With his surprising appearance on the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo in 1968, I became a Gram Parsons fan, and naturally loved unknown Emmylou Harris when she joined him as a partner three or four years later. Saw her sing with him in 1972 and on many occasions since with her own bands. So here’s today’s tribute, which follows earlier ones starring Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, and Sam Cooke. First the usual cartoon (this one by old favorite Matt Davies) and then onward. Enjoy, comment, share, subscribe (it’s still free)!
Emmylou Harris, 1970-Present
Born in Birmingham, Ala. in 1947, grew up in North Carolina and Virginia. Father was in the Marines (and was a POW in Korea for ten months). Dropped out of college, where she was a drama student, see evidence here:
Emmy quickly moved to Greenwich Village but got there a little late for the ‘60s folkie boom. Recorded an album no one remembers, married, had a daughter, divorced, moved to Maryland. Below she performs live Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” in 1970.
Chris Hillman somehow saw her performing in 1971 and recommended her to his ex-bandmate Gram Parsons who was recording his first solo lp, GP. She joined him for a few songs on that album and on the subsequent tour, which I caught in NYC upstairs at Max’s Kansas City. This is just about the only footage surviving from that tour (it’s rough but ready), and it captures the pair doing four tunes, including the great “Big Mouth Blues” and “Streets of Baltimore.”
Then came a second album, Grievous Angel, which includes a re-do of the Gram classic “Hickory Wind,” but he would OD and his body stolen at the airport and famously burned out at Joshua Tree by manager Phil Kaufman. (I would co-write the first major exploration of his hidden life, and sordid death, for Crawdaddy, the details of which would enrage Emmy, I was told.) But Gram’s label, Reprise, no dummies, signed her and her debut, Pieces of the Sky, in 1975 sold well. She toured with a band led by James Burton, legendary guitarist for Ricky Nelson, Elvis and Gram. She also hired little-known Rodney Crowell as rhythm guitarist and frequent duet partner. Here’s one of the earliest videos of that first tour as they do “Amarillo.’
A second album, Elite Hotel, would go to #1 on the country charts and also do well with rock audiences. Two of the songs were Gram Parsons numbers, “Wheels” and “Sin City.” Emmy would remain shaken and obsessed with Gram for decades. She hired Phil Kaufman as her road “mangler,” as he put it, and later stayed in the motel room where Gram had died near Joshua Tree—you can book the room yourself if you wish. Kaufman, health willing, now leads tours out to the site of the Gram bonfire (and he’s one of my Facebook friends). She didn’t write many songs herself but one of rhem, “Boulder to Birmingham,” re: Gram, might still be her best ever.
Quickly she had also become a go-to backup or duet singer, from Dylan’s “Hurricane” to this early collaboration, below, in 1976 (long before their smash hits), with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. Actually, they had neared completion of an album at the end of 1978, and at Crawdaddy we scheduled an Emmylou cover story and photo shoot—canceled at the last minute when that record was put on hold, as it turned out, for nine years (when it would sell zillions of copies).
Her third album, Luxury Liner (the name of yet another early Parsons song), also was a hit—she was a top country act but also retained broader roots/rocking appeal. On it she was the first prominent artist to cover Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty,” which later also became a smash for Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Here’s her original version with Rodney.
Like most country stars, she revered the greatest songwriter and icon of all, Hank Williams. She stood out on one tribute album with this lesser-known but shattering Hank song.
She also recorded one of the best-ever songs about his passing, “Rollin’ and Ramblin’.”
The albums kept coming, but her audience slowly declined. Then in 1995 she secured as producer Daniel Lanois (of Dylan and U2) and he added his signature intrusive atmosphere to a stunning collection of songs by artists ranging from unknown Gillian Welch to Jimi Hendrix. Wrecking Ball became one of the best albums by anyone in the 1990s, won many awards, and reached a wide Americana audience. One of the best songs, “Goodbye,” came from Steve Earle, who had just gotten out of prison while thanking Emmy for her support that pretty much saved his life. Here they do that song…
…and another from that album, Neil Young’s “Wrecking Ball.” Plus this great Richard Thompson song was bumped from album.
Still, for many, her duets remained the most treasured, such as when she helped revive Roy Orbison’s career. So let’s dip into a few. First, a kind of meeting of the giants, “Here We Are,” with the Possum, George Jones (song by Rodney Crowell).
She had a special chemistry with Sheryl Crow, here on the Lou Reed ballad, “Pale Blue Eyes.”
And then with another younger star—and Gram protege—Ryan Adams before many had heard of him. And they revived Gram’s “Grievous Angel” for the occasion, with Bernie Leadon, no less, on backup. Fun fact: Gram pretty much stole most of the lyrics for the song and only later did the other writer get a co-credit and money after legal action. But anyway:
Later she recorded an entire album and live DVD with ex-Dire Straits hero Mark Knopfler, and here’s the key cut, “So Far Away.”
Emmy was also an early champion of the wonderful Lucinda Williams, as here on “Crescent City.”
More recently she recorded a couple of albums with old bandmate Rodney Crowell, and I caught them live one summer not long ago. But to bring us to the near-present, here she helps out my man Jason Isbell on his “Tupelo.”
Greg Mitchell’s film, Atomic Cover-up, has its world premiere at the Cinequest Film festival March 20-30. Go here to read more, watch trailer, buy tix. He is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller The Tunnels (on escapes under the Berlin Wall), the current The Beginning or the End (on MGM’s wild atomic bomb movie), and The Campaign of the Century (on Upton Sinclair’s left-wing race for governor of California), which was recently picked by the Wall St. Journal as one of five greatest books ever about an election. For nearly all of the 1970s he was the #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. Later he served as longtime editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. He recently co-produced a film about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Emmylou was a major college crush. Thanks for the profile!
In the 1960s, she lived the next block up from us in Woodbridge,VA. She was very popular and involved in many activities at the high school down the street. A woman wrote a book about being the first Black student to integrate that school in 1961. She wrote that Emmylou Harris was there outside on the sidewalk to welcome her when she showed up her first day at the school, accompanied by local deputies.