Emmylou Harris

September 8, 2016 at PDT

The Complete Trio Collection (Deluxe Edition)

41 Tracks

March 1, 1987 at PST

Trio (Remastered)

More than simply a supergroup, Trio was a reinvention and a reunion—a record that erased genre boundaries and quashed assumptions as it created a new template for women country artists to collaborate with one another. It is country music at its most traditional, but performed by some of the most recognizable voices in 20th century popular music: Dolly Parton, by then a titan of Music Row (if still an often belittled one); Linda Ronstadt, on the tail end of her titanic ’70s run as a country-pop-rock megastar; and Emmylou Harris, an outlaw and iconoclast who made a country career doing exactly as she pleased.

It took more than a decade after the women first sang together to actually make the record—understandable, given the obligations of their individual careers and record deals. But they all stayed the course, addicted to the sound that they made together. “When we heard our voices, it was like injecting some kind of serum into your veins—it was a high like you’ve never felt,” Parton said later. Ronstadt and Harris had bonded early on over their love of Parton, and though all three were roughly the same age, they revered her. “Sometimes we would disagree about who would sing lead, because Emmy and I would always want Dolly to sing lead on everything,” Ronstadt said.

Parton doesn’t always take lead, though; instead, the singers take turns out front of the lush harmonies, which in turn rest atop the sweet acoustic sounds of the all-star backing band. The Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him Is To Love Him” gets an entirely new life (with lead guitar by Ry Cooder) via Harris’ rangy warble, while the trio channels Appalachia on “Those Memories of You” and Parton’s composition “Wildflowers”—a modern classic—and early hillbilly music on Jimmie Rodgers’ “Hobo’s Meditation.” Their powers combine for a flawless effort, a canonical album by three superlative artists who have always refused to fall in line—this time, performing hand in hand.

11 Tracks

April 23, 2006 at PDT

All the Roadrunning

15 Tracks

January 31, 1975 at PST

Pieces of the Sky (Remastered)

By the time Emmylou Harris released her major-label debut in 1975, the silver-voiced soprano was already a veteran of both the Greenwich Village folk scene and the Laurel Canyon country-rock cadre. Polished and confident, Pieces of the Sky showcases that experience—along with Harris’ well-earned range. While men in Nashville were getting praised for challenging the Music Row establishment, Harris was making personal, heartfelt, idiosyncratic music that was both decidedly country and deeply new—all the while receiving a fraction of the outsider cred.

Many of the throughlines of Harris’ career are established on Pieces of the Sky. The first track, “Bluebird Wine,” is a rollicking number by Rodney Crowell, who would become a linchpin of Harris’ Hot Band and her lifelong collaborator. It was recorded by Brian Ahern in the mobile studio that he’d created called the Enactron Truck, where Harris would record many of her best-known albums (the pair later married). Elsewhere on Pieces of the Sky, Harris covers Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors” and duets with Linda Ronstadt on “Queen of the Silver Dollar”—two more artists who would become central to Harris’ work in the years ahead.

Meanwhile, Harris’ singular skill as a collaborative vocalist gets spotlighted on Pieces of the Sky, which finds her singing in rich harmony alongside Herb Pedersen on the Louvin Brothers’ “If I Could Only Win Your Love,” and with the Eagles’ Bernie Leadon on Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Let Me Down”—two tracks that prove her country bona fides, both via Harris’ song choices, and her two-step-ready arrangements.

The most enduring track on Pieces of the Sky, though, might be the only one that Harris co-wrote: “Boulder to Birmingham,” her tribute to her then-recently deceased musical muse and partner Gram Parsons. The song, for all its built-in tragedy and pathos, has a hymnlike quality that begs a sing-along. It wasn’t released as a single, but remains one of the singer’s most beloved signatures, an intensely felt lament sure to resonate with anyone who has experienced loss.

12 Tracks

November 13, 2006 at PST

Real Live Roadrunning

14 Tracks

July 18, 2005 at PDT

Heartaches & Highways: The Very Best of Emmylou Harris

Since Emmylou Harris has never been talked into recording an album that didn’t reflect her own high standards for songwriting and has never worked with musicians who didn’t at least understand what they were supposed to do, Harris has never recorded an album that rings false. As an artist who has never cared so much for hit singles as for working on a project that meant something to her, Harris comes up with some unusual and sublime moments. This “Best Of” touches on some of her more traditional fare, the material she learned alongside country-rock legend Gram Parsons. No one can inject more pathos into “Love Hurts” (her duet with Parsons), the Louvin Brothers’ “If I Could Only Win Your Love,” Buck Owens’ “Together Again” or Townes Van Zandt’s tale of “Pancho & Lefty.” Her own tribute to Parsons on “Boulder to Birmingham” sounds lonelier as the years pass. Even the album’s new, unproven cut, “The Connection” sounds like it belongs on a “Greatest Hits” collection.

