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As we rejoin Guy Clark‘s career from 1995 onward, he continued to resist those who urged him to set aside his usual songwriting process and churn out a few commercial hits. He once admitted - "I've tried and I can't do it. The stuff turned out to be awful. The truth is I've never had a piece of contrived work make me a dime. ... There's another reason you don't want to stray from your heart as a writer. If you write anything bad it might just become a hit ... and you'd then have to spend the rest of your life singing that shit every damn night”.

Clark was one of a select few country singer-songwriters who could get away with including “troubadour” in his job description. Ernest Tubb was the first to earn the “Texas troubadour” moniker after hitting it big with ‘Walkin’ the Floor Over You’ in 1941 (posts # 161-165), while the honky tonk king, Gary Stewart was another, followed by James “Slim” Hand. These days, old-school road warrior Dale Watson is doing the lonely work of preserving the legacy of Tubb’s rough-hewn, electrified brand of attitudinal honky tonk. But if you apply a more traditional dictionary definition of the word - as in a poet who puts their verse to music - then Clark just might have been the truest troubadour Texas has ever produced.

In the final track of the superb 1995 “Dublin Blues” album, Clark gives us the story of a character at 3 stages of life. He’s optimistic. A risk-taker. Is he successful? Maybe. We’re not too sure, but that’s not really the point. The point of this story is that whatever the risks are, our character is willing to take them and keep taking them throughout his life. It’s a universal theme we can relate to. Maybe you’re the kid jumping off the garage and maybe you’re the person who says “… he’s acting like a kid …”, but we can all place ourselves somewhere in this story. How does Clark achieve this in 171 words? In a word - metaphor. Clark uses the image of the cape, a recognisable symbol of invincibility to his audience to drive the song. The Cape is such an evocative metaphor that he doesn’t have to spend much time explaining his character. All he has to say is that there’s a little boy standing on the garage wearing a flour-sack cape, and he’s ready to jump. Our minds does the rest. Coming from someone who dropped out of college early and crossed the country to California and back to pursue his dream of being a professional songwriter and musician, ‘The Cape’ seemingly asks the question - what would you risk to pursue your dreams? -


Clark returned to Sugar Hill for 1997’s “Keepers - A Live Recording and 1999’s “Cold Dog Soup”. It’s easy for outsiders to romanticise the poet’s life, but Clark knew from hard experience that living it was a different story. You could have all the brilliant and legendary friends in the world - and a talent to rival theirs - but you still might not be able to pay the rent in any given month. The album’s title song, ‘Cold Dog Soup‘, was written decades into Clark’s life of poetry and song and by that time he had come to terms with his lot in life - but that didn’t make it any easier. Playful and catchier than many of his best-known songs, ‘Cold Dog Soup‘ references fellow travellers like Tom Waits and Clark’s mercurial friend, Townes Van Zandt, as well as literary figures like Alan Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac - whose semi-autobiographical 1957 beat classic, On The Road (which took him 3 weeks to write, wired high on benzedrine, and 6 years to revise - a process not so dissimilar to Clark’s song-writing, spending little time composing but a lot in revising). They all shared a passion for expression and individuality, and a shared struggle. Clark’s chorus is so tight it feels written in stone, a half-warning embedded in a joke to be passed down - and ignored - for generations of poets to come -
“… Ain’t no money in poetry / That’s what sets the poet free / I’ve had all the freedom I can stand /
Cold dog soup and rainbow pie / Is all it takes to get me by / Fool my belly till the day I die …“ -


Clark released one more album, “The Dark”, for Sugar Hill in 2002, before he moved across to Dualtone for “Workbench Songs” 4 years later. Now in his sixties, he embraced co-writes more frequently, enjoying collaborations with a wide batch of country writersmodel for quality song-writing and mentor. Clark explained - “I’ve co-written a lot in the last several years. Mainly I just got stuck. I ran out of shit to say. I’ve found that with co-writing, there are a lot of young phenomenal songwriters and guitar players that come over here and write. And I learn so much from these guys”.

But it was around this time Clark he was diagnosed with lymphoma, but he battled the illness with the same stern, true countenance he employed onstage and continued with his songwriting and recordings, releasing 3 more albums for Dualtone, including the 2009 album, “Sometimes The Songs Write You”, Clark's 11th studio album, a well-crafted collection of compositions that rank among some of his best, including ‘The Guitar’ and ‘Hemingway’s Whiskey’.

Clark was a talented guitarist - his guitar skills arguably better than his vocals - and he loved playing and appreciated them enough to actually make them as a side-line to his music career. ‘The Guitar‘, co-written by Clark and guitarist Verlon Thompson tells the archetypical tale involving a pawnshop, old guitar and destiny, with Thompson's acoustic guitar solo burning with an almost ghostly intensity. Clark's tobacco-and-whiskey-stained voice has never sounded better than it does on such tracks as this, a fiery number about a wayward musician and the pawnshop guitar that causes an unexpected awakening in him -


The drifter, hard-drinker risk-taker and great writer, Ernest Hemingway, was another who shared many traits with Guy Clark. ‘Hemingway's Whisky‘, co-written by Clark, Joe Leather, and Ray Stephenson, captures the allure of the grain delivered straight with no chasers. As Clark explained at the time - ”When I wrote that I had just read The Complete Short Stories. It was a big, thick book and I really enjoyed it. He’s a really sparse, good writer. Joe Leathers and another friend of mine, Ray Stephenson came over here to write with me one day. Joehad told Ray the line “Hemingway’s Whiskey” and Ray said, “We gotta take that over to Guy’s house‘. So they did. We just constructed it and put it together. It was pretty obvious what it had to be about“. But in fact, the lyrics are more than just about whiskey -
“… Ah, it's tough out there, a good muse is hard to find / Living one word to the next, one line at a time /
There's more to life than whiskey, there's more to words than rhyme / Sometimes nothing works, sometimes nothing shines …” -


It features originals along with a Townes Van Zandt song, the beautiful ’If I Needed You’. Guy Clark's first album in 4 years is a wonderfully rough, tough, tender, wise, and gracefully resigned testament to a life lived, a craft followed, and regrets considered, weighed, and given due. Now 71 years old, Clark had been a world-class songwriter for decades, as sturdy, honest, and truthful a songwriter as you're ever going to get. Clark's voice has grown rougher and more wearied, but it perfectly fits the songs here

Clark lost his wife Susanna in 2012, after a battle with lung cancer. The two were at the centre of Nashville's folk-country songwriting scene in the 1970’s, existing as the social hub for a universe that included Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell. But Susanna didn't always love the raucous drug fueled parties that came with such a role, and one day she was stormed outside, pissed off that her husband and Van Zandt, who bunked in their house for 8 months, were once again stumbling around drunk or stoned or wired to the hilt (or probably all 3 at once). She was standing seething outside, which is when the picture - one of the most famous photos in country music history - was taken by chance by a visiting photographer. There's the song, as over 30 years later it became the inspiration for ’My Favourite Picture of You‘, off the album of the same title - Clark's last.

As Clark struggles in it to sort out his emotions about his terminally ill wife (he wrote it before her death), what emerges is one of the most honest and haunting love songs ever written. That Clark preferred a photograph where his beloved wife looked pretty yet sad and pissed off, says everything about how he understood humanity – as full of humour, sadness, anger and delightful imperfections. To a Tejano-tinged chug of the guitar, he sings -
“… It's hard to believe / We were lovers at all / There's a fire in your eyes /
You've got your heart on your sleeve / A curse on your lips / but all I can see is beautiful," -


“My Favourite Picture Of You”, Clark’s final album, won a Grammy Award for Best Album. Bit by the time of it’s release in 2013, Clark’s past struggle with cancer had ravaged his system as had the toll of hard living - equally so the death of his wife. His touring life, though once strong and vital, had slowed down and he had taken to walking with a cane, but he still frequently invited friends and collaborators down into his basement studio to write, smoke cigarettes and play guitar, even though he was no longer able to stand long enough to craft the instruments himself. On the wall, hung the photo of Susana that inspired those last songs, her arms crossed, her eyes blazing.

Inducted into the Songwriters HoF back in 2004, Guy was honoured with the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting in 2005. His music has influenced numerous musicians over the years. In 2011, a double album called “This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark”, was released, featuring Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris and many more covering his songs. In 2015, a documentary, Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark, followed Guy’s journey as he moved from Texas to L.A. to Nashville to become one of the most revered songwriters in America was released.

Clark died in Nashville in 2016, following a lengthy battle with lymphoma, aged 74. Clark’s biographer, Tamara Saviano, added an epilogue to her documentary, Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark, with a morbidly humorous but note-perfect observation made at his funeral, one the poetry lover in Clark would’ve appreciated for its metaphorical value. She noted Clark’s body was crammed into a coffin that was too small for his 6-foot-3-inch frame - “The top of his head was pressed against one end of the box and his feet pressed against the other. Guy Clark does not fit in a box.”

Guy Clark’s honest, off-the-wall, gripping musical storytelling evokes the world of the vanished small town, contemporary cowboys, blue-collar workers, rural get-togethers, drive-ins and roadhouses. Full of tangible, real-life traits, Clark’s characters have histories and names and dilemmas and decisions. His songs enter the lives of these people and keep the listener interested in what happens to them. His vocals had an immediate, conversational quality - a gnarled country voice seasoned with experience and marked by a depth of character that came from the soul.

Though I’ve completed Guy Clark’s potted story, I’ve still not quite done with his music - but it’ll take me a couple of days to complete, as I’ve got a busy weekend coming up (including going to the ‘G tomorrow afternoon then celebrating the Pies victory at a function afterwards).
 
CliffMcTainshaw said:
Here's the show for you Prof. They should get you on as the technical advisor.
Contestants for new reality show are found in some unlikely places

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Ha ha - if they hired me for that, they’d soon sack me for repeating - “Nope, they ain’t real country enough” for every possible contester that’s likely to be popular to the wider general public - and only approve the authentic country artists that won’t attract such a wider pop-influenced audience.
 

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I’m back after a few very enjoyable days, ready for some more on Guy Clark - this time focussing on a few of the many covers of his songs. Early on in his career, Clark was better known for his songs than his own recordings, and over the years he watched as some of American music’s most respected artists covered his songs, starting with Jerry Jeff Walker, who made his own name with his recordings of Clark’s ‘L.A. Freeway’ in 1972 and ’Desperados waiting For A Train’ in 1975, both recently seen here - Walker’s versions on post # 844, Clark’s on # 848). Walker brought Clark wider attention from other artists like Johnny Cash, Bobby Bare, and Rodney Crowell amongst others. So today and tomorrow will feature some of the best covers of Clark’s songs - most not included in the Clark selection from last week. These commercially successful interpretative tributes made up for the stardom that Guy never really craved anyway.

Today’s music selection starts with a Clark written song, about a train, set in Texas and sung by Johnny Cash - so no way could I omit it! First cut by Cash in 1975 and reaching # 35, ‘Texas 1947’ is a snapshot of a certain time and place with a feeling a new era is nearing. Steeped in nostalgia and clearly autobiographical, Clark details a memory of sitting by the side of the railroad tracks when he was about 6 years old, sitting along with 50 or 60 people from his hometown and his adopted grandfather Jack, as they all wait for, “… a mad dog, runaway red-silver streamline train …” to pass through town. In a larger sense, it marks the end of an era when the smoke-spitting steam locomotives that used to rule the tracks pass into history. Yet, despite the excitement and anticipation of those who gathered for the occasion, the train roars by without slowing down for a second.

