Some time ago I got heavily into listening to the music of The Byrds. After finding their “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” CD, I picked up on Gram Parsons. Gram Parsons has been credited with inventing “country rock.” Gram Parsons didn’t like that term – neither do I because of the connotation of lesser talents like The Eagles. He preferred the term “Cosmic American Music.” Gram Parsons’ music was more than just taking rock music and putting it into a country context. More like he took country music, which he loved since he was a teenager, and put it in a rock contest. Roger McGuinn once remarked that he thought that when he hired Gram Parsons, he was hiring just a piano player, but instead he got “George Jones in a Nudie suit.” “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” was Gram Parsons bringing country music kicking and screaming into rock. He also brought soul music, like the William Bell chestnut “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, and merged it with country, hence the term “Cosmic American Music.” After his short stint with The Byrds, Gram Parsons co-founded the Flying Burrito Brothers with Chris Hillman, also of The Byrds. Their first album “Gilded Palace of Sin” laid the blueprint of Gram Parsons’ “Cosmic American Music.” Gram Parsons lasted one more album with FBB [“Burrito Deluxe”] before Chris Hillman fired him. With little to do, Gram Parsons hung out with the Rolling Stones during the making of their last great album, “Exile on Main Street.” Soon afterwards, Gram Parsons set out on his own career under his own name. He had expressed to Chris Hillman that he wanted to find the perfect female singer with whom to harmonize. While in Baltimore, Chris Hillman found such a singer waiting tables and singing in a small club. That singer was Emmylou Harris.
Gram Parsons shortly thereafter contacted Emmylou, and soon she began her recording career in earnest. She recorded two albums with Gram Parsons – “GP” and “Grievous Angel.” Emmylou can be heard harmonizing with Gram Parsons on such songs as “Ooh Las Vegas”, “In My Hour of Darkness”, “Love Hurts”, and other country standards and Gram Parsons originals. Shortly after completing “Grievous Angel,” Gram Parsons died of a drug and alcohol overdose in Joshua Tree, California. Unexpectedly at a career crossroads, Emmylou had made friends with Linda Ronstadt. Linda Ronstadt persuaded Reprise Records (Gram Parsons’ label) to sign Emmylou to a record deal. It is reported that one condition of her being signed was that she have a “Hot Band.” Using many of the players whom she recorded with on Gram Parsons’ albums, she had her “Hot Band.” Her Hot Band has included the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Rodney Crowell, and Albert Lee. Her debut, “Pieces of the Sky”, was released in 1975. It contains Emmylou’s first tribute to her mentor Gram Parsons, “Boulder to Birmingham,” a song she still sings in concert today. She released many more albums on Reprise. In addition to “Pieces of the Sky”, I have “Elite Hotel”, “Luxury Liner”, “Blue Kentucky Girl”, and “The Ballad of Sally Rose”, a concept album that is loosely based on Emmylou’s relation ship with her late mentor Parsons. Emmylou Harris is not a prolific songwriter. She has admitted that songwriting does not come to her easily. She prefers to interpret the songs of others, including the likes of Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Townes Van Zant, the Beatles, the Louvin Brothers and, yes, Gram Parsons. Her career picked up where Gram Parsons’ left off so prematurely.
Since leaving Reprise, Emmylou has since recorded for Nonesuch Records. In doing so, she has pursued a more experimental direction, working with Daniel Lanois. Lanois is known for his work with U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan. She has worked not only with Lanois, but also the likes of Neil Young, Willie Nelson [“Teatro”], and Mark Knopfler [“All the Roadrunning”]. She has produced acclaimed work such as “Wrecking Ball”, “Red Dirt Girl”, and “Stumble Into Grace” [the last two containing mostly Emmylou Harris originals]. I have them – I think they’re great. They definitely aren’t the heavy metal fare I usually listen to. Country records these are not. They didn’t get any country radio airplay, but she got the attention of alternative rock listeners. She recorded for soundtracks of movies such as “O Brother Where Art Thou?” and “Cold Mountain.” She's released two "Trio" albums with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. Her latest CD is “All I Intended To Be.” It's another good one. She has been awarded a dozen Grammy awards for her work in country music, and she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in February 2008. She is highly respected throughout the music world, and rightly so.
Since her beginnings with Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris has followed his vision of "Cosmic American Music." She learned well from her mentor. If there is one word I can use to describe Emmylou Harris’ voice, it would be “flawless.” What more can one ask for from a performer? If you haven’t heard Emmylou’s work, you’re missing out on something special.
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