19 Tracks

December 27, 1976 at PST

Luxury Liner (Remastered)

Paradoxically, Harris helped push country music forward in the 1970s by taking it backwards. Her music embraced the pristine sounds and starkly haunting sentiments of centuries-old Appalachian tunes, gospel standards and cowboy balladry. She applied these values (via her shiver-inducing, crystalline voice) brilliantly on 1977's Luxury Liner. Arguably her first full-realized album, Harris found the link between such diverse songs as the Louvin Brothers' poignant "When I Stop Dreaming" and Townes Van Zandt's latter-day outlaw ode "Pancho and Lefty." She kicks up her heels on her readings of Chuck Berry's "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie" and the Gram Parsons-penned title track, making down-home rock sound as timeless as a mountain tune. Emmylou's soon-to-be legendary group The Hot Band plays lean, clean and scorching throughout. Luxury Liner is a milestone in Harris' artistic pilgrimage, an inspiring mix of old-time musicality and contemporary creative ambition.

12 Tracks

February 21, 2013 at PST

Old Yellow Moon

This is about as great as one could hope for, and that's to say it's pretty awe-inspiring. Rodney Crowell was a member of Emmylou Harris' Hot Band in the mid-'70s and wrote many songs for her through the years. Harris' ex-husband Brian Ahern, who produced her work in the '70s, also guides these sessions, which feature a number of former Hot Band members: James Burton, John Ware, Bill Payne, Vince Gill, Stuart Duncan, and Steuart Smith. There simply isn't a way for this not to work. The track selection is inspired. Roger Miller's "Invitation to the Blues" is the way to handle a country standard. Patti Scialfa's "Spanish Dancer" puts Harris in the spotlight, with Jim Hoke's accordion following her every step. "Bluebird Wine"—a Crowell song that appeared on Harris' classic debut album, Pieces of the Sky—is revisited and revised. Matraca Berg's touching and vibrant "Back When We Were Beautiful" shouldn't leave a dry eye.

12 Tracks

December 31, 1977 at PST

Profile: Best of Emmylou Harris

12 Tracks

December 31, 1977 at PST

Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (Remastered)

Released in 1978, Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town was Emmylou Harris’ fourth widely released solo album—yet, in some ways, the singer was still trying to escape the long shadow of her early work with Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Quarter Moon presented a nearly undeniable argument that the already prolific and quite successful singer deserved not just accolades, but that Harris also warranted the same reverence as the so-called outlaws with whom she shared stages and jukeboxes.

Quarter Moon finds Harris deftly connecting disparate worlds of country that some fans might have perceived as far apart: She collaborates with Willie Nelson on “One Paper Kid”; draws on compositions by lesser-known country outsiders like Rodney Crowell and Jesse Winchester; and, most crucially, performs Dolly Parton’s “To Daddy.” In doing so, Harris made the case that Parton was just as subversive as her peers—a radical statement at the time, as was Harris’ decision to recruit Guy Clark’s wife, Susanna Clark (who co-wrote the opening track and painted the Quarter Moon cover).

There’s no pop gloss to this album, yet nearly half of its 10 tracks became hits for Harris, including “To Daddy,” “Two More Bottles of Wine,” and “Easy From Now On.” Meanwhile, “I Ain’t Living Long Like This” and “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” paved the way for Waylon Jennings’ and The Oak Ridge Boys’ chart-topping covers, respectively.

But it’s Harris’ flawless version of “Leaving” that endures, thanks to its light Cajun groove and evocative storytelling. And “Two More Bottles of Wine,” written by Delbert McClinton, persists as a jukebox staple in Harris’ soaring soprano. The marriage of those rich, rollicking party songs—bolstered by Harris’ stellar studio ensemble—with silvery ballads like “Easy From Now On” and “Defying Gravity” helped prove that Harris was an icon in her own right: A star around which her impressive roster of collaborators could orbit.

12 Tracks

August 31, 2000 at PDT

Red Dirt Girl

12 Tracks

December 28, 1975 at PST

Elite Hotel (Remastered)

This album introduced the world-at-large to a new kind of country queen. Emmylou had already earned progressive-country cred as Gram Parsons’ duet partner, but her first real solo flight proved that she had a feel for classic country too. Her otherworldly quaver is just as goose bump-inducing when she’s redefining tunes such as “Sweet Dreams” and Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya” as it is on her versions of Parsons’ ominous “Sin City” and Rodney Crowell’s heartbreaking ballad “Till I Gain Control Again.”