Talk about a good story song. Clark‘s song is able to talk about a massive, irreversible change in Texan economy - the emergence of the diesel loco that hastened the death of thousands of small towns across the state - through a single afternoon in the eyes of a 6 year old. It's simple, yet its statement about what we give up when progress steams through small towns is an impressive feat. Here again, Clark offers an analogy of life as it passes us by, marking the transition from the old to the new with scarcely any time for adjustment or acclimatisation. The lesson that’s is that one must either get on board that train or wallow in its wake -

Cash turned to Clark again for the title track to his 1977 album, ‘The Last Gunfighter Ballad’, which, released as a single, reached # 38 (but see post # 849 for Clark’s 1975 original, which I much prefer to Cash’s cover)

Clark had his first song go to the top 20 with Bobby Bare's 1982 recording of ’New Cut Road’ reaching # 18. ‘New Cut Road‘ appeared on Bobby Bare’s Rodney Crowell produced “As Is“ album. Also featuring bluegrass master, Ricky Scaggs on fiddle, it was his favourite song on the album. One of the subjects on the song was Clark’s great uncle, Coleman Barnes who died before Clark could ever meet him. He was the “rakish dude,” whose family traveled in a covered wagon from Kentucky to Texas. Barnes longed to go back to Kentucky. On his way back, he ended up falling from a train to a gruesome death -

Ironically, Clark fought his record label not to release his own original version of the song as a single, and then watched Bobby Bare take it to the Top 20. Clark enjoyed the resulting writer’s royalties but could only joke he didn’t know shit about the music business.

Rodney Crowell’s second album, 1980’s “But What Will the Neighbors Think”, included an upbeat heartbreak song written by Clark specifically for Crowell called ‘Heartbroke’. Clark later recorded his own version of ‘Heartbroke’ for his 1981 “South Coast of Texas” album, a thoroughly engaging flirtation with musical styles from folk and Western swing to bluegrass, which produced Clark’s sole Top 40 hit as an artist, “The Partner Nobody Chose”. But a year later, in 1982, it was Ricky Skaggs’ swingin’ version of ‘Heartbroke’ that topped the charts, became a # 1 hit for Skaggs and the first Clark penned song to top the charts.

Clark was perceived - and even portrayed himself, as we saw last week - as the uncompromisingly difficult artist with no affinity for popular sounds and who even claimed he couldn’t write a popular song. Yet this ongoing spin somehow isn’t quite right, for the fact is, Clark did write songs that had big commercial success. It’s just that it needed other artists more in sync with doing what it takes, we’re prepared to add the finishing “touch-ups”, to make the songs appealing to a mass-market. Ricky Skaggs, for example, took Clark’s previously dead-on arrival single ‘Heartbroke‘, change the lyric “… pride is a bitch …” to the radio and mass-market friendly “… pride when you’re rich …”, added a few upbeat production flourishes to the recording, and hey presto - it shoots all the way to # 1 -

George Strait also covered the song in 1982 on his second album “Strait From The Heart”. Like Skaggs, he offered a radio-friendly reading of the line “… pride is a bitch and a bore …” - in Strait’s case, he changed “bitch” to “drag.” The things one did - and Guy Clark didn’t - to chase the commercial market.

Vince Gill‘s 1985 debut album, “The Things That Matter” brought some of his first top 10 hits, including his Rosanne Cash duet, ‘If It Weren’t for Him‘ at # 10 and the Clark co-written ‘Oklahoma Borderline‘, reaching # 9. This live clip features a guitar solo at the end - I’ve always regarded Vince Gill as one of the best guitarists in country music. The song itself is simple enough - a man fleeing Texas, back home to Oklahoma after being kicked out by his ”baby” -
“… Well it's rainin' down in Houston / And I got holes in both my shoes / Baby's put me on the street /
She says "I'm through with you" / She thinks I'm gonna miss her / Someone tell her that she's wrong /
I'm goin' back to Oklahoma, boys / 'Cause that's where I belong …” -

Clark later penned ‘Sight for Sore Eyes‘ for Gill’s third album, “When I Call Your Name”.

After Clark moved from the gritty West Texan oil town of Monaghans to the quite lovely South Texan bayside town of Rockford, he took a summer job in high school in a shipyard as a carpenter’s helper, building 80-foot shrimp boats.
Echoes of his teenage job showed up later in his song ‘Boats to Build’ (post # ) -
“… I’m gonna build me a boat / With these two hands / It’ll be a fair curve / From a noble plan /
Let the chips fall where they will / Cause I’ve got boats to build …” -

Woodworking - or more specifically luthier work, remained a huge part of Clark’s life thereafter, as he combined his career as a singer-songwriter with his love of making guitars. Clark recalled - “… It was one of the best things that ever happened to me when I was in high school. My summer job was working in a shipyard as a carpenter’s helper on the Gulf Coast, with the last guys that built big wooden work boats. Eighty-foot shrimp boats, everything by eye, square to the world, and just to watch those guys do that, man, it influenced me as much as anything I’ve been through in my life”.

Clark had a combination workshop/office in his basement that had a large framed photo of his late, closest friend, Townes Van Zandt and was full of magazines and books about lutherie and woodworking. Of a book entitled Japanese Woodworking, Clark said “That’s wonderful. They have pull saws instead of push saws and planes that you pull through instead of push through”. It also had many of the guitars Clark’s made. A woodwork magazine article from 2005 described the scene - “The pungent, familiar smells of sawdust, cigarettes and coffee are present, even as a spring breeze blows through the windows. Clark says, of the workshop - “The ambience just smells right to me. It just smells right”.

So, with Clark’s love - and his in-depth first-hand experience and knowledge - of carpentry set out, time for today’s last selection. ‘The Carpenter‘ was released on Clark’s 1983 album, “Better Days”. John Conlee released it in 1986 as the 3rd single from his “Harmony” album and took it to #6 in early 1987 and all the way to #1 in Canada -
“… Oh he was tough as a crowbar, quick as a chisel / Fair as a plane and true as a level /
He was straight as a chalkline and right as a rule / He was square with the world, he took good care of his tools …” -


Now I have just one more free day tomorrow, just enough for some more Guy Clark covers.
 
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Today’s selection of Guy Clark covers, just like yesterday, starts with Johnny Cash. Clark’s song of rejection in love causing a descent into despair and a life on an alcohol soaked edge, ‘Let Him Roll’, was included in the 1987 “Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town” album. This was released in an era where Johnny Cash was way out of fashion and struggled to get a recording contract. Strange, considering the quality he delivers here -


Rodney Crowell grew up in Houston and started performing as a drummer in his father’s honky tonk band at age 11, touring the rough and rowdy world of Texan honky tonks while learning to play a full range of instruments. After a brief spell in college, Crowell moved to Nashville at age 22. There, he encountered the eclectic circle of fellow Texas expats that included Townes Van Zandt, Mickey Newbury and Guy and Susanna Clark, who all put their elevated notions of artistry on casual display during the salon-like guitar pulls immortalised in the documentary Heartworn Highways (refer to Townes Van Zandt # 551-555) - in one scene, Crowell treats those gathered around the table to an eager rendition of his song ’Bluebird Wine’ with a baby-faced Steve Earle strumming along next to him, while in another, Clark is so wasted he strings his guitar backwards without even noticing).

Clark became Crowell’s song-writing mentor, convincing Crowell of the virtues of dissecting Dylan Thomas recitations and test-driving song lyrics as straight poetry. Crowell recalls of Clark, "He'd say, 'OK you've got a new song? Don't play it. Just say it to me and look me in the eye.' You'd be surprised how quickly you learn whether your language is really solid, because if you've got a really weak line in the narrative, you're gonna wanna avert your gaze when you're staring at a pair of eyes like that”. ‘She’s Crazy For Leaving’ was originally recorded by Clark on his 1981 album “The South Coast of Texas”, which his, by now, close friend and collaborator, Crowell produced. Crowell released the song in 1988 as the third single from the album “Diamonds & Dirt”. The song topped the charts in both the U.S. and Canada, Crowell's second # 1 hit as a solo artist - and Clark’s second # 1 as a song-writer, despite his claim he never wrote popular songs.

Driven by a high-pitched bass line, ‘She’s Crazy for Leaving’ is energetic, self-deprecating fun, as the newly single narrator sings - “You can’t stop a woman when she’s out of control / So I punched out my truck on a telephone pole…” -


As mentioned yesterday, Clark spent his teenage years growing up in the South Texan town of Rockport, basically an outer bayside suburb of Corpus Christi, where he spent his summer holidays building shrimp boats. It was there he learned a lot about the hazards faced by fishing boats in the Gulf Of Mexico. And like every other Texan music lover, Clark also grew up with Western Swing or Texan swing as it’s still usually called in Texas), in an era where “Bob Wills Is Still The King”, as sung by fellow Texan, Waylon Jennings. As well as Tejano elements, Clark also incorporated western swing into many of his lighter themed songs such as this one. ‘Blowin‘ Like A Bandit’ was first released by Clark in 1983 in his “Better Days” album. In 1988, it was covered by the iconic Texan western swing band, Asleep At The Wheel, who, naturally, gave it the full western swing treatment, one for those big Texan dancehalls -
“… There's an ill wind a-blowin' / You better get back to your moorin' / Don't you dare take that boat out to sea /
You better take a weather warnin' / You'll be shark bait in the mornin' / If you dare take that boat out to sea …” -

’Blowin’ Like A Bandit’ was later covered by Mike Aiken in 2008 and Steve Bernal in 2009.

If Bob Wills was the king of Texas, George Strait took that crown and, as a performer, held it for some 25 years or more, dominating the charts with his neo-traditionalist sound, especially in his home state, from the early 1980’s until c2010. One of the main reasons for Strait’s immense commercial success with traditional country music is his insistence on incorporating all sorts of Texan and Tex-Mex music elements into his sound, particularly western swing like his take here. It's really hard to pick best lines from ‘Texas Cookin', the title track of Clark’s 1976 album. Anyone who’s had some good Texas homestyle cookin' - take it from me, they really do have the world’s best bbq’s - knows this song ain't really humorous - it's a declaration of love. Clark's mouth-watering, belly-growlin' ode to his favourite Texan dishes is a meal in itself. George Strait covered ‘Texas Cookin’ on his 2006 “It Comes Naturally” album, and, in typical style, throws in plenty of traditional Texan music elements, not the least a decent dose of Western swing -


That’s all for the Guy Clark songs by other artists. Others penned by Clark I couldn’t fit in included The Everly Brothers ‘A Nickel For The Fiddler’ in 1972, ‘Don’t Let The Sunshine Fool Ya’ by Townes Van Zandt in 1972, ‘I Take My Comfort In You’ by Waylon Jennings in 1986, ‘All Through Throwing Good Love After Bad’ by Tammy Wynette in 1987 and ‘Talk Is Cheap’ by Alan Jackson in 2012.

