Maps of Music

Trio II (1998)

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

The songs were recorded in 1994, but the album did not reach shops until February 1999 because of label disputes and busy schedules.

Key places

Recorded at The Site (1998)

Recording site The Site — The songs for this album were recorded in 1994 at The Site, a studio in Marin County, California. The point is shown at city-center level only. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Trio II: second collaborative studio album by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt
• Released 9 February 1999 by Asylum Records
• Follows the 1987 Trio album, which was Platinum and won a Grammy
• The songs were recorded in 1994 but were not released at the time

Background

• Label disputes and conflicting schedules kept the album from release in 1994
• Ronstadt remixed five of the ten tracks without Parton's vocals for her 1995 album Feels Like Home
• Those five tracks: Lover's Return, High Sierra, After the Gold Rush, The Blue Train, Feels Like Home
• In 1998 Parton and Harris had parted ways with their respective labels
• The trio decided to release the album as originally recorded
• Scheduling conflicts ruled out an extended concert tour

Cover

• A photo shoot proved impossible because of the singers' busy schedules
• Childhood photos of Parton, Harris and Ronstadt were used for the cover

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona; American singer across rock, folk, pop, country, and soul.
• In the mid-1960s joined the folk-rock trio the Stone Poneys as lead singer, releasing three albums in 1967–68.
• Solo debut Hand Sown ... Home Grown (1969), described as the first alternative country record by a female recording artist.
• Became the first female "arena class" rock star; top-grossing concert artist of the decade.
• Voted Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s; "You're No Good" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Worked with producer Nelson Riddle on the Great American Songbook trilogy What's New, Lush Life, and For Sentimental Reasons.
• Recorded Canciones de Mi Padre (1987), the best-selling non-English-language album in US music history.
• Retired in 2011 after losing the ability to sing; later diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014; Kennedy Center Honoree in 2019.

Formation

• At age 14 formed a folk trio with her brother Peter and sister Gretchen.
• Moved to Los Angeles in 1964 to form a band with Bobby Kimmel.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard reviewed the album in its 6 February 1999 issue and praised the trio's harmonies
• Billboard singled out George Massenburg's production as clear and on target
• Billboard highlighted Parton's Do I Ever Cross Your Mind as made country by Harris's lead vocal
• Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+ and said it comes about 75 percent of the way but is very fine nonetheless
• Los Angeles Times gave the album 3.5 out of 4 stars and praised Harris's vocal purity on You'll Never Be the Sun
• AllMusic's Becky Byrkit called the album a gem
• Rolling Stone's Patrick Carr gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and said the mutual-admiration society works at its best

Records

• Billboard Top Country Albums: peaked at No. 4
• Billboard 200: peaked at No. 62
• RPM Country Albums (Canada): peaked at No. 4
• High Sierra: sent to adult contemporary stations in January 1999, peaked at No. 90 on the RPM Country 100 chart
• Three singles sent to country stations in April 1999; none received enough airplay to chart
• Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Album
• After the Gold Rush won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The 1995 Feels Like Home album used remixes of five Trio II songs, made by Ronstadt without Parton's vocals.
• High Sierra was sent to country stations by mistake and still received some airplay.
• The music video for After the Gold Rush was filmed at a synagogue in New York City on 25 March 1999 and premiered on Great American Country on 13 April.
• The trio did a short promotional tour with appearances on CBS This Morning, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Rosie O'Donnell Show.
• The album's cover uses childhood photos because the planned photo shoot could not be arranged.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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