
to the
Coen BrothersJoel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
film,
O Brother, Where Art Thou?O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning. Set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, the film's story is a modern satire loosely...
The soundtrack won multiple
CMAThe Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
,
ACMThe Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
and Grammy awards. A
documentaryDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
/
concert filmA concert movie, or concert film, is a type of documentary film, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by a musician ....
,
Down from the MountainThe soundtrack album, Down from the Mountain: Live Concert Performances by the Artists & Musicians of O Brother, Where Art Thou? was released to complement the documentary concert film...
, featured the artists performing music from the film and other songs at the
Ryman AuditoriumThe Ryman Auditorium is a 2,362-seat live performance venue, located at 115 5th Avenue North, in Nashville, Tennessee and is best known as the historic home of the Grand Ole Opry....
. Harris and many of the same artists took their show on the road for the Down from the Mountain Tour in 2002. In 2003, Harris supplied the finishing touches in harmonizing with the
Dixie ChicksThe Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...
on a song they were recording in the studio, "Godspeed".
Recent work
Harris released
Stumble into GraceStumble into Grace is the 20th major label studio album from Emmylou Harris, which peaked at #6 on the Billboard country albums chart.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Emmylou Harris; except where indicated#"Here I Am" – 3:47...
, her follow-up to
Red Dirt GirlRed Dirt Girl is an Emmylou Harris album from 2000, which reached #3 on the Billboard country album charts and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2001. The album was a significant departure for Harris, as eleven of the twelve tracks were written or co-written by her. She was...
, in 2003. Like its predecessor, it contained mostly self-penned material. In 2004, Harris led the
Sweet Harmony Traveling RevueThe Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue was a three-week concert tour of country and folk musicians Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings, which took place in August 2004. The group toured primarily in the American South, but also played in New York City ,...
tour with
Gillian WelchGillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
,
David RawlingsDavid Todd Rawlings is a professional guitarist and singer. He is best known as the longtime musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch.David attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with guitar professor Lauren Passarelli....
,
Buddy MillerBuddy Miller is a country singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee...
and
Patty GriffinPatty Griffin, born Patricia Jean Griffin, March 16, 1964, is an American Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and musician. She is especially known for her down-home crafting of songs and her connection to musicians including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, and the Dixie Chicks, who have played with...
. They performed singly and together and swapped instruments.
On September 9, 2005, Harris participated in "
Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf CoastShelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast was a one hour, commercial-free benefit concert television special that aired simulcast worldwide on September 9, 2005 at 8 p.m. ET/CT live from New York City and Los Angeles and tape delayed in the Mountain Time Zone and Pacific Time Zones...
", a series of concerts
simulcastSimulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
by most
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television stationA television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s to raise money for victims of
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and
Hurricane RitaHurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
. She performed with Beth Neilsen Chapman and the Dixie Chicks, harmonizing on Patty Griffin's song, "Mary".
In 2005, Harris worked with
Conor OberstConor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
on Bright Eyes' release,
I'm Wide Awake, It's MorningI'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is one of two Bright Eyes albums released on January 25, 2005, by Saddle Creek Records.-Songs:The music video for "First Day of My Life" was directed by John Cameron Mitchell....
, performing backup vocals on three tracks. In July, she joined
Elvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
on several dates of his US tour, performing alongside Costello and his band on several numbers each night. Harris and Costello recorded a version of Costello's song, "The Scarlet Tide", from the soundtrack of the movie
Cold MountainCold Mountain is a 2003 war drama film written and directed by Anthony Minghella. The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Charles Frazier...
. July also saw the release of
The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches & Highways-Chart performance:...
, a single-disc retrospective of Harris's career, on the
Rhino EntertainmentRhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
label. This same year, Harris appeared as a guest vocalist on
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
's widely acclaimed
Prairie WindPrairie Wind is the twenty-eighth studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 2005. After recent dalliances with 60s soul music and rock opera , Prairie Wind featured an acoustic-based sound reminiscent of his earlier commercially successful albums Harvest and...
. She also appeared in the
Jonathan DemmeRobert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
documentary-concert film
Neil Young: Heart of GoldNeil Young: Heart of Gold is a 2006 documentary and concert film by Jonathan Demme, featuring Neil Young. The film was made in the summer of 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and was released to theaters on February 10, 2006...
, released in 2006.
All the RoadrunningAll the Roadrunning is a collaborative album by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris. Released in 2006 by Warner Bros. in the US and Universal Music in Europe, "This Is Us" was released as the first single, followed by "Beachcombing"....
