Maps of Music

Blue Kentucky Girl (1979)

Where the lyrics of Blue Kentucky Girl take you, and where it was really made.

Harris's most traditional album grew out of a 1978 session meant to make a trio record with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, a project that only reached release as Trio in 1987.

Key places

Recorded in Nashville (1979)

Recording site Nashville — This album is listed as recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1979. The marker shows the recording city for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Blue Kentucky Girl: sixth studio album by Emmylou Harris, released in 1979
• Released by Warner Bros. Records in April 1979
• Moves toward traditional country, away from the country-rock sound of her earlier releases
• Songs include work by Willie Nelson and Gram Parsons
• Title track originally recorded by Loretta Lynn

Background

• Her earlier records were criticized for not being country enough; this album answered that criticism
• Rodney Crowell's "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" came out of the women's ill-fated 1978 recording sessions
• Those sessions first tried to make a trio album with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt
• Parton and Ronstadt sing harmony on "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues"
• The trio project was completed nearly a decade later with the 1987 album Trio

Recording

• Recording is listed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1979
• Discogs credit lists the recording location as Enactron Truck
• Personnel include James Burton on electric guitar and Albert Lee on guitar and mandolin
• Don Everly and Tanya Tucker appear on duet vocals

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born April 2, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama; American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader and activist.
• Regarded as a leading artist of the country rock genre in the 1970s and of Americana in the 1990s.
• Began in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the late 1960s; first album Gliding Bird (1970) under the name "Emmy Lou Harris".
• Discovered by Gram Parsons in 1971; sang harmony on his GP (1973) and worked with him on Grievous Angel before his death in 1973.
• Breakthrough with Pieces of the Sky (1975); five US country number-one singles by 1980.
• Trio (1987) with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt became her best-selling album; At the Ryman (1992) renewed interest in the Ryman Auditorium.
• Wrecking Ball (1995), produced by Daniel Lanois, is seen as a turning point toward Americana.
• Estimated over 15 million records sold; 13 Grammy Awards; inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
• Founded the dog rescue Bonaparte's Retreat in Nashville; organizes the Concerts for a Landmine-Free World benefit tour since 1999.

Reception

At release

• AllMusic: Jason Ankeny found the album relies on a more acoustic sound and largely drops contemporary pop songs for standard country fare
• New York Daily News: Bruce Smith wrote that Harris swapped her Malibu blue jeans for Nashville black velvet on this oddly formal country album
• Smith said fans of Harris's singing would not be disappointed, while soft rock fans without a taste for straight country might be
• The Guardian: Adam Sweeting praised her clean, pure voice, her choice of material, and her gift for picking musicians

Reappraisal

• In 2006, CMT ranked the album No. 20 on its "40 Greatest Albums in Country Music" list

Records

• Won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance
• "Beneath Still Waters" became Harris's fourth No. 1 hit
• Covers of the Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me" and the title track were top ten hits on the US country charts

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The trio sessions of 1978 with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt were meant to make a trio album, which took nearly a decade to finish.
• Harris's cover of the Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me" charted in the US country top ten.
• The title track was originally recorded by Loretta Lynn before Harris's version.
• "Beneath Still Waters" gave Harris her fourth No. 1 hit on the country singles chart.
• The album was honored with a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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