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EspañolEMMYLOU HARRIS
'Emmylou Harris' (b. April 2, 1947, Birmingham, Alabama) is a country, folk and alternative music singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous big-name artists.
Biography
Early years
Emmylou Harris was the daughter of a career military father, a Marine Corps officer who was reported Missing In Action in Korea in 1952 and spent ten months as a prisoner of war. Emmylou was born in Birmingham, Alabama and spent her childhood in North Carolina, and Woodbridge, Virginia, where she graduated from Gar-Field Senior High School as class valedictorian. In high school, she also won a drama scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This is when she began to study music seriously, learning to play the songs of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez on guitar. Harris married fellow songwriter Tom Slocum in 1969, and recorded her first album the following year, which was entitled "Gliding Bird" and was released by Jubilee Records. It was reissued in 1979 on Emus Records. Shortly after her marriage, the couple divorced, and Harris and her newborn daughter Hallie moved in with her parents in Washington, D.C.
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 rock group, The Flying Burrito Brothers, happened to be in the audience, including former Byrds member Chris Hillman, who had taken over the band after the departure of its founder, Gram Parsons. Hillman 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. Harris toured as a member of Parsons' "Fallen Angels" band and in 1973, Harris returned to the studio with Parsons to record ''Grievous Angel.'' Parsons died in a motel room, near what is now Joshua Tree National Park, on September 19, 1973, from an overdose of drugs, including alcohol. Following Parsons's death, Harris was devastated and appeared to be at a musical crossroads. Her friend, Linda Ronstadt, then invited Harris to join her in Los Angeles at her own expense. With a deep admiration of Harris' musicianship, Ronstadt informed everyone she possibly could of Harris' talents and was very instrumental in helping to get her work in musical venues along the Sunset Strip. In fact, Harris credits Ronstadt with being the force behind her getting a record contract.
The Reprise Years
Emmylou Harris, ca. 1980, in a promotional photograph by Henry Diltz.
Emmylou met Canadian producer Brian Ahern, who produced her major label debut album, released in 1975 on Reprise Records, entitled ''Pieces of the Sky''. The album included a number of cover songs, including The Beatles' "For No One" and Harris's first hit single, The Louvin Brothers' "If I Could Only Win Your Love". She created The Hot Band, a group of studio and touring musicians that included Elvis Presley band alumni Glen D. Hardin, Hank DeVito, and James Burton.
Harris' subsequent albums, ''Elite Hotel'' (1975), ''Luxury Liner'' (1977), and ''Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town'' (1978) were all country hits, but also had appeal for rock listeners. While country music was experiencing crossover success at the time, the approach of many country artists was to try to marry their music with smooth, L.A.-style pop; Harris, however, had more of a rock and roll sensibility, so she aimed her music in a bit more ''rockish'' direction. In addition to her own solo work during this period, Harris began a number of ongoing collaborative relationships with other artists, many of which she would revisit throughout the course of her career. A Christmas album, "Light of the Stable," was released in 1979; its title track featured backing vocals by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Neil Young. From the mid-1970s, Harris had begun working with all three artists, recording two Trio albums with Parton and Ronstadt (as well as a number of singles), a duet album with Ronstadt, and a number of various projects with Young. In addition, her vocals were prominently featured on Bob Dylan's 1975 ''Desire'' album. She also worked with The Band during this period, appearing in their film ''The Last Waltz''. In 1977, Harris married Brian Ahern and had another daughter, Meghann in 1979. This marriage ended in divorce in 1984.
Her Grammy Award-winning 1979 Gold album ''Blue Kentucky Girl'' featured straight Loretta Lynn/Kitty Wells-style country and included Harris' #1 smash "Beneath Still Waters", while 1980s ''Roses in the Snow'' was another Gold-certified collection of bluegrass and country material featuring Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Douglas.
