I said in a previous Emmylou piece “The formula remains the same (this is Country music so yes there’s a formula. If you’re after the new or innovative then go look elsewhere).”

Well, may I present to you innovation in Country music, cos when Emmylou released “Wrecking Ball” it shook the Country world and was a genuine ground breaking album. 1993’s album “Cowgirl’s Prayer” was favourably reviewed but ignored by radio. In an interview Emmylou said

“I think I could record an album of Hank Williams songs and be told that it was (either) not country enough or too traditional…It's pretty obvious to me that I'm not going to be played on country radio, so why not just go to that other place that I've always been, anyway? I've always had one foot in left field. So I just decided to plant the other one there”

The result was “Wrecking Ball”, what can only be described as a career re-defining record to be placed right up alongside Johnny Cash’s “American Recordings”. She chose as her producer and co-writer Daniel Lanois (producer of U2, Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Youssou N’Dour), not your typical choice for a Country singer. She bought in songs by Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix and new artists like Gillian Welch and the album features guest appearances by Young, Steve Earle and U2’s Larry Mullen Jr. This definitely wasn’t Nashville calling.

The change in sound is obvious from the very start of track one, side one (remember that thing about setting expectations from the start) “Where Will I Be”. Written by Daniel Lanois it sets off with gentle, vaguely military style drums which are joined by a distant, echoed, indistinct and most un-country guitar. There’s a change in Emmylou’s voice from when I was last listening (there are 14 years between “Evangeline” and here). It sounds wiser, wearier, I hate to say it but smokier, like good smooth Bourbon that has aged particularly well. It’s just as clear with a slight rasp in the background but it has matured. This atmosphere continues right throughout the record.

Next is Steve Earle’s “Goodbye”. Earle had only released it 7 months earlier on his album “Train A-Comin’”, a gentle country ballad sung in his Southern drawl with slide guitar and harmonica. He plays acoustic guitar here on Emmylou’s version, U2’s Larry Mullen Jr is on drums, but this is an altogether more stately and ethereal affair, the soundscape that Lanois created on the opening song is constant. With all respect to Steve Earle, Emmylou pulls things out of the melody that Steve only hinted at. 

“All My Tears” is where you can really appreciate how Emmylou has lent her voice to sit within this new setting Lanois is creating for her. It puts me in mind of Native American chanting, I don’t know why but that’s the feeling I get from it. 

The next 3 songs are some of my very favourite Emmylou Harris recordings. Title song “Wrecking Ball” was written by Neil Young fo his 1989 album “Freedom” and he adds to this track singing harmony. That echoey guitar has picked up a slight modulation as it (finger) picks out the melody, the backing track is understated, it is there purely to support this incredible voice, never to overshadow it. Emmylou’s voice is high and pure on the chorus

“Meet me at the Wrecking Ball, the Wrecking Ball,

I’ll wear something pretty and white, And we’ll go dancing tonight”

Anna McGarrigle’s “Goin’ Back To Harlan” sees us back in folky mode and singing of old Appalachian songs, the bells of Rhymney, traditional reels, Willie Moore, Barbara Allen and Ewan MacColl’s Fair Ellen. It’s a song about looking back on simpler times and it’s lovely. 

Then it's “Deeper Well”, a song with a much darker feel to it. Written by David Olney (a man who died onstage mid-gig. He reportedly sat down, closed his eyes, apologised and never moved again), it’s a song looking for it, whatever “it” might be, love, safety, redemption, rejection, oblivion, they’re all in here. A song that conjures the image of the Southern Gothic

“Well, I did it for kicks and I did it for faith, I did it for lust and I did it for hate

I did it for need and I did it for love, Addiction stayed on tight like a glove”

That was one helluva side one !

The last highpoint on this wonderful record is the final song “Waltz Across Texas Tonight” (I’m not saying there’s nothing else of worth on side 2, there is, but you don’t want me walking you through every track, go have a listen). Borrowing the title of a 1965 Ernest Tubb song (“Waltz Across Texas”) Emmylou and Rodney Crowell conjure up a tale of a couple and their journey through their life. This song was first recorded with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt but went unreleased at the time. Here Emmylou harmonises with Kate and Anna McGarrigle and it’s a superb and optimistic end to a fabulous record.

