meet me at the WRECKING POLL: EMMYLOU HARRIS

No duds in the bunch.

The nadir of the Lanois ethos imo

FP'd you Alfred that's crazy talk

Alfred is a noted Emmylou tearer-downer.

These songs are okay to great! Lanois ain't the right choice though.

history says otherwise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OomaNxkY-KY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OomaNxkY-KY

^^ btw just because this is a great-sounding track and superlative rendition doesn't mean i'm tipping my hand or anything. think i've got it narrowed down to seven...

Never heard this, but lol at Alfred's post.

Was listening to this (perfect) album today, feeling bad that I had to skip the Emmy/Lanois show last week. I love "Where Will I Be" the best. But "Goodbye" is beautiful. Emmy (via this song) was the only one willing to give Earle another shot post jail. I think this was the first thing he recorded when he got out.

Goin Back to Harlan

Eliminating the songs that I find merely wonderful, I'm still left trying to decide between:

Goodbye
Wrecking Ball
Every Grain of Sand
Sweet Old World
Orphan Girl
Blackhawk
Waltz Across Texas Tonight

Damn.

Finally listening to this. Thought I would share Alfred's objection but the period production is working for me, the same way the Steve Lillywhite production works on Marshall Crenshaw's Field Day.

Left out the word "brouhaha" after the second "production."

Wha? Lucinda Williams song?

Sweet Old World is Lucinda.

I know it well

The only song I don't have time for on this is "Waltz Across Texas Tonight". Ironic as it's the only Emmylou Harris-penned track on the record. All else is supreme.

BREAKING: I think I've maybe got it down to five now

"Goodbye" is one of those songs I've got to have on me wherever I go. Emmylou's version, though Steve Earle's too lately. "but I recall..." & her voice breaks on "recall", man, I do too.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Voted "Harlan," but love a lot of them.

I don't think she can quite match the honesty of Steve n Lucinda's originals, because those are such personal songs. But her renditions of both are lovely.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Why so few votes?!

i thought i voted for "where will i be" but i guess not

had never heard this album til today. never made it past the first track, or I should say, I haven't stopped listening to it yet. not sure i could think of a better song atm. feel in love as soon as the first snare hit.

fell*

kinda nervous to listen to the rest, there's no way it can stay this good. all these sounds and tones just fit too perfectly.

"where will i be" is prob my favorite opening track of all time but trust me the rest of the album is amazing

wonderful drumming too, makes the song feel slightly out of phase with itself

"where will i be" is prob my favorite opening track of all time but trust me the rest of the album is amazing

Sometimes I agree with this! Lanois is an underrated songwriter, and this I think is his first pairing with Brian Blade, who is a perfect companion.

yeah the drums are what hooked me. just finished the rest of this, what an album. I love the production, i cant understand the arguments against it, but this is my entry point for Emmylou so maybe trve fans felt it was way off base?

im also not super familiar w Lanois and his work outside of u2 and a couple other records he produced, so i have a limited frame of reference there.

The next album, "Red Dirt Girl", is almost as good.

ok going in on that next

lol i was just listening to "where will i be" this morning and just casually thinking "wow the drums are awesome" without even knowing it's brian blade, that dude is unbelievable

think ive listened to that song at least 25 times in the last 24 hours

Anyone gonna rep for "Stumble Into Grace"? It's not bad but it lacks something that the previous two provide me, just can't put my finger on it.

It's OK, I think not terribly worse than Red Dirt Girl (which I don't think is nearly as good as Wrecking Ball, for what that's worth). With Red Dirt Girl, I want to say that's where Emmylou started writing her own songs, which can be great (the title track), but she's no Lanois/Earle/Young/McGarrigles/Welch et al., and the production approximates Lanois but again, Malcolm Burn is no Lanois. All I Intended to Be and Hard Bargain are both pretty good, but then, most of her stuff is good, as are the Trio albums, as is the album with Crowell as is the Duo album with Ronstadt.

i gave red dirt girl a spin but it's just not. quite. the same. doesn't have that same enveloping warmth in comparison to WB. The title track, my baby needs a shepherd, bang the drum slowly is a gorgeous three-song run tho.

Give "Tragedy" and "Michaelangelo" another spin.

All The Roadrunning, her duet album with Mark Knopfler, is the other contemporary one of hers I really like.

And Spottie, the companion to this album really is Willie Nelson's Teatro.

Ah, now that one I outright didn't like. Don't find Lanois (or the percussion) a good fit with Nelson, it really felt like a full on attempt to replicate "Wrecking Ball" with the wrong artist. Maybe I should listen again. If anything, I find the Neville Brothers' "Yellow Moon" an interesting analog to "Wrecking Ball."

Give "Tragedy" and "Michaelangelo" another spin.

