Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947 in Birmingham , Alabama ) is an American country , folk and rock singer. In the course of her 50-year career, she has sold over four million records in the United States alone, and she has been awarded a Grammy 13 times.
From 1975 to the 2000s, she had over 50 hits on the country charts in her homeland. In the 1980s she was one of the most successful singers of her genre alongside Reba McEntire , Dolly Parton and Crystal Gayle . In recent years she has mainly appeared as a singer-songwriter .
Life
Emmylou Harris was born in Birmingham in 1947 as the daughter of officer Walter Harris and his wife Eugenia Murchison. She grew up near Washington, DC and began playing guitar and singing as a teenager. She studied drama at the University of North Carolina , but dropped out and moved to New York . At the time she was performing in the New York and Washington club scenes.
In 1970 she released her first album Gliding Bird at her own expense , which hardly sold. Shortly after its appearance, the record company went bankrupt. Harris, who married in 1969, gave birth to a daughter a little later and soon after divorced her husband, songwriter Tom Slocum. She moved back to Washington to live with her parents and performed occasionally in smaller clubs. From 1977 to 1984 she was married to producer Brian Ahern, with whom she also has a daughter, and in third marriage from 1985 to 1993 to producer Paul Kennerley .
Career
In 1971 Harris met the former Byrds bassist Chris Hillman , who saw her performing and recommended her to Gram Parsons , who was looking for a singer for his first solo album. Parsons brought her to Los Angeles in 1972 , where the album GP was created in collaboration with other musicians . A short tour followed, and in 1973 another album was completed, Grievous Angel . Only a few weeks later, in September 1973, Parsons died of a drug and alcohol overdose. At this point, Harris was a member of his touring band.
With the support of Tom Guidera, a former accompanist from Parsons, she produced a second solo album in 1975, Pieces of the Sky . The album includes her self-written piece From Boulder to Birmingham , which she dedicated to Gram Parsons. The album was a huge success; the single If I Could Only Win Your Love reached the top ten.
Rodney Crowell , Ricky Skaggs and Albert Lee played the next albums with Harris in 1976 and 1977, Elite Hotel and Luxury Liner . In 1979 the album Blue Kentucky Girl was created . The bluegrass album Roses in the Snow , released the following year, is considered by many critics to be their best. In 1985 she brought out The Ballad of Sally Rose , a type of country opera with 13 of its own titles, for which she received a Grammy.
In parallel to the production of other solo albums, Emmylou Harris developed into a sought-after duet partner. She recorded songs with numerous singers, including Johnny Cash , Bob Dylan , Don Williams , Roy Orbison , Neil Young , Willie Nelson , John Denver , Ryan Adams and the Australian rock band Midnight Oil ; the CD Duets brings together some of these collaborations. The album Trio , produced in collaboration with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton in 1987, was very successful; also the album Trio II produced in 1999 .
The 1995 album Wrecking Ball produced by Daniel Lanois showed a significant change in style, which was intensified in Red Dirt Girl from 2000. The music became more complex, darker and more electric and moved away from the traditional country sound. This becomes clear, for example, with the song Tragedy , in which Harris was accompanied by Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa . With guest appearances on albums by Urge Overkill , Steve Earle , Ryan Adams or Bright Eyes , for example , the artist showed that from now on she saw her musical home in alternative country as well . Both albums received Grammys for Best Contemporary Folk Album . Harris has been writing her own songs since Red Dirt Girl , which was seldom the case before. Her album Stumble into Grace was released in 2003 and All the Roadrunning , a duet album with Mark Knopfler, was released in April 2006 . Old Yellow Moon , an album of duets with Rodney Crowell, was released in February 2013. She received her 13th Grammy Award in 2014. In 2018 she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . In 2008 she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame .
Instruments
Emmylou Harris prefers to play Gibson acoustic guitars , mainly J-200 models. In her honor, the company brought out the signature model L-200 Emmylou Harris .
