Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947)[1] is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. A highly regarded figure in contemporary music, she is known for having a consistent artistic direction. Harris is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana genre in the 1990s. Her music united both country and rock audiences in live performance settings. Her characteristic voice, musical style and songwriting have been acclaimed by critics and fellow recording artists.
"Emmylou" redirects here. For other uses, see Emmylou (disambiguation).
Emmylou Harris
April 2, 1947
- Singer
- songwriter
- musician
- activist
1969–present
-
Tom Slocum(m. 1969; div. 1971)
2
- Vocals
- guitar
Harris developed an interest in folk music in her early years which led to her performing professionally. Moving to New York City in the 1960s, she recorded a folk album and performed regionally. She was discovered by Gram Parsons, who influenced her country rock direction. Following his 1973 death, Harris obtained her own recording contract from Reprise–Warner Bros. Her second album, Pieces of the Sky (1975), found both critical acclaim and commercial success. Follow-up 1970s albums further elevated Harris' career such as Elite Hotel (1976), Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (1978) and Blue Kentucky Girl (1979). By 1980, she had acquired four number one songs on the US and Canadian country charts: "Together Again", "Sweet Dreams", "Two More Bottles of Wine" and "Beneath Still Waters".
Harris had a continued string of commercially and critically successful albums like Roses in the Snow (1980), Evangeline (1981) and Last Date (1982). Her backing group The Hot Band helped establish a musical foundation for her concerts and albums. Her 1980s albums spawned the top ten singles "Wayfaring Stranger", "Born to Run" and "Last Date". The 1985 album The Ballad of Sally Rose was among Harris' first self-written projects. The album (along with its follow-ups) failed to sustain the commercial momentum of previous albums. Harris then collaborated with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt on Trio (1987). The platinum-selling album was also a critical success that spawned four top ten singles.
In 1992, Warner Bros. released the live album At the Ryman. It garnered critical praise and renewed interest in its live venue, the Ryman Auditorium. Harris was inspired to move in a new musical direction with 1995's Wrecking Ball. She then reunited with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt for Trio II (1999). By the 2000s, Harris had signed with Nonesuch Records and recorded several albums of self-composed material like Red Dirt Girl (2000), All I Intended to Be (2008) and Hard Bargain (2011). She also found collaborative partnerships, such as with Mark Knopfler on the internationally successful All the Roadrunning (2006). She then collaborated with Rodney Crowell on the critically acclaimed Old Yellow Moon (2013) and The Traveling Kind (2015). She also became involved in activism during this time, including starting her own dog rescue called Bonaparte's Retreat.
Harris has been estimated to have sold over 15 million records worldwide.[2][3] She has also earned 13 Grammy Awards,[4] placed 27 singles into the top ten of the US country chart,[5] and several of her albums have received gold certifications in the US.[6] She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and was ranked among Rolling Stone's list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time in 2022.
Early life[edit]
Harris was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1947.[7] She was one of two children born to Walter Rutland Harris and Eugenia Harris.[8][9] Her older brother (Walter Harris Jr.)[10] enjoyed country music and had an appreciation for the genre before his sister did.[11] Her father was a Marine Corps officer[10] who served in both World War II and the Korean War. In the latter, he was taken as a Prisoner of War and was reported as missing in action. He was later released. "I never talked to him about his experiences. He wouldn't ever talk about it," she later reflected.[12] The Harris family lived in Birmingham through their daughter's first grade school year. Her father was then transferred to Cherry Point, North Carolina and later to Quantico, Virginia.[10]
During her high school years, the family eventually settled in nearby Woodbridge, Virginia. Harris was a straight-A high school student at Gar-Field Senior High School, a cheerleader and a saxophonist in the marching band. She also won the "Miss Woodbridge" beauty pageant during her teen years.[7] Classmates considered Harris unusual because she was devoted to her studies.[13] Harris was among many adolescents interested in the American folk music revival of the 1960s.[7] She became fascinated with folk artists of the era such as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Buffy Sainte-Marie. Her grandfather gave Harris her first guitar, which she learned to play.[14]
In 1965, Harris graduated from Gar-Field (which was desegregated shortly before she left) as the class valedictorian.[7][10] Her original intention was to become an actress[15] and she received a drama scholarship from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She began taking classes in the fall of 1965. Harris participated in the school's productions of The Tempest and The Dancing Donkey. She also helped form a folk music duo called The Emerald City. The duo worked a series of gigs in the local area, most of which were coffeehouses.[16] She also played coffeehouses as a solo performer, primarily in one known as "The Corner".[17]
In 1967, Harris dropped out of the University of North Carolina. She then enrolled at Boston University but would soon drop out as well.[10] She ultimately chose to pursue a career as a folk singer full-time. Harris briefly moved to nearby Virginia Beach where she worked as a waitress and sang.[16] She then left for New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood where there was a popular folk music scene.[10] In 1969, Harris married for the first time and soon gave birth to her first child.[7]
Career[edit]
1969–1974: Folk music and collaborations with Gram Parsons[edit]
Harris regularly worked the Greenwich Village music scene and developed friendships with fellow artists Jerry Jeff Walker, Dave Bromberg and Paul Siebel.[18] She worked several notable Greenwich Village clubs, including The Bitter End.[7] She also supported herself by working as a waitress and bookstore cashier. Along with her husband and daughter, Harris lived at a nearby YWCA.[10] Harris got her first manager and signed with Jubilee Records in 1969.[11] The label released her debut studio album Gliding Bird in 1970.[18] The disc featured several recordings penned by Harris herself, along with one penned by her first husband Tom Slocum. Unlike her later recordings, Gliding Bird was released under the name "Emmy Lou Harris".[19]