In 1980, Harris recorded "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again" with the legendary Roy Orbison. The duet was a Top 10 hit on both the Country ''and'' Adult Contemporary charts. They would win the Grammy Award for 'Best Country Vocal Performance - Duo or Group', and in 1981, EmmyLou finally reached the Pop Top 40 on the Billboard charts 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 featured harmony by Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, 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.) 1983's ''White Shoes'' was an eclectic pairing of the ''rockish'' reading of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" with a remake of the Donna Summer hit "On the Radio". Though not previously noted for her songwriting, Harris co-wroteall the songs on her 1985 album, ''The Ballad of Sally Rose'', a somewhat autobiographical piece, based on her relationship with Parsons, which Harris herself described as a "country opera". Harris married musician Paul Kennerley, her co-writer on the "Sally Rose" album, in 1985. This marriage ended in divorce in 1993.
1986's album ''Thirteen'' was her thirteenth solo album. In 1987, Harris enjoyed the biggest success of her long and varied career when she teamed up with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt for their long-promised and much-anticipated ''Trio'' album. Their original recording sessions for this project had begun 10 years earlier. The album spent 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" which hit #1. The disc was nominated for the coveted Album Of The Year Grammy award (given to U2 that year for ''The Joshua Tree'') and the three ladies won the statuette for 'Best Country Vocal Performance - Duo or Group'. On ''Angel Band'', another 1987 album, with traditional religious songs, she worked, among others, with rising country star Vince Gill.
In the early 1990s, she dissolved The Hot Band, and partnered with acoustic musicians (Sam Bush [fiddle, mandolin & vocals], Roy Huskey, Jr. [bass & vocals], Larry Atamanuik [drums], Al Perkins [banjo, guitar, dobro & vocals], Jon Randall [guitar, mandolin & vocals]), whom she named ''The Nash Ramblers''. They recorded a Grammy-winning live album (1992) at the Ryman Auditorium that led to the $8 million restoration of the facility into a premium concert and event venue. It was her last album with Reprise Records.
New directions
Harris started receiving less airplay as mainstream country stations began shifting their focus to the youth-oriented "new country" format. While her recent albums had done reasonably well, her chart success was on the wane. Switching to Elektra Records, her 1993 ''Cowgirl's Prayer'' album, while critically praised, received very little airplay, and its single, "High Powered Love" failed to chart, 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 Ball'', produced by Daniel Lanois, best known for his work with U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan. An experimental album for Harris, to say the least, the record included Harris' rendition of the Neil Young-penned title track (Young himself provided guest vocals on two of the album's songs), Steve Earle's "Goodbye," Julie Miller's "All My Tears", Jimi Hendrix's "May This Be Love", Kate and Anna McGarrigle's "Goin' Back to Harlan" and Gillian Welch'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 rock listeners, many of whom had never listened to her music before. The following year, she appeared on Willie Nelson's moody, instrumentally sparse ''Teatro'' album, which was also produced by Lanois.
In 1998, Harris released the live ''Spyboy'', backed with a new band comprising Nashville producer, songwriter and guitarist Buddy Miller and New Orleans musicians, drummer Brady Blade and bassist-vocalist-percussionist Daryl Johnson. The album updated many of Harris' career hits, including "Boulder to Birmingham". Also, in 1998, Tara MacLean recorded a cover of Harris' Christmas single "Light of the Stable". In January of 1999, she released a second Trio album with Parton and Ronstadt, ''Trio 2'' (much of which was actually recorded during 1994, but remained unreleased for nearly five years, due to record label and personnel disputes, conflicting schedules and career priorities of the three artists). ''Trio 2'' was much more contemporary-sounding than its predeccessor 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, '', 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. Her 2000 ''Red Dirt Girl'' album was produced by Lanois protege Malcolm Burn and, for the first time since ''The Ballad of Sally Rose'', contained a number of Harris' 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 yet another of her record 12 Grammy awards in the category of 'Best Contemporary Folk Album'.
In 2000, Harris guested on alternative country singer Ryan Adams' solo debut ''Heartbreaker''. The same year she joined an all star group of traditional country, folk and blues artists for the T-Bone Burnett produced soundtrack to the Coen Brothers film, ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' A documentary/concert film, ''Down from the Mountain'', featured the artists performing music from the film and other songs at the Ryman Auditorium. Harris and many of the same artists took their show on the road for the ''Down from the Mountain Tour'' in 2002. Harris released ''Stumble into Grace'', her follow-up to ''Red Dirt Girl'' in 2003, and like its predecessor, it contained mostly self-penned material. In 2004, Harris led the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue tour with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin. They performed singly and together and swapped instruments.