The final song ain’t a cover, but rather a tribute song by Aaron Watson, a native of the North Texan panhandle city of Amarillo (made famous by the George Strait standard, ‘Amarillo By Morning’). Watson pays tribute to one of his heroes on the opening track of his 2019 “Red Bandana” album, ‘Ghost Of Guy Clark‘. Hauntingly eerie wind chimes set the tone for the dream sequence song where Watson receives writing advice from the late legend. Watson said of the song - “I wanted to make a statement with the first song, it’s the manifesto. And there are a few artists who are just adored by both Nashville and Texas, guys like George Strait, and then guys like Guy Clark… and he is just my hero. When I grow up I want to be just like him. When people say what do I have envisioned for my career, I see me as an old man sitting on my stool playing my songs. So the first song is a manifesto …”. The song finishes with a real nice touch - an indirect reference to Guy Clark’s own song-writing hero, Townes Van Zandt, in the very last line -
“… Let the words speak for themselves / tell the truth, right or wrong /
And bare your soul for all to see / all for the sake of the song …"


Now I‘ll be once again bound to South Australia tomorrow and this time I have to be away until Easter. So that iconic artist I keep mentioning after the last few artists I’ve covered has to be deferred again (then again, I should never have originally considered passing over Jerry Jeff Walker and Guy Clark). I should be back on the history trail not too long after Easter.
 
No eye deer said:
Love this man!

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So apt you posted this Prine clip while I was doing Guy Clark’s story and music - the two had a lot in common, with their stellar poetic storytelling song-writing, both putting quality and integrity first rather than just pandering to the commercial market - and I must add Clark’s closest friend, the great Townes Van Zandt as well.
 
Professor Knowall said:
So apt you posted this Prine clip while I was doing Guy Clark’s story and music - the two had a lot in common, with their stellar poetic storytelling song-writing, both putting quality and integrity first rather than just pandering to the commercial market - and I must add Clark’s closest friend, the great Townes Van Zandt as well.
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I love Townes Van Zandt as well.
I’ll have to delve deeper into Guy Clark.

Edit-I’ve been reading through the Guy Clark posts and playing the songs this afternoon. Great stuff! Cheers Professor!
 
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No eye deer said:
I love Townes Van Zandt as well.
I’ll have to delve deeper into Guy Clark.

Edit-I’ve been reading through the Guy Clark posts and playing the songs this afternoon. Great stuff! Cheers Professor!
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Thanks for that. My little potted history bit only delved briefly into the close and unusual 3 way relationship between Townes, Guy and Clark’s wife Susanna - who descended into a permanent bed-ridden deep depression after Townes passed. You may find this article (amongst many others), along with the embedded trailer to the 2020 documentary ”Without Getting Killed Or Caught”, which is all about their relationship and music, interesting -
www.theguardian.com

‘You can’t separate them’: the unlikely love story of Guy Clark, Susanna Clark and Townes Van Zandt

The unusual bond between the three musicians is the focus of a new documentary Without Getting Killed or Caught, a story of romance, creativity and tragedy
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
I’m finally back after a cool Easter break with the promised iconic country artist - one who confessed some 10 years back to being "… a folk snob …", on a mission to be the next Joan Baez - "… I looked down on country as something hokey and simple. If it wasn't Bob Dylan, I wasn't interested. But then I met Gram Parsons, and he changed my life." In the decades since, in addition to becoming one of the greats of country music, this convert to country became of its fiercest defenders of traditional country, and activist who has been largely responsible not only for preserving, protecting and enlivening the mission of the Country Music HoF and Museum but was was also integral in saving Nashville’s Mother Church of Country Music, the Ryman Auditorium. Of course it’s the Gram Parsons connection that gives away her identity

Emmylou Harris was born in 1947 in the Deep South city of Birmingham, Alabama, but her father was in the Marine Corps and her family moved often, though never back to the Deep South (Kris Kristofferson, John Denver and Sammi Smith, amongst others, also had similar backgrounds of moving often due to having a military father). Emmylou grew up in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. Her older brother liked country music but her own musical preferences were initially simple pop/rock like any other teenager. However, as she matured in her later teens and her intellect developed, she started listening to folk music over the American University's FM station, was given a $30 pawn-shop Kay guitar when she was 16 and, immersing herself in folk, worked her way chronologically backward - from Peter, Paul and Mary to Joan Baez to Woody Guthrie and all the way back to a seminal book of early British ballads.

As a teenager, Emmylou was a popular cheerleader but was also a very academically gifted - she graduated high school with straight A’s and was admitted into the prestigious honours society, the Beta Club. Musically, she hated piano lessons, played saxophone in her school marching band and also mastered the clarinet. But instead of music, her first career choice was drama, and she joined the Drama Club with aspirations of becoming a famous actress.

At the University of North Carolina, on a drama scholarship, Harris discovered performance singing at the local club, where she was paid $10 a night. Despite (or maybe because) of her high intelligence, she dropped out of UNC, gave up her dream of acting and took off for New York City, fetching up in Greenwich Village in 1968 like so many other young people, in search of the counterculture. She sang folk songs in coffeehouses and nightclubs and made an album for an independent label in 1970, “Gliding Bird”, which was largely unrepresentative of her subsequent stunning work. It included cover versions of songs by Bob Dylan and Hank Williams, as well as some mundane originals and a title track written by her first husband, musician Tom Slocum. The album went nowhere and the label soon went broke. Record executives from major labels heard and rejected her, with Harris remarking years later - "I had a pretty interesting repertoire, but it went right over their heads. They didn't have a clue".

Disillusioned with NYC, at age 22 in 1970, Harris left with her husband and new born daughter to try her luck in Nashville like so many others, but she didn’t make any impact with her nascent folk country sound, her marriage dissolved and she was reduced to poverty, later recalling - “… I was living on food stamps and working 6 nights a week for tips in clubs, trying to support my daughter. I had pretty much given up on the idea of 'making it' by that point”. After living in penury for some 6 months, she gave up and returned to her parents’ house outside Washington, DC - but this turned out to be a lucky move. Her performances with a band she pulled together to perform at local clubs - in between waitressing - were hailed by Washington DC audiences that were already becoming known for a special receptivity to country-folk-bluegrass blends. Rick Roberts, a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, heard her singing at a club, and recommended her to Gram Parsons, who was looking for a female partner.

The young Gram Parsons was so impressed with Harris' voice and delivery that in 1972 he invited her (and sent her flight tickets) to join him and his band, The Fallen Angels, in L.A. to sing harmony on his first solo album, “GP“, Harris was delighted by the offer and so it was that her introduction to classic country music came through Parsons, who had already helped pioneer a new form of country-rock as a member of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Over the ensuing 2 years she became Parson's protege, learning from him the special roots of country and honky tonk music and developing from a "serious folkie" into a traditional country lover. Harris has always credited Parsons with helping her realise the emotional resonance found in the best country music.

While working with Parsons, Harris caught his enthusiasm for the rigidly expressive, high-drone lonesome authentic country sound of great artists like Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, George Jones and (most crucially and importantly) the great, exquisite Appalachian harmony duos of the Louvin Brothers and the Everly Brothers - “… It was an ear-opening period for me. I'd always liked Hank Williams and Buck Owens, but with Gram I discovered that country music was a natural form of singing for me”. Harris says she also became a true professional singer from working with Parsons, as he gave her a focus and direction and taught her how to use her voice. He made her more disciplined and restrained with her phrasing, but also passionate about country music.

For more background at this point, check out posts # 567 & 569 on page 23, in the Gram Parsons history, for the effect of Emmylou Harris had on Gram Parsons music.

Emmylou’s artistic flowering alongside Gram Parsons climaxed with their second album together, the magnificent and haunting “Grievous Angel”, recorded in the months before Parson’s tragic and wasteful death from a boys day out binging on drugs in the Arizona desert in September 1973 (after he had kicked his habit months earlier) and released posthumously in December 1973. The results of Parsons and Emmylou’s work together show in this deliciously slow version of ‘Love Hurts’, illustrating how Emmylou’s harmonies had developed since Parson‘s previous album, “GP“. The pair sound as if they’re singing to each other, the listener eavesdropping on something intimate and powerful. Their take on Felice and Boudleaux Bryant’s classic standard became a seminal moment in Harris assuming her role as the queen of harmony - “I discovered my own voice singing in harmony with Gram. There is something about the uniqueness of two voices creating a sound that does not come when they are singing solo, and I have always been fascinated by that. That song, and our harmony, is kind of a pinnacle of our duet-singing together“ - and it was all recorded and cut in just one take! -


Talking about Gram Parsons in the sleevenotes to the 2006 box set “The Complete Reprise Sessions”, Harris said - “he was an extraordinary young man who, more than anyone else, changed my life and set me on a wondrous road I never would have found by myself”. This co-write between the two, ‘In My Hour Of Darkness’ is the final track from ”Grievous Angel”. It’s a gospel influenced country spiritual - with backing vocals to Gram’s and Emmylou’s harmony provided by mutual friend, Linda Ronstadt. The song, with a beautiful dobro and fiddle accompaniment, reflects on friends lost (made far more poignant by Parson’s untimely death) and again emphasises the way the two singers’ voices complemented each other -


After Parsons died in 1973, a shocked and shattered Harris felt completely lost, unable to assuage her grief or find a new direction - "I had just assumed I would go forward making music with Gram until whenever. Then, when it was cut so short, I had to move forward on my own. It was hard, and a very bleak time for me. My daughter was with my parents and I hardly saw her. I didn't have much experience making records, my education was incomplete and I'd lost my teacher, my mentor. In the end, I was very fortunate in the people I found – and who found me – who helped put me on the right path. And also that they understood I was grieving and was in a very vulnerable place”. In the depths of her grief, she also found a new determination to renew her career as a way of honouring her mentor - "I had no fire in me until Gram died. But afterwards I felt strongly that I had to continue his work. It was hard going solo but my attitude was always, 'How would Gram do this?' and somehow my sound evolved".

By the mid-1970s, thanks to Gram Parson, Harris had been embraced by the high-flying country-rock community in Southern California, which had grown into a centre for a new form of American popular roots music. Those people included Brian Ahern, who became both her producer and second husband, with whom she had her second daughter, (the couple split up in 1983 but remained good friends); and the Hot Band, a group of top quality backing musicians who included James Burton and Glen Hardin, both of whom also worked in Elvis Presley's Las Vegas band. Her friend, Linda Ronstadt, whom she met while touring with Parsons, also stepped up, with Harris later crediting her "… for helping and advising me and talking me up like I was the greatest thing since sliced bread". Ronstadt recommended Harris to her record company, Warner, which duly signed her up. In 1975, Harris released her debut major label album, “Pieces of the Sky”, in which Harris took Parson’s visionary ideas and molded them into something distinctly her own, a project aided though the sheer brilliance of musicians like Glen Hardin on piano, steel guitarist Hank DeVito and guitarists James Burton, Rodney Crowell and Albert Lee. The album, from the previously little known Emmylou, plucked from complete obscurity by Parsons, went to # 7.

