Posted on 04/06/2020 9:32:17 AM PDT by Rummyfan
Emmylou Harris celebrated her birthday last week. In the world of the Cosmic American Music, attention must be paid. Skipping over great swaths of her career, I thought I might take the occasion as an excuse to revisit her story along with a few of the videos that reflect her artistry. She is, to say the least, still going strong. In the time of the great hunkering down, this may be a pause that refreshes. That is certainly my intention.
I’m a latecomer to Emmylou’s artistry. I discovered her indirectly through my love for the music of the the Byrds. The Byrds famously brought brilliant Beatles-inspired vocal harmonies and jangly 12-string electric guitar to the music of Bob Dylan and their own superb compositions. In a transitional version of the group, country-rock proponent Gram Parsons jumped on board their groundbreaking Sweetheart of the Rodeo album in 1968. Following that album Parsons and original Byrd Chris Hillman left the Byrds to found the Flying Burrito Brothers.
Around the time Hillman and Parsons departed the Flying Burrito Brothers to pursue other interests, so the story goes, Hillman found Emmylou performing in a Washington, D.C.-area folk club and talked her up to Parsons. On the night he saw her perform, Parsons was one of four in the audience. Parsons sought her out after her set. “I was knocked out by her singing,” Parsons later recalled. “I wanted to see just how good she was, how well she picked up country phrasing and feeling, so after her set…I introduced myself, and we sang one of the hardest country duets I know — [George Jones’s] ‘That’s All It Took.’ Emmy sang it like she was falling off a log.”
(Excerpt) Read more at powerlineblog.com ...
Oh Brother Where Art Thou...
I always liked her with Dolly and Linda - here’s a very early one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvJUPyK-Vws
The early female folk singers had voices that could melt stone.
Emmy Lou plays with Mark Knopfler on All the Road Running. One of my favorites.
Rita Coolidge ... I listen to her often. Smooth. Also Dottie West in country music.
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