“But the moon is so full, the stars are so bright, And my hand is steady, my touch is light

Look in my eyes, hold on real tight, And I'll waltz you my darling across Texas tonight”

Emmylou Harris had obviously put her complete trust in Daniel Lanois to create a backdrop and an overall atmosphere that suited her and left space for her voice to work its magic. “Wrecking Ball” was quite unlike anything she had ever produced before and has defined a new musical world for her work in ever since. 20 years after “Pieces Of the Sky” the “Queen Of the Silver Dollar” found a sound that set her apart from her Country music peers and bought her to a whole new audience. It’s a quite breathtaking record.

All My Tears - https://youtu.be/7naQUkKKmeo

I’ve not had long to live with this one. When I started waffling about these Emmylou Harris records I didn’t own it, it had been on my wantlist for a time but I hadn’t got around to finding a copy. With all the references up to now to Gram Parsons I thought it was the right time to buy a copy so I could talk to you about it…the things I do for all y’all…

Released in 1985 and co-written with her then husband (English songwriter Paul Kennerley) “The Ballad Of Sally Rose” is a concept album. It tells the story of a young girl who has a baby at an early age. She then becomes a singer, meeting a character known as “The Singer” whose band she joins and is exposed to the road, his influence, talent and wild ways. They marry, her confidence grows as a performer and she is lured away from her husband to a solo career. By the time she realises she wants to be back with him and is returning to do just that she discovers “The Singer” has died in a car accident. A story eerily similar to that of the relationship between Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons.

After we kick off with “The Ballad Of Sally Rose”, a nice summary of our heroine’s entry into this world, the rest of Side 1 is pretty maudlin until penultimate song “Bad News” in which our anti-hero “The Singer” dies…before we’re even halfway in.

Into Side 2 and you get the feeling that without the explanation on the inner sleeve this would be a confusing story to follow. Sally is out on tour with her “red hot band” the she’s singing about how her baby was taken by the “white line” (on the road or otherwise isn’t specified). It’s getting to feel like unsubtle references to GP are being forced into songs to support a story it was decided to tell before any songs were written and now they have to make themselves write that story in whet3 it doesn’t fit.

By the time you reach the song “The Sweetheart Of the Rodeo” it’s beginning to feel like you’re listening to “Country music by numbers”, a symptom of writing with her husband who was British perhaps ? The music doesn’t feel authentically American but someone else’s idea of what Country should be. 

“K-S-O-S” includes an instrumental snippet of “Six Days On the Road” a song that Gram performed with the Fallen Angels and the Flying Burrito Brothers, along with other Country standards that I’m sure Gram would have known and played.

All in all it’s not Emmylou’s finest moment, her voice is beautiful throughout but the songs just aren’t good enough to tell the story. Caveat is I’ve written this after listening to it once, gimme another week and all the above might change. Me and Emmylou part ways for 10 years now, we’ll pick things up again in 1995.

Long Tall Sally Rose - https://youtu.be/Tj3d2okYXKY

We’ve moved into the 1980’s, you can tell because opening song “I Don’t Have To Crawl” has synthesisers on it.

“Evangeline” is a kind of a compilation album, being made up of tracks from previous album sessions that went unused at the time. And to be honest, it sounds like it. It’s confused and disjointed. We have two more songs from the ill-fated sessions with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt (the standard “Mr Sandman” and the title song), another “standard” in “How High The Moon” and a cover of Creedence’s “Bad Moon Rising”.

There are some bright spots. There’s a passable try at Gram and the Burrito’s “Hot Burrito #2”, nothing special but OK. “Spanish Johnny” sung in duet with Waylon Jennings sounds as great as you’d expect it to given the two singers. But the best thing on “Evangeline” is James Taylor’s “Millworker”. Originally written for the Broadway musical “Working” based on Studs Terkel’s book “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do”. The song is written from the point of view of a woman, widowed and left with three children to raise who works in a textile mill, daydreaming and reflecting on her life. A quite beautiful song that Emmylou handles with respect and skill.

“Evangeline” was released in 1981 and gave Emmylou a Top 5 Country album and a top 10 single (“Mr Sandman”, although she had to re-record Dolly and Linda’s parts for the single as their record companies wouldn’t allow them to appear on a single). 

Millworker - https://youtu.be/aTmd2OyqtaM