Harris didn't have many songwriting credits early in her career, but the tunes she did write were powerful - case in point, her major label debut, ‘Boulder To Birmingham’. Getting right to her devastating loss, it’s a heartrending tribute to her recently deceased inspiration and mentor, Gram Parsons - “That song was very important. Words can be so powerful to help you express something you otherwise can’t. And everyone has experienced loss, so even though the song is deeply personal, I can understand how people can relate to it, having lost someone who is very close to them.” It took Harris until the 1980’s to be able to write about Parsons again, and she still speaks about him with great tenderness and enduring sense of loss. ‘Boulder To Birmingham’ is an immensely powerful and heartbreakingly mournful song, it’s nothing short of gorgeous, a beautiful elegy with Harris’ plaintiff vocals weaving angelically around the lush strings and melancholy piano. The verse melody is beautiful, while the chorus has a touch of gospel, overlain by James Burton’s memorable lead guitar. Nearly 50 years later, it’s still one of her most stunning creations. Piano, pedal steel and strings curl up around Harris as she works through her grief. ’Boulder to Birmingham‘ is still a staple of her set -


The Louvin Brothers’ stratospheric, extraordinary vocal interplay (despite the fact they were otherwise polar opposites in just about everything and despised each other), perfecting the high Appalachian harmony technique like no others before or since, made them the most influential harmony duet in country music history (see posts 194-195), touching everybody from Bluegrass founder, Bill Monroe, their closest imitators, the Everly Brothers as well as Gram Parsons and even on to the cowpunk band Rank & File.

Parsons, introduced Harris to their magical harmony, as Harris once explained - "Working with Gram was a wonderful experience. He was wildly misunderstood, too country for the rockers and too weird for the Nashville establishment. But he had a vision and a love for those old Louvins harmonies that was intense and powerful". Notice how Emmylou referred to "... those old Louvin harmonies...". Their high, tight Appalachian harmony was pivotal to the sound Parsons developed with Harris. In 1975, purists likely didn’t know what had hit them. After all, here was this folk singer who was flying into the top 10 with a Louvin Brothers song. The first hit from Emmylou Harris (with Herb Pedersen providing the harmony) might have taken people by shock upon first listen, but they caught on to her amazing talent rather quick, sending this zooming up to # 4 in the U.S. and all the way to # 1 in Canada -


Before the folk singing Emmylou met Gram Parsons, there was one country artist she did admire - Hank Williams. ‘Jambalaya’ (see post # 209) was one of the first songs added to their set when they started performing live together, however they never got around to recording it. In 1975, Emmylou added ‘Jambalaya‘ to her concert set with the Hot Band and although the sound quality here ain’t the best by a long way, I’ve decided to include this live clip from 1975 here due to the energy Emmylou brings to her performance of this Hank classic - check out her dance moves - and to prove Harris also has up-tempo fun songs in her repertoire, not just beautiful but slow tunes and harmonies. In addition, this clip shows off the outstanding talents of the Hot Band - in particular, one of country music’s greatest ever guitarist, James Burton unleashes an unending cascading waterfall of peerless licks and solos while Hank DeVito is kicking it on the pedal steel -


‘Jambalaya’ was included in Emmylou’s next album, “Elite Hotel”, released in December 1975 - and I’ll have a whole lot more from that classic album tomorrow.
 
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Welcome back to 1976, with Emmylou Harris’ “Elite Hotel” album. Having her debut major label album reach # 7, in 1975, Harris released “Elite Hotel” in December 1975. While Harris spent much of her career carrying on the legacy of Gram Parsons, “Elite Hotel” was among her most overt tributes to his genius, thanks to its covers of the Flying Burrito Brothers' ’Sin City‘ and ’Wheels‘, along with ’Ooh Las Vegas‘ from the “Grievous Angel” album. In addition to the usual eclectic mix of covers - which includes the Beatles' ’Here, There and Everywhere‘ and Hank Williams' ’Jambalaya‘ (see yesterday), “Elite Hotel” had renditions of the country standards ’Together Again‘ and ’Sweet Dreams‘, which were, respectively, Harris' first two # 1 hits and the album itself also soared all the way to # 1 in 1976.

One of the best-known songs by Bakersfield Sound legend Buck Owens (see post # 457), written in 15 minutes in the hours over midnight and apparently dismissed by him as a throwaway song, he originally put it on a B-side, but Emmylou’s remake topped the charts. ‘Together Again’ had been covered by a who’s who of musical greats, including Ray Charles, Glen Campbell and Wanda Jackson. Harris’ version stands tall among them – and among the best Harris songs. Owens was one of her absolute favourite artists and she paid him a lovely tribute with the lead single from the “Elite Hotel“ album. In her hands, it’s a tender reflection on the joy of reconciliation that showcases her outstanding vocals, showing off her gift for interpretation as she adds vulnerability to Owens' smoky ballad. Simple yet poignant, this is another divine slow tune with a simple, upbeat melody, her clear and powerful vocals bringing life to the lyrics about reconciling with a beloved one. Emmylou’s angelic delivery exudes sadness and relief - and only tentative happiness, as it's clear she's unsure whether to trust the reunion -

This live version was from a Dutch pop music show of the day - kinda equivalent to our Countdown back then. Emmylou’s “Elite Hotel” and her following album, “Luxury Liner” both peaked at # 3 in the Netherlands pop chart. The “Elite Hotel“ album not only went to # 1 in the U.S, it also earned Harris a Grammy for best female vocal performance - the first of many more to come her way. Four years later in 1980, Emmylou teamed up with Buck Owens to record the album “Play Together Again, Again” in celebration of the success of ‘Together Again’.

Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery contributed ‘One Of These Days’, a terrific song in both melody and lyrics, to the Harris song catalog. Released in 1976 as the second single from the “Elite Hotel” album, it made it to #3 in the U.S. and # 2 in Canada. The song depicts a person dissatisfied with their lot and promising to leave or change - “one of these days”. The inference of the song to me is many of us think or make decisions like we still have plenty of time to live our dreams. However, life isn’t like that - it should be lived now because life is short. Therefore, don’t sit around putting things off but instead go do the things you love now, not “one of these days” -
“… Might be a woman that's dressed in black / Be a hobo by the railroad track / I'll be gone like the wayward wind / One of these days …” -


The flip side to ‘One Of These Days’ was also notable, as it was the original version of ‘Til’ I Gain Control Again‘, written by the then low profile Hot Band guitarist and back-up vocalist, Rodney Crowell. Songwriter Crowell was little known when Harris recorded one of his songs, ’Bluebird Wine’, on her “Pieces of the Sky“ album and made a request to meet him. He sat in with Emmylou at her gig at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, in early 1975, playing her some of his songs. She recognised their quality and asked him to play rhythm guitar for The Hot Band. He accepted and left the following day to join Emmylou in L.A. ‘Till I Gain Control Again‘ was one of the first songs Crowell performed for Harris, and she recorded her classic take on it for her ”Elite Hotel” album. In 2018, Harris, in an interview with The Guardian, said- “It stunned me that someone that young could write something that sounds like it was from the ages. ‘Till I Gain Control Again’ is made of pure, simple imagery, which are the hardest songs to write - that’s what is so brilliant about the classic country songs - you can’t get too wordy.” -

Although Rodney Crowell left the Hot Band at the end of 1977 to pursue what turned out to be a most successful solo career (and was replaced by some obscure bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and singer called Ricky Skaggs), Crowell and Harris have maintained a close friendship to this day and recording together, they have released 2 albums, “Old Yellow Moon” in 2013 and “The Travelling Kind” in 2015. Even now, Crowell credits his time with Emmylou’s band with forcing a paradigm shift in his development as a singer-songwriter, producer and all-around performer - “They spoke a musical language that I did not know. The things I learned then I’m still using today.”

Written and first performed by the king of heartbreak and loneliness (that reflected his own depression and sense of alienation), Don Gibson (see posts # 401), ‘Sweet Dreams‘, the third single released from “Elite Hotel”, had already become a country standard by the time Harris got to it, being covered many times by many artists, most notably by Faron Young, Patsy Cline (see post # 389) and then later, Reba McEntire. Recorded at the very end of the first Hot Band tour, over 3 days at the Roxy, when she was trying to capture their energy on tape, Harris slowed Gibson’s composition right down, a makeover which helped Emmylou become the only person to take the song to # 1. It's easy to see why - the song is a timeless ode to heartsickness, being plagued by nagging memories of an ex you'd rather forget (it happens). And I can’t gloss over the Hot Band - on this they are magnificent - DeVito’s pedal steel work is a masterpiece -

If you’re going to cover a song that Patsy Cline has already tackled, you either need to be brave, reckless, or Emmylou Harris.

By 1977, Harris was already gaining a reputation for collaborating with other artists. She contributed to albums by her friend, Linda Ronstadt, Guy Clark and Neil Young, both of whom also became life-long friends and even by her former folk-idol, Bob Dylan to perform on his “Desire” album. In the decades since, Harris has collaborated with dozens of artists - probably only second to Willie Nelson in this regard. She also appeared in Martin Scorsese's documentary of the Band's legendary final performance, The Last Waltz, singing ‘Evangeline’. James Burton left the Hot Band in 1976 after the release of “Elite Hotel”, choosing to remain with Elvis Presley's band, but was replaced by another great - but then largely unknown - guitarist, Englishman Albert Lee.

Some consider Harris's commercial apex was “Luxury Liner”, released in 1977, which remains one of her definitive records - and, just like “Elite Hotel”, it raced all the way up to # 1 - though, unlike “Elite Hotel”, with its two # 1 hits and another at # 3, “Luxury Liner” didn’t score any # 1 singles, but did achieve 2 top 10 hits. On “Luxury Liner”, Emmylou’s mix of songs from Chuck Berry - (’You Never Can Tell) C'est la Vie, Gram Parsons - the title track ‘Luxury Liner’ and ’She’, the Carter Family - ’Hello Stranger’ and Kitty Wells - ‘Making Believe’, illustrate a continuity and artistic merit to country music often overlooked at the time, but one that Gram Parsons had opened to Harris. He had taught Emmylou to seek, unlock and bring forth the beauty in the music - and he couldn’t have found a better disciple.

Harris has covered some unlikely songs in her career – Jimi Hendrix’s ‘May This Be Love’ and Donna Summer’s ‘On The Radio’ are 2 surprising pieces she’s brought into her catalogue. One of 2 singles from her “Luxury Liner” album, she made Chuck Berry’s ‘(You Can Never Tell) C’est La Vie’ into a #6 hit in 1977 with a rip-snortingly good cover of the Chuck Berry classic, playing it for the honky tonks, but with a knowing nod to the Louisiana bayous in the Cajun fiddle solo by Ricky Skaggs -

There is also a live version on YouTube taken from that same Dutch TV pop show as today’s first selection above - but without Ricky Skaggs and his fiddle - as is another popular live version from the BBC Old Grey Whistle Stop TV show. The song reached # 4 in the Dutch pop chart while in the U.S. it got to # 6 and # 4 in Canada.

Tomorrow will see more of Emmylou’s crystalline voice and remarkable gift for phrasing (skills rarely seen in today’s rancid auto-tune dominated era), with more offering from her 1977 “Luxury Liner” album and beyond.
 
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By 1977, Emmylou Harris had established her reputation, her albums containing covers of famous country standards and collaborating with music stars. She covered and played with outlaws like Willie Nelson and Guy Clark as she carried on her crusade for her own sound, inspired by Gram Parsons. Parson‘s genius was that he saw country music as both a continuum and a progression - you take the best of the new and use it to preserve the tried and true of the past. So to be clear, Emmylou’s covers of old country gems and standards were never mere tribute recordings. Sure, they were made to honour past sounds and artists long past their prime. But Harris also aimed to make each song her own, to update them for the modern age while honouring their origin points.