14 Tracks

April 30, 1980 at PDT

Roses In the Snow (Bonus Tracks) [2002 Remaster]

Framed as a rebuke to critics who called her not country enough—or who claimed she was stuck in a country-rock “rut,”to use one columnist’s words—Emmylou Harris’ 1980 album Roses in the Snow found the singer diving almost entirely into bluegrass sounds. Though Harris had no genetic or geographic ties to the music, her voice and its almost antique charms proved well-suited to the style, as did her penchant for soaring harmonies.

Though there are no billed guests, Roses in the Snow is dizzyingly star-studded, befitting Harris’ considerable status by this point in her career; luckily, those big names are only buried in the credits, not in the mix. Most listeners will likely be able to discern Dolly Parton on the harmonies of “Green Pastures”; less obvious, perhaps, is Willie Nelson as a guest on guitar. And keep an ear open for Johnny Cash’s bass-baritone on “Jordan,” and Linda Ronstadt’s potent alto on “Gold Watch and Chain.”

The ensembles gathered for Roses in the Snow included Harris’ Hot Band, as well as what amounts to a who’s-who of bluegrass: Ricky Skaggs—who’d been on all of her albums to that point—makes an appearance, as do Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, and the White Family. Together, they channeled virtuosic playing into deceptively straightforward traditional songs. There’s nothing rough-hewn about this proudly country record; instead, the takes are flawless, capturing the very best in the field playing and singing with poise and feeling.

The only aberration from the album’s stated mandate is Harris’ take on Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer,” which seamlessly translates the slick harmonies of the 1960s folk revival into a more robust, decidedly Appalachian sound. If it frustrated bluegrass purists, it thrilled fans, as Harris once more used her relative commercial heft to bend her label to her will, and did so with her trademark gumption.

12 Tracks

June 30, 1979 at PDT

Light of the Stable

You won’t hear about Santa or reindeer here—instead, Emmylou Harris sings like an angel on this traditional Christmas album with a few twists. Her stunning a cappella version of “The First Noel” echoes long after it finishes, while “Christmas Time’s A-Coming” is a gentle country canter with sweetly cooing harmonies. Speaking of harmonies, you can hear guests Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Neil Young on some tracks, including the heavenly hallelujahs of the title track.

13 Tracks

August 23, 1999 at PDT

Western Wall: The Tuscon Sessions

Linda Ronstadt’s rich alto and Emmylou Harris’ crystalline soprano intertwine to mesmerizing effect on these covers and originals. The duo reinterpret Sinead O’Connor’s “This Is to Mother You” as a tinkling lullaby with a heartbeat rhythm, while Leonard Cohen’s “Sisters of Mercy” sways to mandolin, accordion, and sweet, sweet harmonies. Things get turned up a notch with the shuddering vibrato guitar of “Falling Down,” while “Sweet Spot,” a sly and spacious groove driven by stuttering bass, is cowritten by Harris and Luscious Jackson’s Jill Cunniff.

13 Tracks

September 25, 1995 at PDT

Wrecking Ball (Deluxe Version)

On 1995’s Wrecking Ball, Emmylou Harris officially shifted from country music elder statesman—respected, but perhaps not fully given her due—to being a genre-agnostic, widely acclaimed innovator. If not a full-on departure from her previous work, the album did mark an important shift in Harris’ creative process: Wrecking Ball was produced by Daniel Lanois, best known at that point for his work with U2 and Bob Dylan. Together, Harris and Lanois worked to find a sound that incorporated 20th century elements like synths and reverb, and that would feature considerably heavier percussion (provided by U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.). And they did so without losing Harris’ folksy, country core.

What connects Wrecking Ball with Harris’ previous albums, though, is its collaborative spirit. Steve Earle, Neil Young, and Lucinda Williams all appear alongside Harris as she performs songs they wrote, to lovely effect. Young’s contribution is the effective title track, one that lets Harris and Young cut through layers of gentle echoes with characteristically strong harmonies. Other songs come from an equally impressive selection of Harris’ peers, including those both well-known, like Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, as well as cult favorites like David Olney, the McGarrigle sisters, and Julie Miller. And her longtime collaborator Rodney Crowell shows up on the loosely twangy “Waltz Across Texas Tonight,” which he co-wrote.