Emmylou Harris playing in Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands in 2006.
In 2005, Harris worked with Conor Oberst on Bright Eyes' release, ''I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning'', performing backup vocals and harmonies on three tracks. In July, she also joined Elvis Costello on several dates of his U.S. tour, performing alongside Costello and his band on several numbers each night. Emmylou and Costello recorded a version of Costello's song, "The Scarlet Tide", from the soundtrack of the movie, "Cold Mountain". July also saw the release of ''The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways,'' a single-disc retrospective of Harris's career, on the Rhino Entertainment label. This same year, Harris appeared as a guest vocalist on the widely acclaimed ''Prairie Wind'', the latest album by Neil Young. She appeared in the Jonathan Demme documentary-concert film '', released in 2006.
''All the Roadrunning'', an album of collaborations with former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler, was released on April 24, 2006 (April 25 in USA), and supported by a tour of Europe and the USA. The album was a commercial success, reaching #10 in the UK and #17 in the USA. Selections recorded during the ''All the Roadrunning'' tour performance at the Gibson Amphitheatre were released as a CD/DVD package entitled ''Real Live Roadrunning'' on November 14, 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 album to Joni Mitchell. Called 'A Tribute To Joni Mitchell', the album was released on April 24, 2007. Harris covered the song The Magdalene Laundries (originally on Mitchell's 1994 album, Turbulent Indigo).
Activism
In 1997 & 1998, Harris performed in Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair, promoting feminism 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 Foundation's (VVAF) efforts to assist innocent victims of conflicts around the world. The tour also benefits the VVAF's work to raise America's awareness of the global landmine crisis. Artists that have joined Harris on the road for these dates include Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Bruce Cockburn, Steve Earle, Joan Baez, Patty Griffin and Nanci Griffith. Harris is a supporter of animal rights and an active member of PETA.[1]
Awards and other honors
Grammy Awards
★ Grammy for Album of the Year
'2001' (''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'')
★ Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance,
'1976' (''Elite Hotel''),
'1979' (''Blue Kentucky Girl''),
'1984' ("In My Dreams"),
'2005' ("The Connection")
★ Grammy for Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group with Vocal,
'1980' ("That Lovin' You Feelin' Again", with Roy Orbison),
'1987' (''Trio'', with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt),
'1992' (''Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers At The Ryman'', as Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers)
★ Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album,
'1995' (''Wrecking Ball''),
'2000' (''Red Dirt Girl'')
★ Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration,
'1998' ("Same Old Train", with Alison Krauss, Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, Earl Scruggs, Joe Diffie, Marty Stuart, Merle Haggard, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs & Travis Tritt),
'1999' ("After The Gold Rush", with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
Other honors
★ ''CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music'' - #5 ranking (2002)
Discography
Charted Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot 100 | US Country | US A.C. | |||
| 1975 | "Too Far Gone" | - | 73 | - | ''Pieces of the Sky'' |
