Harris, Emmylou

Harris, Emmylou, emerging from the remnants of the East Coast folk scene in the late 1960s, was introduced to traditional country music by Gram Parsons, with whom she toured and recorded as a backup vocalist; b. Birmingham, Ala., April 2, 1947.

Virtually a full collaborator on Parsons’s final album, Grievous Angel, Harris established herself as a prime purveyor of country music with a rock sound during the 1970s. Essentially a song interpreter, her success was based largely on her astute selection of material and the excellence of her bands, which have included James Burton, Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs, and Sam Bush. Introducing Crowell and Skaggs to a wider audience, Emmylou Harris bolstered the late-1980s movement toward simple production and uncluttered instrumentation among country performers such as Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett, and k. d. lang.

Emmylou Harris moved with her family to the Washington, D.C., area from her native Ala., and obtained her first guitar at age 16. She initiated her musical career in 1967, performing around Washington and N.Y. in folk clubs. Signed to Jubilee Records in 1969, her debut album was virtually ignored upon release in 1970. Retiring for a time and unsuccessfully attempting a breakthrough in Nashville during the latter half of 1970, Harris was “discovered” at the Cellar Door in Washington by members of the Flying Burrito Brothers. She was asked to join the group before its second incarnation dissolved. Introduced to Gram Parsons in late 1971, Harris was summoned to Los Angeles to sing backup on his debut solo album, GP. She toured with Parsons in spring 1973 as a member of his Fallen Angels band, and worked on his landmark Grievous Angel album, which included their collaboration “In My Hour of Darkness.” However, Gram Parsons died unexpectedly on Sept. 19, 1973.

Emmylou Harris signed with Warner Bros. in mid-1974, recording two albums for the label’s subsidiary Reprise. Her debut for the label, Pieces of the Sky, contained standard country-and-western material, such as the country smash (and minor pop hit) “If I Could Only Win Your Love” (by the Louvin Brothers), Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Let Me Down,” and “Queen of the Silver Dollar,” as well as Lennon and McCartney’s “For No One” and the original “Boulder to Birmingham,” cowritten with Bill Danoff. In 1975 Harris formed her Hot Band with songwriter Rodney Crowell (rhythm gtr.), James Burton (lead gtr.), Glen D. Hardin (kybd.), Hank DeVito (pedal steel), Emory Gordy (bs.), and John Ware (drm.). Elite Hotel included three Gram Parsons’s songs (“Wheels,” “Sin City,” and “Ooh, Las Vegas”) and yielded three country smashes with Buck Owens’s “Together Again,” Don Gibson’s “Sweet Dreams,” and “One of These Days.” Other inclusions were “Amarillo,” cowritten by Harris and Crowell; the minor pop hit “Here, There and Everywhere” and “Feelin’ Single—Seein’ Double.”

After a triumphant tour of Europe and Britain in 1976, Emmylou Harris recorded Luxury Liner, replacing guitarist James Burton with Briton Albert Lee. The album contained Gram Parsons’s title song as well as Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty” and two near-smash country hits with Kitty Wells’s “Making Believe” and Chuck Berry’s “C’est la Vie.” Quarter Moon in a Ten-Cent Town, recorded with the Hot Band, included three country hits—Dolly Parton’s “To Daddy,” Delbert McClinton’s “Two More Bottles of Wine,” and “Easy from Now On”—plus two Jesse Winchester songs and Rodney Crowell’s “Ain’t Living Long Like This” and “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight.”

In February 1978 Emmylou Harris began work on an album with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, but the project, with its promise of the first female country supergroup, was later abandoned. Harris next recorded the bluegrass-flavored Blue Kentucky Girl with the Hot Band and multi-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs. The album contained the country smashes “Save the Last Dance for Me,” the title cut, and “Beneath Still Waters,” as well as Gram Parsons’s “Hickory Wind,” Rodney Crowell’s “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” and Willie Nelson’s “Sister’s Coming Home.” The follow-up bluegrass-style Roses in the Snow, again recorded with Skaggs, yielded near-smash country hits with “Wayfaring Stranger” and Paul Simon’s “The Boxer.” Harris subsequently scored a smash country (and minor pop) hit with “That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again” in duet with Roy Orbison; recorded the Christmas album Light of the Stable; and registered another pop and country hit with a remake of the Chordettes’s 1954 hit “Mister Sandman,” recorded with Parton and Ronstadt. Other early 1980s country smashes were “Tennessee Rose” with vocal backing by the Whites, and “Born to Run” from Cimarron. Harris’s last major solo album success came with the live set Last Date (now deleted), which included the smash country hits “(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date” and “I’m Movin’ On.”