At her worst, Harris still introduced older gems to new audiences. At her best, she unearthed new nuggets of insight that was there all along but never truly appreciated. Remember, country music in 1975 was caught in a weird place between outlaw country and crossover pop-country (refer to all this Nashville Sound / Countrypolitan artists I featured here before I got on to the Outlaws - many of these, such as Sonny James and Charlie Rich, were still topping the charts in this era). Harris was an outlaw in its own way, eschewing any sense of flashiness for just remarkably tight musicianship across the board. Musically, she was always willing to be a risk taker, playing the type of music that she wanted - the true ethos of an outlaw.

“Luxury Liner“, whose title track was another cover of a Gram Parsons gem, is Emmylou‘s best-selling solo album. Her prodigiously talented Hot Band is in peak form and the songs are even more far afield than usual, including Chuck Berry's "(You Never Can Tell) C'est la Vie", that we finished up with yesterday, and Townes Van Zandt's painterly descriptive tale of aging outlaws and the price of betrayal, ’Pancho & Lefty’. I know we’ve seen this song twice already - Towne’s own fragile original (post # 553) and later the most well known version by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard that reached # 1 in 1983 (post # 787). But it was Emmylou, by now a personal friend of Townes and Guy Clark, who first popularised the song, with her version reaching # 12 in 1978.

Perhaps Townes Van Zandt’s most enduring song, ‘Pancho And Lefty’ was first recorded on his 1972 album, “The Late Great Townes Van Zandt”. It tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho, his friendship with Lefty, the betrayal that led to his death and its aftermath. In many ways, it’s an unusual Van Zandt song in that it focusses on the telling of the story rather than on feelings (usually bad feelings of heartbreak, brokenness and pain, but using exquisite poetry) - which is perhaps the reason it eventually became his most commercially successful song. The lyrics are still rich in symbolism and metaphor, with references to the old American West and Mexican culture, painting a vivid picture of two men living life on the edge, constantly on the run and facing danger at every turn.

Harris had been an admirer of Van Zandt’s songs since opening a show for him all the way back in 1968, and she believed she made this one her own, as she told The Guardian - “People always ask: what’s that song about? I see it as: we make decisions in our lives that we regret, and Lefty had to live with those decisions. Townes recorded it, and I didn’t write it, but I always think that song is mine. I planted my flag right there. It became a very pivotal song in my repertoire.”. Emmylou’s rendition of the song, showcasing her raw and powerful vocals delivering each line with conviction and heartache, is haunting and evocative, capturing the essence of the story with her emotive voice. The mournful pedal steel, gentle guitar and emphatic harmonica accompaniment that all undulates like desolate tumbleweeds, add to the somber and reflective mood of the song -


‘Making Believe‘ was written by Jimmy Work and best known for its chart-topping version in 1955 by the pioneering first solo female country star, Kitty Wells (see post # 238). The song is consistently on lists of all-time greatest country music songs and has been covered by scores of artists over nearly 70 years, including Thorleifs, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, Wanda Jackson, Connie Francis, Ray Charles, Anita Carter, Dolly Parton, Ernest Tubb, Social Distortion, Skeeter Davis, The Haden Triplets and Volbeat. But none did it as beautifully as Emmylou -


I know I’ve already mentioned them quite a few times in the past few days, but ’Tulsa Queen’, a co-composition of Harris (lyrics) and Rodney Crowell (melody), is another fantastic testimony to undoubtedly one of the finest country (or country-rock) ensembles ever assembled - Emmylou’s Hot Band. Fortunately, Emmylou was an Old Grey Whistle Test favourite, captured here in 1977. On the surface a train song, it is, in fact, another call-out, an acknowledgment of debt and grief, to her gone forever mentor and soulmate, Gram Parsons -
“… Lately I speak your name too loud / Each time it comes up in a crowd /
And I know that when I do / The Tulsa Queen and you / Are gone….” -


“Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town”, Emmylou’s fifth studio album, was released in 1978 and reached # 3, with 3 charting singles, including ’To Daddy‘, written by Dolly Parton, at #3, ‘Two More Bottles of Wine‘ at #1 and ’Easy From Now On’, co-written by Carlene Carter - the song from which the album's title comes - at #12. The opening track of the album is a bittersweet kiss-off to a relationship. ‘Easy From Now On’ follows a woman escaping a partner who’d been nothing but trouble - “… Loving him was a one-way street…”. There are plenty of country songs written about leaving a no-good man behind, but this truly stands out - Harris laid her heartache down. She only too aware she’s vulnerable and it will take some time to get over him, but she’s about to fill her empty heart -
“… It’s going to be easy to fill the heart of a thirsty woman / Harder to kill the ghost of a no-good man” -


’Two More Bottles of Wine’, was, in 1978, Emmylou’s' 3rd # 1 single, transforming it into a hard-driving, raucous, barroom honky tonk stomp of a tune, with boogie-woogie piano. The avid song collector Emmylou got turned onto Delbert McClinton’s music by his 1975 “Victim Of Life’s Circumstances” album and re-worked the song from a woman’s point of view. It tells the story of a woman who has had enough heartbreak and turns to the ever reliable “cure” to drown her sorrows. The song features a driving foot tapping rhythm and catchy singalong chorus. Emmylou’s strong, clear voice is on full display here as she delivers the song’s humorous yet poignant lyrics with a perfect balance of emotion and wit. Harris portrays a woman jilted by a beau with whom she moved to California, leaving her "… 16,000 miles from the people I know." Despite the sudden breakup, Harris sounds jaunty and carefree, as she feels "… all right because it's midnight / And I got two more bottles of wine …” - -


Enough for today, as we approach the end of the 1970‘s - but there’s plenty more of Emmylou Harris to come.
 
By the time of the release of the tease of her “Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town” album in 1978, which reached # 3 after her previous 2 albums both topped out at # 1, Emmylou Harris had truly achieved success by following her own formula - surrounding herself with a fine, distinctive backup band, arguably the best in country music at the time, by recording an elective mixture of traditional, modern and original tunes, and by presenting them all in her beautiful, emotive voice. She later said “… Even though my records don't go platinum … I can do basically what I want, and get the same number of people to buy the records. That gives me a leverage to be able to experiment, and be able to do what I want. I'm very grateful for that. I really am aware of how important that is, to be able to enjoy what I do".

Dolly Parton (posts # 581-607) doesn’t just have a magnificent pair of … lungs, but as much as she can sing, she can write too. In 1976, she wrote and recorded ‘To Daddy’, a heart-wrenching country ballad about a mother’s uncomplaining love and support for her family, despite the challenges life - namely poverty and a neglectful husband - throws her way. But for whatever reason (was it family related? - the song is believed to describe the pain Parton's mother experienced as she ignored her husband's occasional affairs and his lack of affection), Dolly, who recorded it in 1976, never released for nearly 20 years. By the time she did, in 1995, Harris had already scored a # 3 hit with it in 1978. The lyrics speak to the sacrifices that parents make for their children and the desire to provide a better life for them. The mournful melody and Harris’ soulful vocals give the song a raw emotional power -


‘Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight’, another gem written by frequent collaborator Rodney Crowell (who by now had left Emmylou’s Hot Band to pursue his own solo career, but remained on close terms with her), was covered by Harris on 1978’s “Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town” album. Despite some key personnel changes, Emmylou’s Cajun-flavoured version still features an all-star backing band, with regular sideman Albert Lee on mandolin and guitar, joined by Rick Danko on fiddle and backing vocals and Garth Hudson, the former accordionist of The Band. Harris’ vocals blend brilliantly with the rough-hewn, soulful Danko on fiddle - it’s a pity the pair didn’t get together more often. The rasp in Harris’ usually pristine voice underlines the chorus hook -


In 1977, Harris had married again, to record producer, Brian Ahern and they had a daughter born in 1979, Emmylou’s second. For many years Harris had worked out of L.A. in studios she built with Ahern. But in 1979 she moved to Nashville and recorded her remaining albums there. In response to some criticism from the “purists” that her L.A. produced records weren't "country" enough, but more country rock, Harris responded with her 1979 Nashville produced “Blue Kentucky Girl”, her most traditional outing to that date.

Relying on a more acoustic sound, the album forsakes country make-overs of contemporary pop songs in favour of standard country fare, including the Louvin Brothers' ’Everytime You Leave’ and Gram Parson’s ‘Hickory Wind’, both a reminder of Parson’s lasting influence over her, and other hard-core country fare such as Willie Nelson’s ‘Sister’s Coming Home‘ and Leon Payne's ’They'll Never Take His Love from Me’. Rodney Crowell's ’Even Cowgirls Get the Blues‘, featured harmonies by Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, and came out of the women's ill-fated 1978 recording sessions, where they first attempted to record a "trio" album (nearly a full decade before they actually succeeded in doing so). The album earned Harris the 1980 Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance.

The album’s title track, ’Blue Kentucky Girl’, written by Johnny Mullins, was originally released by Loretta Lynn in 1965 (post # 489), but became a hit for Harris 14 years later in 1979, earning her amother Grammy nomination for Best Song in 1980. Emmylou’s version is faithful to Lynn’s, though her vocal, typically, shows a touch more restraint. The narrator sings to the lover who’d left her “… for the bright lights of the town… ”. She’s persuasively pleading with him to return, singing, “… Just come on home to your Blue Kentucky Girl ...”, but we never find out if she succeeds (surely she’d be better off without him!). It’s a traditional, old-school country heartbreaker topped off by a fantastic mandolin solo from Albert Lee -


The Dallas Frazier written ‘Beneath Still Waters’ is the song Harris calls “perfect”. George Jones recorded the song in 1968, but it failed to chart and it remained a largely unknown or underrated gem until Harris released it in 1980, taking it all the way to # 1. The melancholy lyrics tells the story of a woman who recognises her relationship is on the precipice of ending - "… Even a fool could see / That you'll soon be leaving me…". Despite her sadness, however, there's an air of resignation - she is trying to move on, but still struggling with the memories that haunt her, but determined to survive the breakup with dignity. The heartbreaking ballad showcases Emmylou’s emotive vocals. The gentle strumming of the guitar and the soft piano notes provide a perfect backdrop to her vocals, which are filled with pain and vulnerability. The chorus, with its catchy melody and poignant lyrics, is a standout moment in the song. Harris’ ability to convey deep emotions through her singing is on full display in ‘Beneath Still Waters’ -


While 1979's ”Blue Kentucky Girl” album featured traditional, straight-ahead country (as opposed to the often country-rock of her prior efforts), 1980’s “Roses in the Snow” ranks among Emmylou's riskiest gambits, combining acoustic bluegrass with traditional Appalachian melodies, with Harris performing bluegrass-inspired music with material by Flatt and Scruggs, The Carter Family, and Johnny Cash - and tossing one contemporary tune, Paul Simon's ’The Boxer’ into the mix. Cash, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, The Whites, Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nelson and Tony Rice made guest appearances.

’Wayfaring Stranger‘ was released as the first single in 1980 and went to #7. It’s a haunting and timeless traditional folk song that has been covered by countless artists, but Emmylou’s rendition stands out as one of the best, featuring her distinct, emotive vocals accompanied by a sparse yet powerful arrangement of acoustic guitar and mournful violin. The song’s lyrics tell the story of a weary traveler making their way through the world, seeking refuge and solace from the hardships of life. Harris’s delivery captures the longing and yearning at the heart of the song, making it a moving and poignant listening experience. The stripped-down instrumentation only adds to the sense of vulnerability and raw emotion conveyed by Harris’s voice. ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ is a testament to the enduring power of traditional country-folk music and Harris’s ability to breathe new life into timeless classics -


Tomorrow will follow Emmylou’s evolving musical journey as it wings it way forward into the 1980’s.
 