, an album of collaborations with former
Dire StraitsDire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
frontman
Mark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
, was released in April 2006 and supported by a tour of Europe and the US. The album was a commercial success, reaching #8 in the UK and #17 in the US. Selections recorded during the
All the Roadrunning tour performance at the
Gibson AmphitheatreThe Gibson Amphitheatre is a theatre located in Universal City, California, USA. It seats up to 6,189 for concerts, including 6,089 chairback seats...
were released as a CD/DVD package titled
Real Live RoadrunningReal Live Roadrunning is a live album by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris. Released in November 2006, it was recorded at the end of their summer tour in support of their critically acclaimed album, All the Roadrunning. The album is released by Warner Bros. Records and Mercury Records as a DVD...
in November 2006. In addition to several of the compositions that Harris and Knopfler recorded together in the studio,
Real Live Roadrunning features solo hits from both members of the duo, as well as a few classic tracks from Knopfler's days with Dire Straits.
Harris is featured on
A Tribute To Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, released on April 24, 2007. Harris covered the song "The Magdalene Laundries" (originally on Mitchell's 1994 album,
Turbulent IndigoTurbulent Indigo is the fifteenth album by Joni Mitchell. It was released in 1994, and became one of her most critically acclaimed releases, winning a Grammy Award for Pop Album of the Year....
). She sang "Another Pot O' Tea" with
Anne MurrayMorna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
on Murray's album
Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends, released November 13, 2007, in Canada and January 15, 2008, in the U.S.
Harris wrote a song called "In Rodanthe" for the 2008 film
Nights In Rodanthe.
A solo album,
All I Intended to BeHarris stated that “Sailing Round the Room” was inspired by Terri Schiavo and is a celebration of life and death; “How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower” refers to the relationship between A. P. and Sara Carter and was inspired by a documentary that Harris, together with Kate and Anna McGarrigle,...
, was released on June 10, 2008, to critical acclaim. Contributors include
Buddy MillerBuddy Miller is a country singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee...
,
the McGarrigle sistersKate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
,
Vince GillVincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
,
Phil MadeiraPhil Madeira is an American songwriter, producer, musician and singer from Nashville, Tennessee. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island and attended Taylor University, which he graduated from in 1975....
, and
Dolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
. She toured with an ensemble she dubbed the Red Dirt Boys, featuring
Phil MadeiraPhil Madeira is an American songwriter, producer, musician and singer from Nashville, Tennessee. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island and attended Taylor University, which he graduated from in 1975....
on accordion, guitar, and keyboards,
Colin LindenColin Linden is a Canadian musician, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with a wide variety of artists including Bruce Cockburn, Lucinda Williams, T-Bone Burnett, Colin James, Leon Redbone, Rita Chiarelli, Chris Thomas King and The Band.Linden is primarily a electric blues guitarist,...
on guitar and banjo, Rickie Simpkins on mandolin and fiddle, Chris Donohue on bass, and Bryan Owings on drums. It did not include Miller, who was touring with
Robert PlantRobert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
,
Alison KraussAlison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
and T Bone Burnett at the time. In 2009, Harris toured with Patty Griffin,
Shawn ColvinShawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
, and Miller as "Three Girls and Their Buddy". Madeira, Simpkins, and Donohue performed with her in late 2008, and in 2009, appearing on "A Prairie Home Companion" and at
MerleFestMerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College . The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, is hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson,...
and the
Telluride Bluegrass FestivalTelluride Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Telluride, Colorado by . Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of genres. In 1974, its first year, it attracted 1000 participants. Currently the festival's attendance is capped at 10,000...
. In September 2009, Owings rejoined the Red Dirt Boys with Miller for the remainder of 2009.
In April 2009 Harris became a grandmother. Her daughter gave birth to a daughter, Prudence.
In 2010, Harris regrouped with the latest version of the Red Dirt Boys—Madeira, Owings, Donohue, and Simpkins—for Lilith Fair summer dates and a scheduled US autumn tour.
According to an interview with
Bonnie TylerBonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...
by Digital Spy, Emmylou Harris will be teaming up with her on Tyler's upcoming album. Harris will do backing vocals on a song, written and produced by Wayne Warner. A new solo album,
Hard Bargain, was released on the Nonesuch label on April 26, 2011.
PBSThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
host
Tavis SmileyTavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
interviewed Harris in a program that aired on April 20, 2011. In the interview Harris spoke of being a straight-A student in high school, which led her to being selected as valedictorian, and recounted learning to play guitar by memorizing three chords on a Taylor 310CE.
Activism
In 1997 and 1998, Harris performed in
Sarah McLachlanSarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
's
Lilith FairLilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 to 1999, and was revived in the summer of 2010. It...