| 1975 | "If Only I Could Win Your Love" | 58 | 4 | - | ''Pieces of the Sky'' |
| 1975 | "Light Of The Stable" | - | 99 | - | - |
| 1976 | "Together Again" | - | 1 | - | ''Elite Hotel'' |
| 1976 | "Here, There And Eveywhere" A | - | 65 | - | ''Elite Hotel'' |
| 1976 | "One Of These Days" | - | 3 | - | ''Elite Hotel'' |
| 1976 | "Sweet Dreams" | - | 1 | - | ''Elite Hotel'' |
| 1977 | "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie" | - | 6 | - | ''Luxury Liner'' |
| 1977 | "Making Believe" | - | 8 | - | ''Luxury Liner'' |
| 1977 | "To Daddy" | - | 3 | - | ''Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town'' |
| 1978 | "Two More Bottles Of Wine" | - | 1 | - | ''Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town'' |
| 1978 | "Easy From Now On" | - | 12 | - | ''Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town'' |
| 1978 | "Too Far Gone" | - | 13 | - | ''Profile'' |
| 1979 | "Save The Last Dance For Me" | - | 4 | - | ''Blue Kentucky Girl'' |
| 1979 | "Play Together Again Again" (with Buck Owens) | - | 11 | - | - |
| 1979 | "Blue Kentucky Girl" | - | 6 | - | ''Blue Kentucky Girl'' |
| 1980 | "Beneath Still Waters" | - | 1 | - | ''Blue Kentucky Girl'' |
| 1980 | "Wayfaring Stranger" | - | 7 | - | ''Roses in the Snow'' |
| 1980 | "That Lovin' You Feeling Again" (with Roy Orbison) | 55 | 6 | - | - |
| 1980 | "The Boxer" | - | 13 | - | ''Roses in the Snow'' |
| 1981 | "Mister Sandman" | 37 | 10 | - | ''Evangeline'' |
| 1981 | "I Don't Have to Crawl" | - | 44 | - | ''Evangeline'' |
| 1981 | "If I Needed You" (with Don Williams) | - | 3 | - | ''Cimarron'' |
| 1982 | "Tennessee Rose" | - | 9 | - | ''Cimarron'' |
| 1982 | "Born To Run" | - | 3 | - | ''Cimarron'' |
| 1982 | "(Lost His Love On Our) Last Date" B | - | 1 | - | ''Last Date'' |
| 1983 | "I'm Movin' On" B | - | 5 | - | ''Last Date'' |
| 1983 | "So Sad To Watch Good Love Go Bad" | - | 28 | - | ''Last Date'' |
| 1983 | "Wild Montana Skies" | - | - | 26 | - |
| 1983 | "Drivin' Wheel" | - | 26 | - | ''White Shoes'' |
| 1984 | "In My Dreams" | - | 9 | - | ''White Shoes'' |
| 1984 | "Pledging My Love" | - | 9 | - | ''Profile 2'' |
| 1984 | "Someone Like You" | - | 26 | - | ''Profile 2'' |
| 1985 | "White Line" | - | 14 | - | ''The Ballad of Sally Rose'' |
| 1985 | "Rhythm Guitar" | - | 44 | - | ''The Ballad of Sally Rose'' |
| 1985 | "Timberline" | - | 55 | - | ''The Ballad of Sally Rose'' |
| 1986 | "I Had My Heart Set On You" | - | 60 | - | ''Thirteen'' |
| 1986 | "Today I Started Loving You Again" | - | 43 | - | ''Thirteen'' |
| 1987 | "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (with Dolly Parton & Linda Ronstadt) | - | 1 | - | ''Trio'' |
| 1987 | "Telling Me Lies" (with Dolly Parton & Linda Ronstadt) | - | 3 | 35 | ''Trio'' |
| 1987 | "Someday My Ship Will Sail" | - | 60 | - | ''Angel Band'' |
| 1987 | "Those Memories Of You" (with Dolly Parton & Linda Ronstadt) | - | 5 | - | ''Trio'' |
| 1988 | "Wildflowers" (with Dolly Parton & Linda Ronstadt) | - | 6 | - | ''Trio'' |
| 1988 | "Heartbreak Hill" | - | 8 | - | ''Bluebird'' |
| 1989 | "Heaven Only Knows" | - | 16 | - | ''Bluebird'' |
| 1989 | "I Still Miss Someone" | - | 51 | - | ''Bluebird'' |
| 1990 | "Gulf Coast Highway" (with Willie Nelson)C | - | - | - | ''Duets'' |
| 1990 | "Never Be Anyone Else But You" C | - | - | - | ''Brand New Dance'' |
| 1990 | "Wheels Of Love" | - | 71 | - | ''Brand New Dance'' |
| 1990 | "Rollin' And Ramblin'" C | - | - | - | ''Brand New Dance'' |
| 1993 | "High Powered Love" | - | 63 | - | ''Cowgirl's Prayer'' |
| 1994 | "Thanks To You" | - | 65 | - | ''Cowgirl's Prayer'' |
★ AB-Side of "Together Again"
★ BLive version.
★ CReleased but failed to chart.