Schauermann said:
Saw Mike and the Moonpies last Thurday. Was a good show. 50-60 people in a small location is very fitting. Some real Honkytonk feeling about it.
Click to expand...
I’m jealous again. This site (for authentic country music) rates them as the best going around -
www.savingcountrymusic.com

“One To Grow On” by Mike and the Moonpies is One for the Ages -...

The single greatest band in country music at the moment has just released one of the single greatest records you will hear in country music in the last few years. And as much as you may assess this opinion as fandom overriding objectivity, or outright overwrought hyperbole...
www.savingcountrymusic.com www.savingcountrymusic.com

I might get their 2020 album of cast-off songs from Gary Stewart (posts# 840-842), but obviously this band is one much better absorbed live in a small location.
www.savingcountrymusic.com

Review – Mike & The Moonpies Cover Lost Gary Stewart Songs -...

Mike Harmeier, Caitlin Rutherford, Kyle Ponder, Zach Moulton, and the incomparable Omar Oyoque. Mike and the Moonpies as they're know collectively. Also known as the greatest country music band in the world at the moment --- Gary Stewart. The King of the Honky Tonks.
www.savingcountrymusic.com www.savingcountrymusic.com
 
We start today where we left off yesterday, with 1980’s “Roses In The Snow” album, Emmylou’s most traditional country album - even more so than “Blue Kentucky Girl”. With its acoustic accompaniments and traditional songs, “Roses in the Snow” harkens back to the work of the Carter Family, Ralph Stanley, and Flatt & Scruggs - and it was a surprise commercial success for Harris - “There had been someone at the record company who predicted it was going to be the end of my career if I did a bluegrass record. I was arrogant enough back then to think I could survive a flop, a commercial disaster. Which it could have been. But bluegrass fans are everywhere, all over the world, and they came out of the woodwork.” Still, Harris, speaking 40 years later, marvels that her label even let her experiment, in awe of the days when music could win out over the bottom line - something that would never be allowed now - “They’d say: ‘OK, let’s put it in the machinery and see how far it goes. People actually used to do that! Now they’re so out of touch with what is going on”.

Harris may have shown an unusual dedication to true, authentic, country music, but she also had an ear honed by folk and rock - she and her producer husband, Ahern recorded a trove of then low-profile, often offbeat, songs, including tunes by the Beatles and Bruce Springsteen and sung with the likes of Bob Dylan as well as countless other respected rock and country stars. A case in point is her inclusion in her “Roses In The Snow” album of the Paul Simon penned ’The Boxer’. This was originally recorded for the Simon & Garfunkel’s 1970 “Bridge over Troubled Water” album and has been covered by many dozens of rock, pop and country artists since - proof that a well-written song with meaningful lyrics can easily cross genres (see post # 861 a few days back for a country cover example recently posted here).

‘The Boxer’ is about a young man who struggles after moving to NYC with loneliness, poverty and despair, eventually comparing himself to a downed boxer - but a boxer who gets up and continues to fight despite getting repeatedly knocked down - a tale of resilience and never say die. Released as a single from the "Roses In The Snow" album. Emmylou's version of ’The Boxer’ peaked at #13 in 1980 -


Also from her bluegrass “Roses In The Snow” album, Emmylou’s version of Ralph Stanley’s bluegrass classic, ‘Darkest Hour Is Before Dawn’, which in 2018 Harris described as “… a magnificent piece …”, she recruited Ricky Skaggs on harmony vocals, fiddle and mandolin to bring out the yearning beauty of the song. Talking about the track in 1997, Harris said, “We look for those moments of great joy that are going to balance out those times of terrible sorrow and everything in between. I think you just have to go along for the ride with as much of your sense of humour and humanity intact as possible“. Emmylou brings to life the melancholy mountain song it was always intended as -


Robbie Roberston knew how to write a good tune. He also knew how to write one fast. First performed with The Band at their 1976 farewell Last Waltz concert, Robertson had written ‘Evangeline’ just the night before! The original broadcast version was accordingly somewhat ragged. Robertson later said - “I’d just written Evangeline as part of The Last Waltz Suite. We did it in the concert and we did some of the other things from the suite at the concert, too. But when we were done, it’s like all of these artists represented an element of popular music in their own right. Emmylou Harris was fresh and kind of represented a new school of the country music thing and also she’s very photogenic. She has a great relationship with the camera.” But Harris later made ‘Evangeline’ the title track of her 1981 album. Her version features strong backing vocals from her future Trio collaborators, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt -


Harris had opened for the young Townes Van Zandt in 1968 in NYC and was “stunned” when she first heard him - “I had never heard those kinds of lyrics with those melodies; the haunting quality in his voice was like the ghost of Hank Williams”. She later covered his rich story-song about two ill-fated Mexican bandits, Pancho and Lefty, with Crowell’s help, as featued 2 days ago. ’If I Needed You’, perhaps Van Zandt‘s simplest, yet most simply beautiful, composition, was recorded as a duet by Emmylou Harris and Don Williams (posts # 757-759) as part of Emmylou's 1980 “Cimarron” album, which went to # 6 on the album chart, was released as a single in 1981 and reached # 3 in the U.S. and topped the chart at # 1 in Canada -


Harris may have shown an unusual dedication to country music, but she also had an ear honed by folk and rock; she and Ahern recorded a trove of offbeat songs such as Van Zandt’s ’Poncho and Lefty‘, Paul Simon’s "The Boxer," and tunes by the Beatles and Bruce Springsteen, but - don’t be fooled by the title - this ain’t one of them, but a completely different song. Another from her “Cimarron” album, Harris didn’t have to venture far to discover this rollicking number, ’Born To Run’, which she took to # 3 in 1982. It was written by her future husband and producer, Paul Kennerly (yes - she married another record producer after her divorce form Ahern). The song set itself apart because it was more up-tempo than most of Emmylou’s singles during the decade. In a rockier mood than usual, a foot-stomping statement imploring people to be bold and assertive and retain their individuality. it’s a confident, head-nodding statement of defiance and intent -
"… Nobody going to make me do the things their way / By the time you figure it out, it's yesterday..."
The impatience only ramps up as the song progresses and gains intensity and volume -
"…But I don't need it when I'm old and gray / Yeah, I want it today …” -


Despite (or because?) her experimentation, willingness to mix up her sound and releasing as many covers as originals, by 1983, Harris had chalked up 9 consecutive Top 10 albums, 6 in the Top 5, 2 of which topped the charts. She also achieved 18 Top 10 hits, 22 in the Top 5 and 5 going all the way to # 1. She had also been nominated for no less than 11 Grammy’s and won 3 (back in an era where Grammy’s were much rarer than today’s confetti Grammy’s for everything and hence much harder to win and carried actual real prestige). She had also been nominated for 11 CMA awards, including a remarkable 8 for best female vocalist - but had strangely only walked away the winner once, in 1980. There were many more honours to come her way in the following years and decades - so of course there’s more to come.
 
By the time we enter the 1980’s, Emmylou Harris, had truly achieved success by following her own formula, surrounding herself with a fine, distinctive backup band, recording an elective mixture of traditional, modern and original tunes, and by presenting them all in her fine, emotive voice - "… I can do basically what I want, and get the same number of people to buy the records. That gives me a leverage to be able to experiment, and be able to do what I want. I'm very grateful for that. I really am aware of how important that is, to be able to enjoy what I do".

“Last Date” is a live album, released in late 1982. Recorded at a series of honky tonks and other small venues on the west coast, Harris conceived the album as a showcase for her richly talented Hot Band, comprising mostly of country standards. Unlike most recording artists, whose profit-taking live albums simply repeat their best-known material, Harris approached her first live concert album as her next regular album release, including only songs she had not previously recorded. This meant that “Last Date” was another in Harris' series of tasteful song selections mixing covers of traditional country fare with country-styled interpretations of pop songs. One exception to the usual bill of fare was there were no newly written songs. In their place, Harris harked back to her legendary association with Gram Parsons, using former Parsons associate Barry Tashian in his place on 4 Parsons-related numbers.

Beyond her commitment to Parsons, Harris seemed determined to present the whole broad range of country music, embracing both the Nashville sound and Bakersfield sounds, in addition to traditional country, rockabilly and reviving the Everly Brothers' country rock sound. The choices underscored Harris' position as a student (and defender) of country music, earnestly reproducing all of its forms, rather than jumping on to the latest contemporary trend, nor was she an adherent to any particular sub-genre school and this was reinforced by her sprinkling of countrified pop material. The added excitement and energy of playing the material live with the Hot Band gave the album extra kick. Like its predecessor ”Cimarron”, Last Date reached the Top 10.

It’s found it difficult to select from this album with so many worthy tracks to choose from. The obvious may have been the album’s title song, ‘Last Date’, a cover of Floyd Cramer’s 1960 instrumental hit ‘(Lost His Love) On The Last Date‘, which has since became a classic piano standard. In 1972 Conway Twitty recorded the song with new lyrics written by him, retitled it ‘(Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date‘ for his 7th solo # 1 hit. Harris recorded the Conway Twitty version and also took it to # 1, her 5th # 1. Yet for all that, I just couldn’t go past number one Emmylou’s cover of Neil Young's country rocker / car anthem, ‘Long May You Run’ - a 1976 ode to his beloved 1948 Buick Roadmaster hearse abandoned due to mechanical failure. The references to the Beach Boys and ‘Caroline No’ are particularly poignant, tied into imagery that implies feelings for a lost lover -


Harris' final album with longtime producer (and husband - but the marriage came crashing down at it’s release) Brian Ahern, “White Shoes” was among her most surprising and diverse, about the closest she's ever come to a straight out country rock LP. Harris has always been at home with a heartfelt ballad performance, her wispy, ethereal vocals and talent for mining every ounce of emotion from a song make her a stunning balladeer, but she’s never been averse to letting her hair down on an uptempo number from time to time. In 1984, she teamed up with English songwriter and producer (and soon to be third husband) Paul Kennerley, who knew she also could turn up the tempo from time to time for the rollicking In My Dreams, an upbeat country tune that showcases her versatility as a performer. Released as a single from “White Shoes, it peaked at # 9 -


By the mid-1980s, Harris finally found herself at a point where she was able to dive fully into her lingering grief of the loss of the young man who took her beyond the narrow confines of contemporary folk and molded her into the master interpretive musician she become - Gram Parsons in 1973, crafting a whole album based around the indelible impression he left on her life - 1985’s “The Ballad of Sally Rose”. By 1985, anyone with even a passing familiarity with Emmylou's work knew she was one of the strongest and most insightful interpretive vocalists of her generation, capable of bringing a striking beauty and depth of meaning to anything she chose to sing. However, she very rarely wrote her own material, preferring to explore the nooks and crannies of the work of others. That changed with “The Ballad of Sally Rose”, an ambitious and semi-autobiographical album in which Harris told the tale of an aspiring singer and the musician who becomes her mentor, champion and lover during their short time together. Also inspired by her new producer, co-writer and brand new husband, Paul Kennerley, she created an album that was part grand storytelling, part memoir, and part tribute to her fallen comrade - “That was the first time I threw myself into writing a whole album”.