Discography
Solo albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
Country
|
|||
| 1975 | Pieces of the Sky | - | - | - | - |
US45  (15 weeks)US |
Country7 (33 weeks) Country |
|
| Elite Hotel | - | - | - |
UK17th  (11 weeks)UK |
US25th (23 weeks)US |
Country1 (61 weeks) Country |
||
| 1977 | Luxury liner | - | - | - |
UK17th (6 weeks)UK |
US21st (21 weeks)US |
Country1 (39 weeks) Country |
|
| 1978 | Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town | - | - | - |
UK40 (5 weeks) UK |
US29 (18 weeks)US |
Country3 (41 weeks) Country |
|
| 1979 | Blue Kentucky girl | - | - | - | - |
US43 (22 weeks)US |
Country3 (102 weeks) Country |
|
| Light of the stable | - | - | - | - |
US102 (9 weeks) US |
Country22 (13 weeks) Country |
Christmas album
|
|
| 1980 | Roses in the Snow | - | - | - | - |
US26th (34 weeks)US |
Country2 (50 weeks) Country |
|
| 1981 | Evangeline | - | - | - |
UK53 (4 weeks) UK |
US22nd (24 weeks)US |
Country5 (35 weeks) Country |
|
| Cimarron | - | - | - | - |
US46 (20 weeks) US |
Country6 (42 weeks) Country |
||
| 1983 | White Shoes | - | - | - | - |
US116 (13 weeks) US |
Country22 (48 weeks) Country |
|
| 1985 | The Ballad of Sally Rose | - | - | - | - |
US171 (4 weeks) US |
Country8 (46 weeks) Country |
|
| 1986 | Thirteen | - | - | - | - |
US157 (6 weeks) US |
Country9 (23 weeks) Country |
|
| 1987 | Angel tape | - | - | - | - |
US166 (4 weeks) US |
Country22 (16 weeks) Country |
|
| 1989 | Bluebird | - | - | - | - | - |
Country15 (29 weeks) Country |
|
| 1990 | Brand New Dance | - | - | - | - | - |
Country45 (16 weeks) Country |
|
| 1993 | Cowgirl's Prayer | - | - | - | - |
US152 (5 weeks) US |
Country34 (22 weeks) Country |
|
| 1995 | wrecking ball | - | - | - |
UK46 (3 weeks) UK |
US94 (7 weeks) US |
- | |
| 2000 | Red dirt girl | - | - |
CH84 (2 weeks) CH |
UK45 (2 weeks) UK |
US54 (18 weeks) US |
Country5 (52 weeks) Country |
|
| 2003 | Stumble into Grace | - | - | - |
UK52 (1 week) UK |
US58 (7 weeks) US |
Country6 (27 weeks) Country |
|
| 2008 | All I Intended To Be |
DE78 (2 weeks) DE |
- |
CH37 (3 weeks) CH |
UK40 (2 weeks) UK |
US22 (10 weeks) US |
Country4 (37 weeks) Country |
|
| 2011 | Hard bargain |
DE45 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH76 (1 week) CH |
UK30 (1 week) UK |
US18 (4 weeks) US |
Country3 (20 weeks) Country |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More solo albums
- 1969: Gliding Bird
Collaboration albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
Country
|
|||
| 1987 | trio | - | - | - |
UK60 (4 weeks) UK |
US6th  (48 weeks)US |
Country1 (84 weeks) Country |
with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt
|
| 1999 | Trio II | - | - | - | - |
US62 (14 weeks)US |
Country4 (37 weeks) Country |
with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt
|
| Western Wall (The Tucson Sessions) | - | - | - | - |
US73 (7 weeks) US |
Country6 (27 weeks) Country |
with Linda Ronstadt
|
|
| 2006 | All the road running |
DE3 (23 weeks) DE |
AT8 (9 weeks) AT |
CH1 (18 weeks) CH |
UK8th (8 weeks)UK |
US17 (20 weeks) US |
- |
with Mark Knopfler
|
| 2013 | Old Yellow Moon |
DE71 (7 weeks) DE |
- |
CH47 (1 week) CH |
UK42 (2 weeks) UK |
US29 (7 weeks) US |
Country4 (29 weeks) Country |
|
| 2015 | The Traveling Child | - | - | - |
UK65 (1 week) UK |
US78 (1 week) US |
Country8 (10 weeks) Country |
with Rodney Crowell
|
| 2016 | The Complete Trio Collection | - | - |
CH58 (1 week) CH |
UK47 (3 weeks) UK |
US125 (1 week) US |
Country7 (4 weeks) Country |
with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt
|
Live albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
Country
|
|||
| 1987 | Last date | - | - | - | - |
US65 (17 weeks) US |
Country9 (32 weeks) Country |
|
| 1992 | At the Ryman | - | - | - | - |
US184 (3 weeks) US |
Country32 (13 weeks) Country |
|
| 1998 | Spyboy | - | - | - |
UK57 (2 weeks) UK |
US180 (2 weeks) US |
Country27 (12 weeks) Country |
|
| 2006 | Real Live Road Running |
DE44 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - | - |
with Mark Knopfler
|
More live albums
- 2014: FM Broadcast: Emmylou Harris Live
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
Country
|
|||
| 1978 | Profiles - The Best of Emmylou Harris | - | - | - | - |
US81 (17 weeks)US |
Country9 (43 weeks) Country |
|
| 1980 | Her best songs | - | - | - |
UK36 (3 weeks) UK |
- | - | |
| 1984 | Profiles II - The Best of Emmylou Harris | - | - | - | - |
US176 (6 weeks) US |
Country24 (20 weeks) Country |
|
| 1990 | Duets | - | - | - | - | - |
Country24 (12 weeks) Country |
|
| 2001 | Anthology - The Warner / Reprise Years | - | - | - | - | - |
Country53 (4 weeks) Country |
|
| 2005 | Heartaches & Highways: The Very Best of Emmylou Harris |
- | - | - | - |
US133 (3 weeks) US |
Country23 (17 weeks) Country |
|
| 2007 | Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems | - | - | - | - | - |
Country49 (2 weeks) Country |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More compilations
- 1994: Songs of the West
- 1996: portraits
- 2000: Singin 'with Emmylou Vol. 1
- 2002: Producer's Cut
- 2003: Singin 'with Emmylou Vol. 2
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
Country
|
|||
| 1975 | Too Far Gone Pieces of the Sky |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country13 (21 weeks) Country |
Highest ranking after republication in 1978
|
| If I Could Only Win Your Love Pieces of the Sky |
- | - | - | - |
US58 (5 weeks) US |
Country4 (17 weeks) Country |
||
| Light of the stable Light of the stable |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country99 (1 week) Country |
||
| 1976 | Together Again Elite Hotel |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country1 (14 weeks) Country |
|
| Here There and Everywhere Elite Hotel |
