Emmylou Harris is currently enjoying the most commercially successful period of her stellar 40-odd year career.\u00a0 That in itself sounds strange knowing what we know about the business today, and Harris having established herself as one of country music\u2019s queens back in the mid-to-late \u201870s.\u00a0 But somehow, since her resurgence on the back of 1995\u2019s classic Wrecking Ball<\/i>, each release has managed to be just as intriguing. Her constant touring has kept her in the public eye and all of this hard work has paid off, as Harris\u2019 albums now chart very well, and all since 2000\u2019s Red Dirt Girl <\/i>have recouped, making Harris better off now than ever before.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
I say she thoroughly deserves all the fame and fortune that comes her way, and the fact that Harris is now considered a national treasure of sorts make me, a long-time fan, very pleased.\u00a0 Harris has an uncanny ability to write about things that many would deem too personal or too somber; both of these traits are again evident (more so than ever) on Hard Bargain <\/i>which happens to be Emmylou\u2019s 26th<\/sup> studio album.\u00a0 It is superbly played and produced by Jay Joyce, Giles Reaves, and Harris, all of which took place over just four weeks in August of last year.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Harris has written the entire album (including three songs with Will Jennings) and she has also added one contribution from Joyce (the sweet closer \u201cCross Yourself\u201d) as well as covering Ron Nesmith\u2019s \u201cHard Bargain,\u201d which obviously inspired the album title.\u00a0 Emmylou opens the record covering old ground with yet another ode to her late mentor and dear friend, Gram Parsons.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Harris has spoken of regretting not engaging in an affair with Parsons simply because she loved him so, and through her work she continues to keep that flame burning (\u201cBut I still think about you, wonder where you are \/ Can you see me from someplace up there among the stars.\u201d)\u00a0 The song is called \u201cThe Road\u201d and essentially tells the story of Harris falling under Gram\u2019s spell, following the early days of her career after he took the young singer under his wing and out on the road. It\u2019s one of Harris\u2019 finest songs ever.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Another tribute to another late mentor is \u201cDarlin\u2019 Kate,\u201d which Harris penned for Kate McCariggle who lost her battle with cancer in 2010. Kate and sister Anne became great pals of Harris as the three would often collaborate on each other\u2019s projects and occasionally gig together.\u00a0 There are also some lighter moments to be found here, like the carefree \u201cBig Black Dog.\u201d This is a deep and meaningful body of work, and it seems the aforementioned subjects have driven the mood of the rest of the material here.\u00a0 Even a soft, simple song, \u201cLonely,\u201d tells of a young lady who has nothing going for her and is lost in her own solitude but still holds out for that one somebody to rescue her from it.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u201cMy Name Is Emmett Till\u201d is Emmylou\u2019s take on the horrible killing of the young lad back in 1955 after the black 14-year-old Till had apparently flirted with a white woman.\u00a0 The song is graphic and moving, and Harris\u2019 somber delivery is exactly what such a song requires; it\u2019s not easy listening but is stunning just the same.\u00a0 \u201cNew Orleans\u201d gives the album a touch of rock, and I can\u2019t emphasize enough how grateful this listener is for hearing it, a fine song for the city still recovering from Katrina\u2019s devastation.\u00a0 \u201cSix White Cadillacs\u201d has an easy groove, and although the meaning of the song is completely open to interpretation, it\u2019s one of the most enjoyable songs on the record.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Overall, Hard Bargain <\/i>is not an easy album to get into, and the casual fan (or first time curio) may indeed find it inaccessible all together because of its depressing content.\u00a0 But for me, the saving grace is Emmylou Harris herself, who offers these songs to us in the most dignified and heartfelt way, and that is all I needed to reassure me that this is something that Harris just had to get off her chest. Hopefully next time around, we can have some fun again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":30780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6689],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-42454","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-emmylou-harris","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42454"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}