Solo albums
# ''Gliding Bird'' (Jubilee) 1969
# ''Pieces of the Sky'' (Reprise/Warner Bros.) 1975
# ''Elite Hotel'' (Reprise/Warner Bros.) 1975
# ''Luxury Liner'' (Warner Bros.) 1977
# ''Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town'' (Warner Bros.) 1978
# ''Blue Kentucky Girl'' (Warner Bros.) 1979
# ''Light of the Stable'' (X-mas album) (Warner Bros.) 1979
# ''Roses in the Snow'' (Warner Bros.) 1980
# ''Evangeline'' (Warner Bros.) 1981
# ''Cimarron'' (Warner Bros.) 1981
# ''Last Date'' (live) (Warner Bros.) 1982
# ''White Shoes'' (Warner Bros.) 1983
# ''The Ballad of Sally Rose'' (Warner Bros.) 1985
# ''Thirteen'' (Warner Bros.) 1986
# ''Angel Band'' (Warner Bros.) 1987
# ''Bluebird'' (Reprise/Warner Bros.) 1989
# ''Brand New Dance'' (Reprise/Warner Bros.) 1990
# ''At the Ryman'' (live with The Nash Ramblers) (Warner Bros.) 1992
# ''Cowgirl's Prayer'' (Elektra/Warner Bros.) 1993
# ''Wrecking Ball'' (Asylum/Warner Bros.) 1995
# ''Spyboy'' (live) (Eminent) 1998
# ''Red Dirt Girl'' (Nonesuch/Warner Bros.) 2000
# ''Stumble into Grace'' (Nonesuch/Warner Bros.) 2003
Compilations
★ '' (Warner Bros.) 1979
★ '' (Warner Bros.) 1984
★ ''Duets'' (Warner Bros.) 1990
★ ''Songs of the West'' (Warner Bros.) 1994
★ ''Portraits'' (3 disc boxed set) (Warner Bros.) 1996
★ ''Anthology'' (2 disc boxed set) (Warner Bros.) 2001
★ ''Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons'' – "She" with The Pretenders, "Sin City" with Beck; "Juanita" with Sheryl Crow and "Return of the Grievous Angel" with Ryan Adams.
★ ''The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways'' (Rhino Entertainment) 2005
★ ''Brokeback Mountain'' – ("A Love That Will Never Grow Old", which won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song) 2005.
Collaborations
★ ''Trio'' (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt), (Warner Bros.) 1987
★ ''Other Voices, Other Rooms'' (with Nanci Griffith), (Elektra) 1993
★ ''Teatro'' (with Willie Nelson), (Island) 1996
★ ''Trio 2'' (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt) (Elektra) 1999
★ ''Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions'' (with Linda Ronstadt) (Elektra) 1999
★ "Resplendent" (with Bill Mallonee and Vigilantes of Love) on ''Audible Sigh'' (Compass) 2000
★ "Lost on the River" and "Alone and Forsaken" (both with Mark Knopfler) on '' (Universal) 2001
★ "Comin' Around" (with Steve Earle) on Earle's ''The Revolution Starts Now'' (Artemis Records) 2004
★ "We Are Nowhere and It's Now," "Old Soul Song (For the New World Order)," and "Landlocked Blues" (with Conor Oberst) on ''I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning'' by Bright Eyes. (Saddle Creek) (2005)
★ ''All the Roadrunning'' (with Mark Knopfler) released April 24th, 2006 (April 25th in USA). Mercury Records.
★ ''Real Live Roadrunning'' (with Mark Knopfler), CD + DVD, released November 2006.
Video and film
★ ''The Last Waltz'' (1978)
★ ''Live at the Ryman'' (with the Nash Ramblers, VHS, 1992)
★ ''Spyboy - Live from the legendary Exit/In'' (1999)
★ ''Down from the Mountain'' (2002)
★ '' (2006)
★ ''Real Live Roadrunning'' (with Mark Knopfler), CD + DVD, released November 2006.
References
★ ''In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music,'' Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 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
★ Official Site
★ Emmylou Harris - Sweetheart of the Rodeo – An excellent biography by Bill DeYoung
★ Emmylou Harris Dutch Homepage
★
★
★ Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris hi-res photos from June 25th '06 Chicago concert
★ Liberal Country Fan – A good description of Emmylou's music career and history of political expression.
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