Jubilee Records declared bankruptcy shortly after Gliding Bird was released. Harris and her husband then decided to attempt a music career in Nashville, Tennessee. The couple divorced while in Nashville.[20] Harris attempted to support herself and her daughter by working as waitress. However, she was surviving on food stamps and Medicaid. Ultimately, she returned to live with her parents who had settled in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Clarksville, Maryland.[21][9][22] Harris then obtained a hostessing job in Columbia, Maryland.[23]
At the same time, Harris developed a following performing at clubs in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding suburbs.[13] Yet, she was unconvinced she could make it as a music artist. "At that point, I'd retired forever from the music business," she recalled.[23] Among the clubs Harris worked during this period was a singles bar called Clyde's, where she was first discovered.[13] At the time singer-songwriter Gram Parsons (formerly of The Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers who was establishing a solo career) was looking for a harmony singer. Parsons' friends were discussing Harris at a Washington D.C. nightclub when their conversation was overheard by the babysitter of Harris's daughter. Through the babysitter, Parsons' friends got in contact with Harris.[24] Parsons went to hear Harris and was drawn to her singing ability. One year later, he sent her a plane ticket to Los Angeles, California where she recorded harmony vocals for his debut album G.P.. After its release, the album failed to become successful and find a mainstream audience.[23]
Harris also toured as a member of Parsons's band (the Fallen Angels) in 1973, and vocal harmonies and duets with him.[10] Through recording and touring, the pair found an instant musical connection.[18] Parsons had become known for his fusion of country rock and had fascination with classic country music. His passion for the genre was influential to Harris and she soon was learning about the country genre. Harris would later credit Parsons for helping her find her artistic direction as well as her passion for authentic country music.[18][23] In 1973, Harris returned to the recording studio to make Parsons' next album titled Grievous Angel. Weeks following the album's sessions, Parsons died of a drug and alcohol overdose in a hotel room near Joshua Tree National Park.[18] Parsons's Grievous Angel was released posthumously in 1974, and three more tracks from his sessions with Harris were included on another posthumous Parsons album, Sleepless Nights, in 1976. One more album of recorded material from that period was packaged as Live 1973, but was not released until 1982.[25]
1975–1980: Solo breakthrough[edit]
Although devastated by Gram Parsons' death[23] Harris continued on as a solo artist. She made a decision to carry on the country rock legacy left by Parsons for her own career. "Once I started singing country music with Gram there was no turning back for me," she recounted. Harris formed her own band and got a weekly job performing at the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda, Maryland. Meanwhile, Parson's former A&R representative at Warner Bros. Records (Mary Martin) attempted to launch Harris's own career. She contacted Canadian-based producer Brian Ahern who had recent success working alongside Anne Murray. Impressed by her, Ahern agreed to producing Harris.[26] The pair would later marry in 1977.[22] Harris then signed with Warner Bros.–Reprise.[20]
Activism and dog rescue[edit]
In 1997 and 1998, Harris performed in Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair concert series, which promoted female music artists.[177][178] Since 1999, Harris has organized an annual benefit tour called Concerts for a Landmine-Free World.[179] All proceeds from the tours support the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation's (VVAF) efforts to assist innocent victims of conflicts around the world. The tour also benefits the VVAF's work to raise US awareness of the global land mine problem. Artists that have joined Harris on the road for these dates include Joan Baez, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Willie Nelson.[180] She became a member of the newly formed Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011. The program started as a way to promote research around the humanities and social science fields.[181][182]
Since childhood, Harris has enjoyed caring for dogs and fantasized about establishing a dog rescue.[183] In 2004, Harris' pet dog named Bonaparte died. To remember him, Harris decided to establish a dog rescue which she named Bonaparte's Retreat in honor of her pet.[184] The rescue was created to save stray dogs from animal shelters and keep them until they found their "forever home".[185] The rescue resides in the Nashville area and often rescues dogs that are taken from the Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control facility.[184] It also supports elderly or sickly dogs that are in need of a home. Harris helps raise funds for the program by creating concerts that sponsor the rescue.[186] The rescue also works with a program that pairs troubled youth with foster animals. "I think this is something that will affect their lives in a good way on into their adult lives," she commented.[187]
Personal life[edit]
Harris has been married and divorced three times, but has called herself a "really good ex-wife".[188] In 1969, Harris met fellow folk artist Tom Slocum while living in New York City's Greenwich Village. They married the same year.[189] In 1970, she gave birth to her first daughter Hallie.[190] In 1971, the couple divorced.[25] In the early years of her career, Harris often took her daughter on the road with her. However, Hallie spent a majority of her time living with her grandparents in Maryland. "I don't think the road is good for kids. Once in a while it's fun, like a trip to Disneyland. But not as a way of life," she commented.[191] In 1977, Harris wed her then-producer Brian Ahern.[192] The couple married at Ahern's home in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[193] The couple then lived in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.[191] Harris then welcomed her second child Meghann in 1979.[194] In 1984, the couple divorced[13] and Harris relocated to Nashville, Tennessee.[195] In 1985, Harris married songwriter and record producer Paul Kennerley. For several years, Harris and her family lived in an older home located near the Music Row neighborhood in Nashville.[194] In 1993, Kennerley and Harris divorced.[13]
She has a granddaughter who was born in 2009, and a grandson who was born in 2012.[196] Harris is a vegetarian.[197][198]
Harris' father died in 1993 after having an aortic rupture.[199] Harris' mother then lived with her for 21 years until her death in 2014.[15] "She's just about my best friend. She has an extraordinary gift of making a home a home without being intrusive", Harris told CBS News in 2002.[200]