- | - | - |
UK30 (6 weeks) UK |
US65 (5 weeks) US |
- |
B-side of Together Again
|
|
| One of These Days Elite Hotel |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country3 (16 weeks) Country |
||
| Sweet Dreams Elite Hotel |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country1 (14 weeks) Country |
||
| 1977 | (You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie Luxury Liner |
DE44 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - | - |
Country6 (13 weeks) Country |
|
| Making Believe Luxury Liner |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country8 (14 weeks) Country |
||
| To Daddy Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country3 (15 weeks) Country |
||
| 1978 | Two More Bottles of Wine Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country1 (14 weeks) Country |
|
| Easy from Now On Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country12 (11 weeks) Country |
||
| 1979 | Save the Last Dance for Me Blue Kentucky Girl |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country4 (14 weeks) Country |
|
| Blue Kentucky Girl Blue Kentucky Girl |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country6 (12 weeks) Country |
||
| 1980 | Beneath Still Waters Blue Kentucky Girl |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country1 (14 weeks) Country |
|
| Wayfaring Stranger Roses in the Snow |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country7 (15 weeks) Country |
||
| The Boxer Roses in the Snow |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country13 (11 weeks) Country |
||
| 1981 | Mister Sandman Evangeline |
DE14 (25 weeks) DE |
AT15 (2 weeks) AT |
CH5 (9 weeks) CH |
- |
US37 (13 weeks) US |
Country10 (12 weeks) Country |
|
| I don't have to crawl Evangeline |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country44 (8 weeks) Country |
||
| If I Needed You Cimarron |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country3 (17 weeks) Country |
with Don Williams
|
|
| 1982 | Tennessee Rose Cimarron |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country9 (16 weeks) Country |
|
| Born to Run Cimarron |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country3 (17 weeks) Country |
||
| (Lost His Love) On Our Last Date Last Date |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country1 (20 weeks) Country |
||
| 1983 | I'm Movin 'On Last Date |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country5 (17 weeks) Country |
|
| So Sad to Watch Good Love Go Bad Last Date |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country28 (13 weeks) Country |
||
| Drivin 'Wheel White Shoes |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country26 (13 weeks) Country |
||
| 1984 | In My Dreams White Shoes |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country9 (21 weeks) Country |
|
| Pledging My Love White Shoes |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country9 (22 weeks) Country |
||
| Someone Like You Profile II: The Best of Emmylou Harris |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country26 (18 weeks) Country |
||
| 1985 | White Line The Ballad of Sally Rose |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country14 (17 weeks) Country |
|
| Rhythm Guitar The Ballad of Sally Rose |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country44 (11 weeks) Country |
||
| Timberline The Ballad of Sally Rose |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country55 (9 weeks) Country |
||
| 1986 | I Had My Heart Set on You Thirteen |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country60 (6 weeks) Country |
|
| Today I Started Loving You Again Thirteen |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country43 (13 weeks) Country |
||
| 1987 | Someday My Ship Will Sail Angel Band |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country60 (7 weeks) Country |
|
| To Know Him Is to Love Him Trio |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country1 (19 weeks) Country |
with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt
|
|
| Telling Me Lies Trio |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country3 (18 weeks) Country |
with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt
|
|
| Those Memories of You Trio |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country5 (22 weeks) Country |
with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt
|
|
| 1988 | Wildflowers Trio |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country6 (18 weeks) Country |
with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt
|
| Back in Baby's Arms Planes, Trains and Automobiles OST |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country53 (13 weeks) Country |
||
| Heartbreak Hill Bluebird |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country8 (22 weeks) Country |
||
| 1989 | Heaven Only Knows Bluebird |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country16 (21 weeks) Country |
|
| I Still Miss Someone Bluebird |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country51 (6 weeks) Country |
||
| 1990 | Wheels of Love Brand New Dance |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country71 (3 weeks) Country |
|
| 1993 | High Powered Love Cowgirl’s Prayer |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country63 (8 weeks) Country |
|
| 1994 | Thanks to You Cowgirl’s Prayer |
- | - | - | - | - |
Country65 (5 weeks) Country |
|
More singles
- 1969: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
- 1969: Fugue for the Ox
- 1990: Gulf Coast Highway (with Willie Nelson )
- 1990: Never Be Anyone Else But You
- 1991: Rollin 'and Ramblin' (The Death of Hank Williams)
- 1994: You Don't Know Me
- 1994: Crescent City
- 1995: Where Will I Be?