― the general theme of STUFF (cryptosicko), Thursday, July 27, 2017 6:19 PM (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tragedy was a little too trip hoppy for me maybe? idk listening now and its really nice. wish it didn't have that drum track. theres gotta be a killer live version of that somewhere. good call on michaelangelo too.

haven't really ever listened to Willie beyond knowing the obvious classic tracks.

yellow moon is def an interesting comparison! distant cousins

I've seen Emmylou live a bunch, and "Michaelangelo" and "Red Dirt Girl" make their way into her sets a good deal, which is something. From "Wrecking Ball," I want to say she still plays "Goodbye" a lot (which means a lot to her and Earle) and "Orphan Girl." I wish I saw the "Wrecking Ball" tour, but I think I was out of town.

Another atmospheric Americana precursor to "Wrecking Ball," now that I think of it, is "Living with the Law." Iirc Lanois produces maybe a track on that, and Malcolm Burn, his right hand man at the time, does the rest of it. That was ... '91?

That was 91. Discovered by Lanois, recorded by Burn. RIP CW

Recorded at Lanois' studio, with Lanois' right hand man at the time, Mark Howard (who also worked on Wrecking Ball). Lanois plays guitar on it a bit, too.

checked out the willie album, not my thing, gotta agree w josh on that one.

where should I go w Emmylou if I go backwards from Wrecking Ball?

can't go wrong with everything from pieces of the sky to roses in the snow

Honestly, maybe give Lanois' Acadie a shot, too. But yeah, pretty much anything she recorded with her first Hot Band is pretty awesome. I want to say she doesn't really have any bad records, just better records than others.

Angel Band is incredible

thanks! checked out a bit of Angel Band yesterday and liked it. Starting from the beginning then.

i just picked up the remastered double LP reissue of Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers - Live at the Ryman, which is one of my favorite live albums. it's from 1992 (the show is from 1991), and she's so phenomenal throughout.

http://www.nonesuch.com/sites/g/files/g2000005811/f/styles/featured_release/public/201705/emmylou-harris-at-the-ryman-brd-545.jpg?itok=InD0DTPz

nice, gonna listen

great record

The story behind that album/show is great, too. The Ryman (not to Nashsplain...) was in serious disrepair, vacant for like 20 years (!) and in danger of being closed forever or torn down, iirc. And Emmylou, long one of the loudest supporters of country music traditions, was one of the first (only?) to step up and push for a show there. The Ryman is so associated with country music and its history that it's hard to believe how close it came to vanishing. A reminder of what country was like - when the album was released Emmylou had yet to even be inducted as an official member of the Opry. Emmylou Harris!!!

That's awesome. Got about halfway through, really great.

did we talk about how spyboy is an incredible live album

Yeah, Spyboy is pretty great. Buddy Miller is incredible on it and Emmylou's singing is inspirational.

lol i was just listening to "where will i be" this morning and just casually thinking "wow the drums are awesome" without even knowing it's brian blade, that dude is unbelievable

― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, July 26, 2017 1:23 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah it's basically the greatest drum performance of all time imo lol

its perfect

Version on Here Is What Is is better:

https://youtu.be/DCnBIdOR8_U

(I’d vote for Goin’ Back to Harlan)

wait, no way that version is better!

Points for Lanois version:

His best vocal (hers is weirdly one note)
Odd, hypnotic Mellotron-y parts
Blade playing over Willie Green’s “Maker” beat
Sweet Hofner bassline

Am I the only person who hears the drums backward on this song? I feel like the live and alternate versions have the downbeat in an entirely different place than the album version, although the parts themselves are played virtually identically.

Album version:
[ONE]-oh-the (2)streets-are-cracked [THREE, FOUR]
(1)And-there’s (2)glass-everywhere [THREE, FOUR]

Spyboy etc:
[FOUR] Oh-the-streets-are
(1)cracked [TWO, THREE] and there’s (4)glass every
(1)where [TWO, THREE]

You’re not imagining things. Live version is much more straight ahead than either of the studio takes, with the snare on the 2 and 4. Main studio take has the first snare on the upbeat after 2 and downbeat of 3. It’s a very different feel.

did we talk about how spyboy is an incredible live album

― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, October 8, 2017 1:56 PM (seven years ago)

Deluxe reissue on the way:

1. My Songbird (Jesse Winchester)
2. Where Will I Be
3. I Ain’t Living Long Like This (Rodney Crowell)
4. Love Hurts (Bouldleaux Bryant)
5. Green Pastures
6. Deeper Well
7. Prayer In Open D
8. Calling My Children Home
9. Tulsa Queen
10. Wheels (Flying Burrito Brothers)
11. Born To Run
12. Boulder To Birmingham
13. All My Tears (Julie Miller)
14. The Maker
15. A Thing About You (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) *
16. All I Left Behind (Emmylou Harris, Kate & Anna McGarrigle) *
17. Every Grain Of Sand (Bob Dylan) * (Not on CD Version)
18. Get Up John (Bill Monroe) *
19. Sweet Old World (Lucinda Williams) *