"Sally Rose" was a pseudonym Harris used when she was on tour with The Hot Band. To keep overeager fans at bay, her road manager would say that she was "Sally Rose," and that's also the name she used to check into hotels. The fake band was dubbed "Sally Rose and the Rosebuds“, and for some of The Hot Band's early shows, they would be introduced for their first set as ”The Rosebuds. Harris began to form a narrative around her Sally Rose character, which was based on incidents from her real life. In the story, Sally is an ingenue who meets an accomplished musician ("The Singer") who takes her under his wing. They get married, but their relationship turns sour when her career takes off and his stagnates. Sally leaves him, but decides to return. She is too late though - the despondent Singer dies in a car accident before she can get there. This title track, ‘The Ballad of Sally Rose’ is the opening song on the concept album and explains Sally's origin story -


The 1985 concept album “The Ballad Of Sally Rose“, with it’s tragic story loosely based as it was on Emmylou’s relationship with Gram Parsons, was later described by her as “… a country opera”. It was unusual in that 11 of its 13 songs were originals, co-written with her brand new husband and producer, Paul Kennerley. ‘Woman Walk The Line’ marks the point in the story when cracks are beginning to appear in the relationship. Despite the strain, the central character, Sally Rose, is determined to stay strong - “… Yes I’m a woman and I’m lonely, but that don’t mean I can’t be strong …” -


Emmylou’s next album, 1986’s “Thirteen”, produced by new husband Paul Kennerley, takes its title from the number of solo releaes Harris had recorded to date - her numbering didn't take into account compilations or her obscure, amateurish 1969 minor label debut album, “Gliding Bird”, which she later disowned. It’s an album that still divides critics - or critics from her fans. Critics still deride “Thirteen” as being bland an unoriginal. It’s also widely (and strangely) stated the album was a commercial flop - untrue, as it went to # 9, although it didn’t spawn top selling singles. For reasons still unexplained, the pressing of the albums stopped soon after its release, otherwise it would’ve surely sold more. Ironically, this also now makes it Emmylou’s most sought anfter and valuable album on the second hand market.

Despite the negative reviews, my uneducated opinion is that it’s still a very good album, with a great sound and the material was superb, pure country music - which I’m sure many critics in the 1990’s didn’t appreciate. It also includes a great cast of musicians like Vince Gill, Carl Jackson and Duane Eddy. It was her most country album since her bluegrass “Roses In The Snow”, with an intimate production style that eschews most of the drum reverb and synths that plagued other albums of the decade. It was an expensive album to produce, the same as "Ballad of Sally Rose", which no doubt contributed to the perception it commercially failed. Emmylou toured a lot with “Thirteen”, trying to support the album. She later referred to it as the forgotten album, but has defiantly said it included some of her favourite songs of all time. If you listen to her voice on this album, you can hear that her once crystalline voice, after touring for years in often smoked filled venues, is somewhat raspy.

One song the critics did approve of the the Bruce Springsteen penned, ‘My Father’s House’, a spare, intimate number that relies solely on the guitar, some subtle, well-placed synth work to create something like a church-organ effect and Emmylou’s voice at its most plaintive and melancholy. However, I’m going with ’Today I Started Loving You Again‘, written by Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens in 1968. Haggard first recorded it as a B-side to his # 1 hit, ’The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde‘, and failed to chart - but it, rather than the # 1 A-side, became one of his most requested concert songs and went on to become a country standard (see Merle’s original on post # 498), covered by many artists including Jerry Lee Lewis, Waylon Jennings and Conway Twitty, all in 1968, Connie Smith in 1969, Skeeter Davis in 1970, Al Martino and Kenny Rogers in 1972, Barbara Mandrell in 1974, Bobby Bland in 1975, Gene Summers in 1980, Dolly Parton in 1996, Jeff Carson and Merle Haggard for Carson's 1997 album, “Butterfly Kisses” and Martina McBride in 2005. Sammi Smith’s 1975 version, released as a single from her 1974 “Sunshine” album, was the most successful cover of them all, topping out at # 9 (post # 822). But it’s a great country standard and Emmylou’s 1986 version from her “Thirteen” album is well worth a listen -


Although “Thirteen” still made the Top 10 and wasn’t really a flop as often stated, it represented the end of Harris' reign as a consistently successful commercial entity - thereafter, she would struggle to sell records in significant numbers - at least for a decade - as she insisted on only doing the music she wanted to do, not follow the latest commercial trend. Tomorrow - or it may well be the day after, as I’ll be having a very big ANZAC Day tomorrow - I’ll be back to track and conclude Emmylou‘s unfinished career up to the present day.
 
I genuinely can’t understand why people love Morgan Wallen. Like yeah most of pop country is trash but hearing his voice literally makes every inch of my body cringe. Not a huge Jason Isbell fan(tho starting to get more into him) but annoys the **** out of me when people either claim ‘Cover me up’ is Wallen song or Wallens versions better.
 
Professor Knowall said:
I’m jealous again. This site (for authentic country music) rates them as the best going around -
www.savingcountrymusic.com

“One To Grow On” by Mike and the Moonpies is One for the Ages -...

The single greatest band in country music at the moment has just released one of the single greatest records you will hear in country music in the last few years. And as much as you may assess this opinion as fandom overriding objectivity, or outright overwrought hyperbole...
www.savingcountrymusic.com www.savingcountrymusic.com

I might get their 2020 album of cast-off songs from Gary Stewart (posts# 840-842), but obviously this band is one much better absorbed live in a small location.
www.savingcountrymusic.com

Review – Mike & The Moonpies Cover Lost Gary Stewart Songs -...

Mike Harmeier, Caitlin Rutherford, Kyle Ponder, Zach Moulton, and the incomparable Omar Oyoque. Mike and the Moonpies as they're know collectively. Also known as the greatest country music band in the world at the moment --- Gary Stewart. The King of the Honky Tonks.
www.savingcountrymusic.com www.savingcountrymusic.com
Click to expand...
I got their album "Steak Night at the Prairie Rose" before Covid. I put it on and got involved doing something else and it played in the background. All of a sudden I could hear Jimmy Buffett and listening to the irreverent lyrics of the track "Gettin' High at Home", convinced me it was. But after checking out the cover, Jimmy's name was nowhere to be seen. See what you think Prof.
 
And mentioning Warren's little brother, Jimmy Buffett who's been recording for over 50 years. I notice that although Jimmy has been mentioned in a number of your posts Prof, but so far no feature post. More than 30 albums with plenty of country stuff and still going strong despite nearly accidentally killing himself a couple of times, once by crashing his plane into the ocean and then swimming to shore and the other time falling off the stage in Australia on Australia day. The most bizarre incident happened when his plane with Bono, his wife and kids along with Island Records Reggae Producer Chris Blackwell, was shot at by the Jamaican police because they thought he was smuggling Marijuana.
 
Well, I did have a big and memorable ANZAC day and it’s taken me a bit longer than anticipated to return here to conclude the Emmylou’s story from the mid-eighties, where I left off, up to now, but anyway, here I am and here it is

In 1987, there were two albums involving Harris - “Trio”, a multi-million selling triumph that won a Grammy award, was
a collaboration between Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton, but her own “Angel Band” album, a low-key acoustic collection, was felt to be too uncommercial. This fall from commercial grace occurred simultaneously (although perhaps coincidentally) with the retirement of manager Eddie Tickner, who had guided and protected Harris through 15 years of mainly classic and commercially successful albums. The 1989 release “Bluebird” was a definite return to some form, produced by Richard Bennett, but a commercial renaissance still didn’t occur. “Duets”, a compilation album featuring Harris singing with artists including Gram Parsons, Roy Orbison, George Jones, the Desert Rose Band, Don Williams, Neil Young and John Denver, was artistically delightful and highly regarded now, but just not in popular fashion at the time.

The 1990 “Brand New Dance” album, produced by Richard Bennett and Allan Reynolds, mixed a rather eclectic collection of covers, including Bruce Springsteen's ’Tougher Than the Rest’, a song from his 1987 “Tunnel of Love” album, released as a single in some countries, but not in the U.S. It reached # 3 in Switzerland was also a Top 20 hit in the UK, the Netherlands and Austria, but never gained popularity in the U.S., though it did become part of his concert set (his sets have lots of songs). But once again, Harris showed her ability to pick up a relatively low profile song (at least in the U.S.) and turn it into a hit. Besides making a few minor lyric adjustments to make it a pitch from a female protagonist, Emmylou’s sweet vocals are so far apart from Springsteen’s typically gritty exhalation‘s, it’s almost like a different song, despite sharing the same melody and lyrics. Which one you prefer comes down to personal taste. -


“Brand New Dance” failed to even make the Top 40 and it was Harris' first studio album in 15 years to yield no top 40 singles. In 1991, Harris dissolved The Hot Band and brought on an entirely new band of acoustic musicians called The Nash Ramblers. (This band included Jon Randall, the singer and producer who joined Miranda Lambert and Jack Ingram to create The Marfa Tapes in 2021, on guitar, as well as bluegrass legend Sam Bush). The newly-formed band wanted to record a live album. But at the time, there were few suitable venues in or around Nashville to choose from - which leads on to possibly the biggest single contribution to the preservation of country music history - and it was Emmylou that led the charge.

The Ryman Auditorium (see posts 146 & 175 for a bit of info on its history and iconic status - including video clips) is one of the most historic buildings in American music in general - and definitely the most historic for country music and a must visit if you get to Nashville. Step inside the doors and you can feel the history in the building, a landmark that’s hosted pretty much all the legends in country music on its stage. It’s my favorite building in Nashville, a place that leaves me in awe every time I‘ve stepped inside and see the sun shining through its stained glass windows, thinking of the cavalcade of greats who played there and it’s centricity to country music history, including being the only venue for the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974 and the birth place of bluegrass, amongst other things. Don’t you dare miss it when/if in Nashville.

But 32 years ago, in 1991, the Mother Church of Country Music looked like hell. The Ryman hadn't hosted a public performance since the Grand Ole Opry left downtown Nashville in 1974. With the Ryman now standing vacant, its owners made plans to demolish the building and use its materials to construct a chapel at the new Opryland amusement park. Consultants had concluded that the Ryman contained “nothing of value” and wasn’t worth restoring. Even Roy Acuff (who had a strong financial interest in the new Opryland) was vocal about wanting the Ryman torn down. But, thankfully, the opposition to the Ryman’s destruction was fierce, and even included Tennessee’s two US Senators begging owners to save the building from the wrecking ball. The building was ultimately spared from destruction – and instead, it just sat vacant and deteriorating.

Over the years, it slowly fell into disrepair and even the neighbourhood turned squalid. The building was open for self-guided tours, but a musty smell and a layer of dust had settled in the landmark that had once hosted legends from Harry Houdini to Hank Williams, with his famous 6 encores at his debut, and all the many greats since. Then came Emmylou and her new acoustic band, the Nash Ramblers, wanting to cut an album of songs she’d never recorded before before a live audience. Harris recalls - “We wanted to do it in front of a live audience, and back then there weren’t many venues to choose from. (Music executive) Bonnie Garner was the one who said, ‘Why don’t we ask if they’ll open up the Ryman for us?’". And so it was they got permission to perform 3 live shows at the Ryman, the building’s first public performances in over 20 years. But because the Ryman was in such bad disrepair, audience members weren’t allowed to sit on or under the balcony – which limited the crowd to around 200 people each night.