, promoting
feminismFeminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
in music. Since 1999, Harris has been organizing an annual benefit tour called Concerts for a Landmine Free World. All proceeds from the tours support the
Vietnam Veterans of America FoundationThe Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation , established in 1980, now the Veterans for America , is a Washington, D.C.-based international humanitarian organization that addresses the consequences of war and conflict. The founder of VVAF is Bobby Muller, a former U.S...
's (VVAF) efforts to assist innocent victims of conflicts around the world. The tour also benefits the VVAF's work to raise
AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's awareness of the global
landmineA land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
problem. Artists that have joined Harris on the road for these dates include
Mary Chapin CarpenterMary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...
,
Bruce CockburnBruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
,
Sheryl CrowSheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
,
Steve EarleStephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
,
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
,
Patty GriffinPatty Griffin, born Patricia Jean Griffin, March 16, 1964, is an American Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and musician. She is especially known for her down-home crafting of songs and her connection to musicians including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, and the Dixie Chicks, who have played with...
,
Nanci GriffithNanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
,
Willie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, and
Lucinda WilliamsLucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
. Harris is a supporter of
animal rightsAnimal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
and an active member of
PETAPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
. She founded, and in her spare time assists at, an
animal shelterAn animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost, or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats.Parrots, for example, are the third most common pet owned by people...
in Nashville.
She became a member of the newly formed Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences of the
American Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 2011.
Grammy Awards
2005 Best Female Country Vocal Performance ("The Connection")
2001 Album of the YearThe Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
(
O Brother, Where Art Thou?O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the soundtrack of music from the 2000 American film of the same name, written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman....
)
2000 Best Contemporary Folk Album (
Red Dirt GirlRed Dirt Girl is an Emmylou Harris album from 2000, which reached #3 on the Billboard country album charts and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2001. The album was a significant departure for Harris, as eleven of the twelve tracks were written or co-written by her. She was...
)
1999 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("After The Gold Rush", with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
1998 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("Same Old Train", with
Alison KraussAlison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
,
Clint BlackClint Patrick Black is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black made his debut with his Killin' Time album, which produced four straight Number One singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country...
,
Dwight YoakamDwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
,
Earl ScruggsEarl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
,
Joe DiffieJoe Logan Diffie is an American country music singer known for his ballads and novelty songs. Between 1990 and 2004, Diffie charted 35 cuts on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including five number one singles: his debut release "Home", "If the Devil Danced ", "Third Rock from the Sun",...
,
Marty StuartJohn Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...
,
Merle HaggardMerle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
,
Pam TillisPamela Yvonne "Pam" Tillis is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis....
,
Patty LovelessPatty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...
,
Randy TravisRandy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
,
Ricky SkaggsRickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
&
Travis TrittJames Travis Tritt is an American country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct...
)
1995 Best Contemporary Folk Album (
Wrecking BallWrecking Ball is a 1995 album by Emmylou Harris in which she moves away from the traditional acoustic sound for which she had become known, to team up with rock producer Daniel Lanois and engineer Mark Howard...
)
1992 Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (
Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers At the RymanAt the Ryman is a 1992 live album by Emmylou Harris and her then-newly formed acoustic backing band, The Nash Ramblers, recorded at the Ryman Auditorium, most famously known as the one-time home of the Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville, Tennessee. Harris had by this point disbanded her legendary Hot...
, as Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers)
1987 Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (
TrioTrio was a collaboration album by three of the most successful American female singers of the 1970s and 1980s, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris...
, with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
1984 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female ("In My Dreams")
1980 Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("That Lovin' You Feelin' Again", with Roy Orbison)
1979 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female (
Blue Kentucky Girl)
1976 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female (
Elite HotelElite Hotel was Emmylou Harris's second album to be released in 1975, following the widely acclaimed success of Pieces of the Sky, and surpassed it on the Billboard Music Charts, becoming her first #1 country album...
)
Country Music Association Awards
2001 Album of the Year (
O Brother, Where Art Thou?)
1980 Female Vocalist Of The Year
1988 Vocal Event of the Year (
Trio, with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
Other honors
- VH1's 100 Most Influential Women in Rock and Roll (1998) - Number 22 out of 100
- Billboard's Century Award recipient (1999) - inducted by Sarah McLachlan
- CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music - #5 ranking (2002)
- Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on February 12, 2008
- Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 2009.
- Awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in 2009.
Sources
- In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff
Nicholas Dawidoff is an American writer.Dawidoff was born in New York City, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut with his mother and sister....
, Vintage BooksRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, 1998. ISBN 0-679-41567-X
- Emmylou Harris: Angel in Disguise, Jim Brown, Fox Music Books, 2004. ISBN 1-894997-03-4
- Fong-Torres, Ben. (1998). "Emmylou Harris". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 230.
External links