- 1995: Sweet Old World
- 1996: Wrecking Ball
- 1998: Love Hurts
- 1999: High Sierra (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
- 1999: After the Gold Rush (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
- 1999: For a Dancer (with Linda Ronstadt)
- 2000: One Big Love
- 2000: I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now
- 2003: Here I Am
- 2006: This Is Us (with Mark Knopfler)
- 2008: Not Enough
- 2011: The Road
Guest Posts
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
US
|
Country
|
|||
| 1976 | The Sweetest Gift Prisoner in Disguise |
- |
Country12 (8 weeks) Country |
with Linda Ronstadt
|
| Hangin 'on till the end |
- |
Country16 (15 weeks) Country |
with Vern Gosdin
|
|
| 1977 | Yesterday's Gone Till the End |
- |
Country9 (15 weeks) Country |
with Vern Gosdin
|
| 1979 | Play Together Again, Again |
- |
Country11 (13 weeks) Country |
with Buck Owens
|
| 1980 | That Lovin 'You Feeling Again Roadie OST |
US55 (8 weeks) US |
Country6 (15 weeks) Country |
with Roy Orbison
|
| 1983 | Wild Montana Skies It's About Time |
- |
Country14 (19 weeks) Country |
with John Denver
|
| 1985 | Thing About You Southern Pacific |
- |
Country14 (19 weeks) Country |
with Southern Pacific
|
| 1988 | We Believe in Happy Endings The Heart of It All |
- |
Country1 (21 weeks) Country |
with Earl Thomas Conley
|
| 1998 | Same Old Train Tribute to Tradition |
- |
Country59 (5 weeks) Country |
with various artists
|
| 2005 | Not Me Flags of Our Fathers |
- |
Country59 (20 weeks) Country |
with Keni Thomas and Vince Gill
|
Further guest contributions
- 1974: Love Hurts (with Gram Parsons )
- 1979: Love Don't Care (with Charlie Louvin)
- 1991: All Fall Down (with George Jones )
- 1995: Feels Like Home (with Linda Ronstadt)
- 2006: The River's Gonna Run (with Sam Bush )
Video albums
- 1992: Live at the Ryman
- 1999: Spyboy: Live from the Legendary Exit / In
- 2006: Real Live Roadrunning (with Mark Knopfler)
Awards (selection)
- 1977 Grammy - Best Country Vocal Performance Female
- 1980 Grammy - Best Country Vocal Performance Female
- 1981 Grammy - Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals
- 1985 Grammy - Best Country Vocal Performance Female
- 1988 Grammy - Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals
- 1988 CMA vocal event
- 1993 Grammy - Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals
- 1996 Grammy - Best Contemporary Folk Album
- 1999 Grammy - Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
- 1999 Billboard Century Award
- 2001 Grammy - Best Contemporary Folk Album
- 2001 Gibson Guitar Award
- 2002 Patrick J. Leary Humanitarian Award for landmine project
- 2002 American Lifetime Achievement Performer Award
- 2003 Member of the Alabama Hall of Fame
- 2004 ASCAP Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award
- 2004 ASCAP Founders Award
- 2006 Grammy - Best Female Country Vocal Performance
- 2009 admission to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2014 Grammy - Best Americana Album
- 2015 Polar Music Prize
- 2018 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Web links
swell
- ↑ Emmylou Harris. In: grammy.com (English).
- ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Country Songs 1944-2005, 2005, pages 165-6 and 584, ISBN 0-89820-165-9
- ↑ https://www.geni.com/people/Eugenia-Harris/6000000000442703554
- ↑ https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards
- ^ Gibson J-200 Rosewood. In: vintageguitar.com (English).
- ↑ a b c d e f Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ a b c Music Sales Awards: UK US
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Harris, Emmylou |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 2, 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Birmingham , Alabama , USA |