The band played a setlist that included Steve Earle’s ‘Guitar Town’ and Stephen Foster’s classic ‘Hard Times‘, along with songs from the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe (posts # 181-183) - and Emmylou even got to buckdance on-stage with old Bill, the legend who first publicly performed the new sound he called Bluegrass on that very stage nearly 50 years earlier. “At the Ryman“ was released in 1992, and would go on to won Emmylou a mother Grammy for Best Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. But more importantly, it reignited interest in the Ryman Auditorium. In a campaign in which Harris was at the forefront, enough people finally realised the historical significance of the outdated old building, and soon an $8.5 million renovation was underway. Dressing rooms and a backstage area were added, along with air conditioning, all while preserving the unmatched acoustics that made the Ryman such a popular place among both artists and fans.

The renovated Ryman Auditorium re-opened to the public in 1994. The Grand Ole Opry returned to the Ryman for the first time in over 20 years for a benefit show in October 1998. After the success of the Opry’s return to its former home, the decision was made for the Opry to return to the Ryman for 3 months starting in November 1999. The winter Opry shows at the Ryman were such a roaring success, the Opry returned to the Mother Church for 3 months every year and has done so ever since (apart from COVID eliminating live audiences in 2020). So thank Emmylou for this singular service to country music history. Since then, she has dedicated much time to the preservation of country music heritage.

By the mid 1990’s, the near 50 y.o. Harris remained in the incongruous position of being a legendary figure in country music, always in demand as a guest performer in the studio with other artists, but unable to match the record sales of those younger artists who regarded her as a heroine. Her stunning 1995 album “Wrecking Ball” represented the severing of the cord. Emmylou's transformative, most experimental album, signifying a move away from traditional country music, was produced by Daniel Lanois, best known for his work with U2 and Peter Gabriel. The title track is a Neil Young composition, who also sings along. Other songs were written by Lanois, Steve Earle, Bob Dylan and Anna McGarrigle and it even included a Jimi Hendrix song. The album is a left-field masterpiece, Emmylou’s most wide-ranging, innovative, and daring record in a career built on such notions. Rich in atmosphere and haunting in its dark complexity, much of the due credit belongs to producer Lanois, who taps into the very essence of what makes Harris tick - the gossamer vocals, the flawless phrasing -while also opening up innumerable new avenues for her talents to explore. Lanois' atmospheric, dreamy effects mesh perfectly with Harris' voice. Harris calls “Wrecking Ball” a turning point that “… got her musician juices flowing again. It was like putting dynamite to a logjam…”

The standout track from the “Wrecking Ball” album, ‘Orphan Girl’, written by Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, was another example of Emmylou’s gift for finding standout songs, and standout writers, in a crowded scene. Harris was given a cassette that included a primitive version of the track from the now-famed folk duo. She recalled - “It blew my mind. It sounded like some old song dug up in a pile of old 45s. I definitely wanted to record it”. Harris was already working on “Wrecking Ball” at the time, integrating more urgent tempos into her sound. For Orphan Girl, she and producer Lanois created a powerful rhythm around drums and acoustic guitar to tell the story of Welch’s childhood adoption. As Harris said - “What that song shows is how you can take a simple country song that is almost traditional, and – in the hands of a producer like Daniel – turn it into something that has a different kind of power” -


Steve Earle had just returned from a crippling drug addiction and a jail sentence that had sidelined him since 1990, when he released his 1995’s acoustic “Train a Comin“ (IMO, his best by far). His bittersweet, sad and beautiful ballad ‘Goodbye’, a remembrance of a love gone sour, resonated with Harris who quickly covered it for her “Wrecking Ball“ album the same year -


After “Wrecking Ball”, family friend, Guy Clark told Harris she had to write the songs for her next album -“No ifs, ands or buts, and I don’t want any excuses. I don’t care if it takes you 5 years” - “And it did take me that much time”. Harris got to work, observing the world around her as she made the drive from Nashville to New Orleans, where she was recording the LP. Based on memories of her childhood in Alabama, ‘Red Dirt Girl’, the title track from her 2000 album, shows the deftness of Harris’s writing. Although the red-dirt girl herself is a fictional composite, Harris sees much of herself in the story - “To me, there were always two red-dirt girls. I could have just as easily been the other one who made some decisions and took their life down a road that wasn’t nearly as good a path as that other person. It doesn’t mean I’m better than that person. I was just lucky.” -


Emmylou's father (Walter Harris) was a marine and a WW2 and Korean War naval fighter pilot. He was shot down in Korea and spent almost a year in a Chinese POW camp, where he endured savage physical torture and mental abuse, given especially harsh treatment due to his continual efforts to maintain prisoner morale and effect escape attempts. For his steadfast resistance and outstanding leadership, he was awarded the Legion of Merit upon his release. His actions are now cited in the Code of Conduct section of the Marine’s Handbook, as an example of how Marine POWs are to conduct themselves. “Bucky“ stayed in the Marines as a helicopter pilot, eventually being designated as Presidential Command Pilot. He served in that capacity for 6 presidents - Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter. He retired from the Marines in 1969 with the rank of Major. He strongly supported Emmylou‘s music career, providing crucial help, especially after the break up of her first marriage left her destitute with a newly born baby and discouraged. He took her back into the family home in Washington DC then encouraged and assisted her to get back on her feet and performing again around local Washington DC clubs, leading to her discovery by Gram Parsons.

Harris enlisted the help of singer-songwriter Guy Clark to write ‘Bang The Drum Slow‘ for her “Red Dirt Girl” album as the elegy for her father, who had collapsed and died suddenly in 1993, aged 72. Harris had a great level of difficulty dealing with his death and thought it important for something suitable and worthy of the man to be written, both paying tribute to her father and helping her own grief (in a similar way she had done with her on-going grief issues over many years with Gram Parsons). Now I’ve done something unusual here, don’t think I’ve done this before, and chosen an obviously amateur unofficial fan video over anything professional. I did this because even though the filming is just from the audience and the view blocked a few times, the sound is still OK, I like Emmylou’s introduction to the song, referring to Guy Clark as a “poet laureate“, and it also gives at least some sense of an intimate performance -


Besides discovering new songwriters, Harris earned a reputation along the way for hiring outstanding new musicians, once again furthering the careers of others. Time and again, starting with her early Hot Band, followed by the acoustic Angel Band, to later bands she assembled to back her such as the Nash Ramblers and Spyboy, Harris gave some outstanding instrumentalists their break while giving musicians a chance to add to their reputations. Over the years, her bands have included future country stars Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill, future record producers Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr., guitar heroes James Burton and Albert Lee, and country roots music mainstays Sam Bush and Buddy Miller.

Of all the performers to emerge from the California country-rock community, Harris achieved the greatest acceptance from Nashville and the mainstream country music world. Over the years, she has had, so far, 27 Top 10 hits, including 7 that reached #1 and also 15 Top 10 albums. The CMA Awards recognise outstanding achievement in the country music industry. She has won 14 out of 48 Grammy nominations and 3 CMA awards out of 24 nominations, 5 International Bluegrass Music Association awards and 3 Americana Music Honours & Awards. She also has also crossed over to achieve marvellous musical strides with such artists as Sheryl Crow, Mark Knopfler, Rodney Crowell and others.

But Harris’s influence on contemporary country music extends beyond her recording success. A majority of the female country singers who rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s cited her as a primary influence, including Suzy Bogguss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Deana Carter, Terri Clark, the Dixie Chicks, Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea, Pam Tillis, and Trisha Yearwood, to name only a few. Her influence extended outside of mainstream country music, too, with acclaimed artists such as Iris DeMent, Patty Griffin, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams, and many others regularly citing Harris as an artistic guidepost.

Emmylou was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry backmin 1992 and she still performs there irregularly. She was inducted into the Country Music HoF in 2008. After Willie Nelson released his acclaimed 1998 ”Teatro” album (post # 788), in which Harris sang backing and harmony on the tracks, he said - “There are two kinds of men, those that are in love with Emmylou and those that haven't met her yet”. I reckon he ain’t totally right on that - I’ve not met Emmylou … yet. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love her.

Emmylou Harris marks the end of the Outlaw artists in this history, which I deliberately grouped together. There’s still a few more artists to feature to round out the 1970’s, though we’re now in it’s second half.

When I’m ready to do more history (probably some time next week, as I have to go back to Adelaide yet again - but at least I’ll also get to watch the Pies hopefully peck the Crows apart at Adelaide Obal), it’ll be to feature a long time friend of, and collaborator with, Emmylou - one who made her commercial mark more in the rock world, but also had some big country hits before totally changing her music direction. I’ll concentrate on her country material.
 
THE A5 said:
I genuinely can’t understand why people love Morgan Wallen. Like yeah most of pop country is trash but hearing his voice literally makes every inch of my body cringe. Not a huge Jason Isbell fan(tho starting to get more into him) but annoys the * out of me when people either claim ‘Cover me up’ is Wallen song or Wallens versions better.
Click to expand...
So Morgan Walden’s voice makes your body cringe? Well I often can’t even hear Morgan Walden’s voice - all I hear is a really loud auto-tuned sound, computer blended with his accompaniment like a cheap, colour co-ordinated decorative art piece from Big W and just as bland, devoid of any real substance or emotion (as auto-tune vocals always are). Like so much of pop-country (and, indeed most pop in general) over the last 20 years, too many of his songs sound alike - just a formalistic sound for mass consumption (Though TBF, some of his songs are well written and I’d probably enjoy them if sung without the auto-tune - and by someone else). I can’t blame him for what he does - it works commercially for him and his record company etc, good for him, his popularity amongst the pop-crowd is staggering, but it sure ain’t for me.

The auto-tune mike, along with other factors, seems to have killed off the long practiced, highly developed singing skills in mainstream music (just compare Morgan Walden to an early pop-country master like Marty Robbins). There’s a whole lot more on that topic on this thread -

Why do so many - even the young - now prefer old music over new?

When I was a teen and even into my early twenties, I was only "into" music that came from that era (and in most cases was also popular and high in the charts). But as I aged I gradually lost more and more touch with whatever were the latest chartoppers as I increasingly followed particular...
www.bigfooty.com www.bigfooty.com
 
Last edited:
CliffMcTainshaw said:
I got their album "Steak Night at the Prairie Rose" before Covid. I put it on and got involved doing something else and it played in the background. All of a sudden I could hear Jimmy Buffett and listening to the irreverent lyrics of the track "Gettin' High at Home", convinced me it was. But after checking out the cover, Jimmy's name was nowhere to be seen. See what you think Prof.
Click to expand...

You must mean ‘Let’s Get Drunk and Screw’ - the first thing I thought of, and yeah, I can hear the similarities, both in theme and style. The Moonpies consciously recreated the sound of an old school Texan honky tonk band for that album and it so happened Buffet’s accompaniment wasn’t so much difference. In doing this history series, I often come across similarities with earlier songs from other singers - I should’ve kept a list of them, but didn’t. Suffice to say, there’s been a lot of appropriation, either intentional or not, over the decades. Funnily enough, I was only thinking earlier today there’s a finite amount of totally original melodies and even really original lyrics in mainstream popular music and after nearly a century of recordings, the bank might be about exhausted - particularly with the stricter copyright laws now in force and greater means of detection.
 
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