Maps of Music

Thirteen (1986)

Where the lyrics of Thirteen take you, and where it was really made.

Harris's thirteenth studio album leaves out her 1969 debut, which she disowned, so the title comes from a count that skips it.

Place unknown

Do you know where this album was recorded, or where its cover was shot? Tell us and we will add it to the map.

Thirteen is an album by American musician Emmylou Harris, released in 1986
The title refers to its status as Harris's thirteenth studio album
Her 1969 debut Gliding Bird is not counted, because Harris disowned it
Released by Warner Bros. Records in February 1986 (Spanish wiki)
Co-produced by Harris and her then-husband Paul Kennerley
Seven of the ten tracks are covers
Covers include Mystery Train, a 1953 song by Junior Parker
Bruce Springsteen's My Father's House, from his 1982 album Nebraska, is also covered
Kennerley co-wrote Sweetheart of the Pines and When I Was Yours with Harris
John Anderson duets with Harris on Just Someone I Used to Know
Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill sing backing vocals; Mark O'Connor and Buddy Spicher play fiddle

Just Someone I Used to Know is a cover of a 1969 No. 1 country duet by Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
Merle Haggard's 1968 song Today I Started Loving You Again was the B-side of his No. 1 hit The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde
The album went out of print a few years after its first release, for reasons not explained
It became one of the most popular albums in Harris's catalogue among fans
Its only CD release came in 2013, in the Rhino compilation Emmylou Harris Original Album Series Vol.2
A digital version went on sale through the iTunes Store in April 2011

1	Mystery Train	2:34
2	You’re Free to Go	2:50
3	Sweetheart of the Pines	3:23
4	Just Someone I Used to Know	3:00
5	My Father’s House	4:50
6	Lacassine Special	2:54
7	Today I Started Loving You Again	3:23
8	When I Was Yours	2:48
9	I Had My Heart Set on You	3:10
10	Your Long Journey	3:47

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.

The Los Angeles Times called Thirteen Harris's most thoroughly satisfying studio album since 1979's Blue Kentucky Girl
The Orlando Sentinel wrote that Harris is real country in the bluegrass-mountain branch of the genre
The same review said Harris does better than any major artist at adding a measure of present to the past

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Jason Ankeny called Harris's cover of Springsteen's My Father's House lovely
Ankeny believed the rest of the material and performances were lackluster

Two singles from the album charted on the Hot Country Singles chart
If I Had My Heart Set on You peaked at No. 60
Today I Started Loving You Again peaked at No. 43
Today I Started Loving You Again was nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards

Today I Started Loving You Again was nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards
Out of print a few years after its first release, for reasons unexplained, the album became a fan favourite and sold on eBay and other used record sites at unusually high prices
A digital version went on sale on the iTunes Store in April 2011
As of 2015 the album had not been released as a standalone CD; it appeared only in the Original Album Series Vol. 2 set