Emmylou Harris

[Mis]

I FINALLY remembered yesterday to put the Borders gift card that I got for my birthday last year in my wallet, and I picked up Red Dirt Girl and the Warner/Reprise Years Anthology collection. I figured those were pretty decent places to start. Can't wait to get to know them on my commute to work this week!

~M

[Turk]

Way to go, Mis!
I hope you enjoy your journey into Emmylou-dom.

[Arlene]

FYI. Emmylou will be appearing on the Opry again this coming Saturday night (2/19) with The Whites and The Nashville Bluegrass Band. The schedule is available at http://www.opry.com/04_info/04_weeklylineup.asp (that is Central time) and if interested, you can listen in on the radio webcast at http://www.wsmonline.com or on Sirius satellite radio.

[Little_Kites]

I like Emmylou too but I'm probably not as familar with her work as the rest of you are. I've only heard some stuff from Stumble Into Grace and "Going Back to Harlan" from Lillith Fair and Emmylou's version of One Big Love. All of which I liked.

[Arlene]

I think I've probably made it pretty clear that I love Emmylou's music but I also think that she seems like such an impressive person both in terms of artistic integrity and loyalty to friends. I saw a great concert by Buddy Miller last night and thought a story he told about her was particularly illustrative of what I'm talking about. Buddy explained that when he had finished his new record, he made up three copies with the proposed title and cover photo of the Universal United House of Prayer church. He kept one for himself ("I don't know why-- I knew what it sounded like"), sent one to his new record company, and gave one to Emmylou. He said that the record company liked the music but wanted him to change the title and cover. He then told this to Emmylou who apparently immediately picked up the phone, called the record company, and stated in a clear but firm tone: "The TITLE stays the same, and the COVER stays the same." Buddy concluded the anecdote by saying: "Emmylou's a good friend."

[Mis]

Heheehehe...great story, Arlene! I can just hear some 28-year-old record executive going, "Um, yes, Ms. Harris. Yes, ma'am. Yes. I understand." Hee.

In other news, I am absolutely OBSESSED with "Michelangelo" and "Hour of Gold" right now. I keep playing them, back to back, over and over again. These songs are absolutely hitting me right where I live right now. I can't stop playing them. They're hauntingly gorgeous in ways I can't even name. Ah, it feels so good to find things that make me feel so hard. This hasn't happened since I rediscovered Patty last year.

[Turk]

I am absolutely OBSESSED with "Michelangelo" and "Hour of Gold"

I LOVE these, too.
Emmy on "Hour of Gold":
"That song was a poem for a long time. "The hour of gold/the hour of lead" is actually from the Psalms; I remembered it from a book by Anne Morrow Lindbergh that my mother had when I was a child. The track you hear is our original rough mix. We tried another one, but there was something surreal and almost scary about this one that we really loved."

The first time I heard "Michelangelo", I was obviously in a vunerable state of mind because it just ripped me to shreds. It still commands me to listen whenever I hear it now.

Last night I dreamed about you
I dreamed that you were riding
On a blood red painted pony
Up where the heavens were dividing
And the angels turned to ashes
You came tumbling with them to earth
So Far below
Michelangelo

Last night I dreamed about you
I dreamed that you lay dying
In a field of thorn and roses
With a hawk above you crying
For the warrior slain in battle
From an arrow driven deep inside you
Long ago
Michelangelo

Did you suffer at the end
Would there be no one to remember
Did you banish all the old ghosts
With the terms of your surrender
And could you hear me calling out your name
Well I guess that I will never know
Michelangelo

[Arlene]

FYI. If you're interested... The DVD of the Elvis Costello concert in Memphis at which Emmylou appeared last year is now available for pre-order at amazon.com. It will be released in the U.S. on April 19th. See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... d&n=507846

The amazon.com product listing for the DVD "only" includes 3 of the 6 duets they performed together that night-- I Still Miss Someone, Heart Shaped Bruise and Wheels-- but an Elvis Costello web site indicates that duets of Sleepless Nights and My Baby's Gone are also included as bonus tracks. See http://www.elviscostello.info/

[Arlene]

FYI. Emmylou will be doing a short tour with Elvis Costello in July in which, among other things, they'll be doing about 6 or 7 duets together:

July 17, 2005 - Atlanta, GA (Chastain Park)
July 19, 2005 - New York City, NY (Summer Stage)
July 20, 2005 - Philadelphia, PA (Tower Theatre)
July 22, 2005 - Wallingford, CT (Oakdale Theatre)
July 23, 2005 - Boston, MA (Bank of America Pavilion)
July 27, 2005 - Chicago, IL (Ravina)
July 29, 2005 - Dayton, OH (Fraze Pavilion)
July 30, 2005 - Columbus, OH (Promowest)
July 31, 2005 - Washington, DC (Wolftrap)

[Arlene]

FYI. If you want to hear 3 songs from Emmylou's 1995 Wrecking Ball sessions with Daniel Lanois which were not included on the commercially released album, as well as an alternative version of Deeper Well and the rough mixes for most of the songs which eventually DID make it on to the album, go to http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mnemon/
where you can download them.

[TontoBronto]

FYI. If you want to hear 3 songs from Emmylou's 1995 Wrecking Ball sessions with Daniel Lanois ...........

Thanks for the link! BTW, the vinyl LP version of "Wrecking Ball" is quite sought after, and there's a current auction on eBay where the final bid was $225.00.
That particular LP is autographed, but the going price for an unsigned LP is around $45.

The song "Still Water" IS included on Lanois' "Acadie" (but lacks Emmylou).

[Arlene]

It's been rumored for a couple of years now that Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler have been working on a duets album together. Well, FYI, there's a "news" item dated February 2, 2005 on Mark Knopfler's "official" web site which states:

MK & EMMYLOU: Mark was in the studio recently putting the finishing touches to the duets album with Emmylou Harris. Further details soon.

[Arlene]

Since a second person has now asked me about this, I thought I'd mention that on the mini-tour Emmylou will be doing with Elvis Costello in July, unless things change between now and the tour, Emmylou WON'T be doing a solo set of her own music but will be singing about 10 to 12 duets with Elvis Costello, some of which they've never previously performed together.

[Arlene]

FYI. If you want to see video of Emmylou performing, there's a new site up-- http://www.roseofemmylou.com/ --and on it you can see a 1975 clip of her singing Boulder to Birmingham, a 1976 clip of I'll Be Your San Antonio Rose, a 2003 clip of Here I Am, and a 2004 clip of Imagine.

[Arlene]

Not sure how long this will be up, but FYI, if you're interested, here's a link where you can listen to the retrospective compilation of Emmylou material released by Rhino yesterday. For the time being, you can hear the full album here

http://www.rhino.com/fun/listeningparti ... ayer.lasso

(The version of Wayfaring Stranger on this album is the same one a 16 year old Patty Griffin listened to and taught herself to play while still a high school student in Old Town, Maine. It's from Emmylou's bluegrass album, Roses In The Snow.)