Emmylou Harris’s subsequent 1980s albums fared less well than previous releases. These included the rock-and-roll set White Shoes and the song cycle The Ballad of Sally Rose, cowritten with new husband Paul Kennerley. Moving to Nashville in 1984, Harris assembled a new edition of the Hot Band with lead guitarist Frank Reckard, pedal steel guitarist Steve Fishell, and rhythm guitarist-vocalist Barry Tashian for touring.

In 1986 Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Emmylou Harris finally recorded their album, Trio, with a stellar backup cast that included Albert Lee, David Lindley, and Mark O’Connor. A best-seller, the album stayed on the charts for nearly a year, yielding smash country hits with “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” “Those Memories of You,” Linda Thompson’s “Telling Me Lies,” and Parton’s “Wildflowers.” Harris subsequently scored smash country hits with “We Believe in Happy Endings,” in duet with Earl Thomas Conley, and “Heartbreak Hill,” from the album Bluebird. Duets assembled her recorded duets with the likes of Gram Parsons, Roy Orbison, Neil Young, Ricky Skaggs, and Willie Nelson.

In 1990 Emmylou Harris debuted her new backing band, the Nash Ramblers, on tour. Members included former New Grass Revival leader Sam Bush (mdln., fdl.), Al Perkins (dobro.), Jon Randall Stewart (gtr.), and Roy Huskey Jr. (bs.). On April 30, 1991, Harris and the group recorded at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. The resulting album and cable television show (on the Nashville Network) included songs by Bill Monroe, plus Steve Earle’s “Guitar Town’” Bruce Springsteen’s “Mansion on the Hill’” and John Fogerty’s “Lodi.”

Emmylou Harris was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1992 and recorded Cowgirl’s Prayer for Asylum in 1993. The following year she recorded Songs of the West with Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Rodney Crowell, Willie Nelson, and others for Warner Bros. A major change in direction came in 1995, when she joined with producer Daniel Lanois, famous for his atmospheric production work with the Neville Brothers, Bob Dylan, and U2. They produced the album Wreckin’ Ball, featuring a more hard-edged accompaniment, including Lanois on guitar, and Harris taking on a rougher vocal style; the title cut by Neil Young attracted some radio play. Harris and Lanois subsequently toured as a duo.

Discography

gram parsons (with emmylou harris):GP (1973); Grievous Angel (1974); GP/Grievous Angel (1990). gram parsons and the fallen angels (with emmylou harris):Live 1973 (1982). emmylou harris:Gliding Bird (1970); Pieces of the Sky (1975); Elite Hotel (1976); Luxury Liner (1977); Quarter Moon in a Ten-Cent Town (1978); Profile: The Best of E. H.. (1978); Blue Kentucky Girl (1979); Roses in the Snow (1980); Light of the Stable—The Christmas Album (1980); Evangeline (1981); Cimarron (1981); Last Date (1982); White Shoes (1983); Profile II: The Best of E. H.. (1984); The Ballad of Sally Rose (1985); Thirteen (1986); Angel Band (1987); Bluebird (1989); Duets (1990); Brand New Dance (1990); Cowgirl’s Prayer (1993); Songs of the West (1994); Wrecking Ball (1995); Spyboy (1998); Red Dirt Girl (2000). emmylou harris, dolly parton, and linda ronstadt:Trio (1987); Trio II (1999). emmylou harris and linda ronstadt:Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (1999). emmylou harris and the nash ramblers:At the Ryman (1992).

—Brock Helander