Wrecking Ball (Emmylou Harris album)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[2]
Los Angeles Times	^[3]
Robert Christgau	(B)^[4]
Rolling Stone	^[5]
The Austin Chronicle	^[6]

Wrecking Ball is the eighteenth studio album by American country artist Emmylou Harris, released on September 26, 1995 through Elektra Records. Moving away from the traditional acoustic sound for which she had become known, Harris collaborated with rock producer Daniel Lanois (best known for his production work with U2) and engineer Mark Howard.^[7] The album has been noted for atmospheric feel, and featured guest performances by Steve Earle, Larry Mullen, Jr., Lucinda Williams and Neil Young, who wrote the title song.

Background

Though her choice of songs had always been eclectic, the album was regarded as a departure for Harris who, by the age of 48, had become something of an elder stateswoman in country music. It received almost universally positive reviews, making many critics' year-end "best of" lists, and pointed Harris' career in a somewhat different direction, where she would incorporate a harder, albeit plaintive edge that would single her out from the complacent, country music mainstream. As a career-redefining album, Wrecking Ball was likened to Marianne Faithfull's 1979 Broken English album and Johnny Cash's American Recordings. Wrecking Ball won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.

Content

Harris covered Neil Young's song "Wrecking Ball", and the track includes harmonies by Young.^[8] Although the song was released by Harris as a 2-track CD single with Lucinda Williams' "Sweet Old World", reviewers did not consider the title track the high point on the album.^[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Where Will I Be?" (with Daniel Lanois)	Daniel Lanois	4:15
2.	"Goodbye"	Steve Earle	4:53
3.	"All My Tears"	Julie Miller	3:42
4.	"Wrecking Ball"	Neil Young	4:49
5.	"Goin' Back to Harlan"	Anna McGarrigle	4:51
6.	"Deeper Well"	David Olney, Lanois, Emmylou Harris	4:19
7.	"Every Grain of Sand"	Bob Dylan	3:56
8.	"Sweet Old World"	Lucinda Williams	5:06
9.	"May This Be Love" (with Daniel Lanois)	Jimi Hendrix	4:45
10.	"Orphan Girl"	Gillian Welch	3:15
11.	"Blackhawk"	Daniel Lanois	4:28
12.	"Waltz Across Texas Tonight"	Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris	4:46

Personnel

Emmylou Harris – vocals, acoustic guitar on 3 5 7 10 11 12, harmony vocals on 10
Daniel Lanois – mandolin on 1 2 3 5 8 10 11 12, electric guitar on 1 2 3 4 6 8 9 11 12, acoustic guitar on 2 7 11, bass on 1 3, dulcimer on 10, duet vocals on 1 9, chant vocals on 3, percussion on 4, bass pedals on 8
Malcolm Burn – piano on 2 4 8 11 12, tambourine on 4 10 11, vibes on 4, organ on 5 7, synthesizer on 5, keyboards on 6, slide guitar on 8 12, bass on 11, drums on 11, harmony vocals on 11
Larry Mullen, Jr. – drums on 2 4 6 7 8 9 12, cymbal on 4, hand drum on 10
Tony Hall – percussion, bass on 2 4 6 7 12, stick drum on 10
Daryl Johnson – high harmony vocals on 1, tom tom on 1, drum kit bass pedals on 5, backing vocals on 5, harmonic bass on 6, harmony vocals on 10

Additional personnel

Brian Blade – drums on 1, Indian hand drum on 5
Steve Earle – acoustic guitar on 2 7 8
Sam O'Sullivan – roto wheel on 4
Neil Young – harmony vocals on 4 8, harmonica on 8
Kufaru Mouton – extra percussion on 5
Lucinda Williams – acoustic guitar on 8
Richard Bennett – tremolo guitar on 8
Anna McGarrigle – harmony vocals on 12
Kate McGarrigle – harmony vocals on 12

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1995	Billboard 200	94
1995	UK Albums Chart	46

References

↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Review: Wrecking Ball – Emmylou Harris". Allmusic. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
↑ Nash, Alanna (September 29, 1995). "Music Review: Wrecking Ball, Emmylou Harris". Retrieved May 11, 2011.
↑ Cromelin, Richard. "Fall Album Roundup: EMMYLOU HARRIS, "Wrecking Ball"". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
↑ Christgau, Robert. "Review: Wrecking Ball (Elektra, 1995)". Retrieved August 5, 2009.
↑ Richardson, Susan (November 16, 1995). "Review: Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball". Jann Wenner. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
↑ Blount, Kirven (November 16, 1995). "Review: EMMYLOU HARRIS – Wrecking Ball (Reprise)". The Austin Chronicle. Nick Barbaro. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
↑ Hurst, Jack (November 7, 1995). "Harris' Saving Grace May Be Her Difference". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
↑ The Journal of Country Music 1996 Volume 18 - Page 11 "One can hear that same sort of ache, an almost primordial loneliness, running through the whole of Wrecking Ball, her Grammy-winning current album. Having drawn on the catalogs of Earle, Neil Young, Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, and ..."
↑ CD Review Volume 12, Issues 1-9 - Page 13 1995 "Wrecking Ball peaks not with the Neil Young-penned title cut (with its author singing harmony) , but in the one-two punch of Lucinda Williams' "Sweet Old World" followed by Jimi Hendrix's "May This Be Love.".

Emmylou Harris

Studio albums	Gliding Bird Pieces of the Sky Elite Hotel Luxury Liner Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town Blue Kentucky Girl Light of the Stable Roses in the Snow Evangeline Cimarron White Shoes The Ballad of Sally Rose Thirteen Angel Band Bluebird Brand New Dance Cowgirl's Prayer Wrecking Ball Red Dirt Girl Stumble into Grace All I Intended to Be Hard Bargain

Collaboration albums	Trio (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt) Trio II (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt) Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (with Linda Ronstadt) All the Roadrunning (with Mark Knopfler) Old Yellow Moon (with Rodney Crowell) The Traveling Kind (with Rodney Crowell)

Live albums	Last Date At the Ryman (with The Nash Ramblers) Spyboy

Compilation albums	Profile: Best of Emmylou Harris Profile II: The Best of Emmylou Harris Duets Songs of the West The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches & Highways Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems

Video albums	Real Live Roadrunning (with Mark Knopfler)

Notable singles	"If I Could Only Win Your Love" "Together Again" "One of These Days" "Sweet Dreams" "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie" "Making Believe" "To Daddy" "Two More Bottles of Wine" "Save the Last Dance for Me" "Blue Kentucky Girl" "Beneath Still Waters" "Wayfaring Stranger" "The Boxer" "Mister Sandman" "If I Needed You" (with Don Williams) "Tennessee Rose" "Born to Run" "(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date" "I'm Movin' On" "So Sad to Watch Good Love Go Bad" "In My Dreams" "Pledging My Love" "Heartbreak Hill" "Heaven Only Knows" "I Still Miss Someone"

Collaboration singles	"To Know Him Is to Love Him" (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt) "Telling Me Lies" (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt) "Those Memories of You" (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt) "Wildflowers" (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)

Guest singles	"Thing About You" (with Southern Pacific) "We Believe in Happy Endings" (with Earl Thomas Conley)

Discographies	Discography Solo contributions Collaborations A–F Collaborations G–K Collaborations L–Q Collaborations R–Z

Related articles	Roy Orbison John Denver Gram Parsons Daniel Lanois Rodney Crowell Desire The Last Waltz

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.