The success of Wrecking Ball—a massive critical hit, and a modest commercial one—helped land Harris her seventh Grammy. It also expanded listeners’ perception of the singer-songwriter, perhaps unfairly: After all, Harris had been blending contemporary sounds and songs with classic ones for her entire career. But the added inflection of a new generation of rock helped a wider swath of people respect her vast career—especially those who might have been thrown off by its overarching twang—and broadened the scope of her own creative output in ensuing years. As an argument for Harris’ perpetual relevance and musical dexterity, Wrecking Ball is nearly impossible to knock down.

25 Tracks

February 8, 1999 at PST

Trio II (Remastered)

10 Tracks

June 5, 2008 at PDT

All I Intended to Be

After reinventing herself in the ’90s as a songwriter with soul, Emmylou Harris returned to her country roots in 2008. “No matter how bright I glitter, baby, I could never be gold,” she coos with Dolly Parton and Vince Gill on “Gold.” But there’s gold galore here, as her pure crystalline twang illuminates hidden corners of songs by Tracy Chapman and Merle Haggard. And harmonizing with the McGarrigle sisters, she makes heartbreak sound like an angelic dream on “How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower.”

13 Tracks

April 19, 2001 at PDT

Emmylou Harris Anthology: The Warner / Reprise Years

44 Tracks

December 31, 1978 at PST

Blue Kentucky Girl (Remastered)

To the contemporary listener, Emmylou Harris’ hit album Blue Kentucky Girl might not feel radically different from the loose, mostly acoustic sounds of her first five albums (and indeed, it had the same producer, and a backing band full of familiar faces). But after the album’s 1979 release, Blue Kentucky Girl was perceived as Harris’ full pivot into country. And there is a decided emphasis on leaning into traditional sounds here, in contrast to the so-called progressive country and Laurel Canyon-rock leanings of her previous work. From the title track (which had been a hit for Loretta Lynn years earlier) to the hit “Beneath Still Waters” (which finds Harris tracing the common ground between Cajun accordion and Appalachian bluegrass), Blue Kentucky Girl is steeped in classics, all of them reinterpreted through Harris’ fresh, timeless lens.

It’s also the album that showcases Harris’ omnivorous, enthusiastic approach to collaboration, across a wide span of musical styles. Willie Nelson’s “Sister’s Coming Home,” from his 1974 album Phases and Stages, is brightly interpreted by Harris and Tanya Tucker, while Harris and the White sisters join in stunning bluegrass-tinged harmony for noted folklorist Jean Ritchie’s “Sorrow in the Wind.”

Blue Kentucky Girl also features duets with such legends as Don Everly and Glen Campbell—but they take a back seat to possibly the most noteworthy track on the album: “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” Harris’ first released recording with both Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton. The stunning alchemy of these three stars’ instantly recognizable voices only whetted fans’ appetites for more—and would eventually lead to their iconic 1987 album, Trio. Taken together, Blue Kentucky Girl is yet another testament to Harris’ ability to bridge musical worlds, one that finds her gathering talented collaborators, pairing them with old and new songs, and simply letting the music happen—always to unforced and classic effect.

12 Tracks

December 31, 1986 at PST

Angel Band

As any fan of Emmylou Harris can tell you, Harris loves nothing more than trying something new and if that something new also happens to be a curveball, well then, all the better. Angel Band is a quiet acoustic album of mostly traditional country-gospel songs sung with brilliant harmonies that spotlight Harris’ beautiful sense of phrasing. “Where Could I Go But to the Lord,” “If I Be Lifted Up,” “When He Calls,” “We Shall Rise” and “When They Ring Those Golden Bells” have an old-time spiritualism to them that Harris brilliantly conveys with reverence but also with energy and verve. Vince Gill, Emory Gordy, Jr. and Carl Jackson add their harmonies. Jerry Douglas joins in on dobro and Mark O’Connor fires up his fiddle. But mostly this is an album that sounds as if it were recorded in the living room around a fire with the most extraordinary talent in Nashville trading songs handed down for generations.

12 Tracks

September 8, 2016 at PDT

The Complete Trio Collection

26 Tracks

May 7, 2015 at PDT

The Traveling Kind

11 Tracks

January 9, 1989 at PST

Bluebird

Emmylou Harris used some slick country polish for this eclectic 1989 record. John Hiatt’s lovelorn ballad “Icy Blue Heart” gets an extra push from Bonnie Raitt’s backup vocals, with Raitt and Harris delivering somber, forceful performances. “Heartbreak Hill” takes the record into jaunty shuffle territory, with sparkling acoustic strums and bright slide guitar lines. But the most poignant moment might come from Harris’ own pen on the haunting “A River for Him”—a delicate and mournful piano ballad that conjures visions of countless tears.

10 Tracks