Wrecking Ball (Emmylou Harris album)

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Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball cover
Studio album by Emmylou Harris
Released September 26, 1995
Recorded New Orleans, 1995
Genre Country/Rock
Length 53:06
Label Elektra Records
Producer(s) Daniel Lanois
Professional reviews
Emmylou Harris chronology
Cowgirl's Prayer
(1993)
Wrecking Ball
(1995)
Spyboy
(1996)


Wrecking Ball was a 1995 Emmylou Harris album that found the country music singer veering away from the traditional acoustic sound for which she'd become known, to team up with rock producer Daniel Lanois (most commonly associated with U2). The album had a murky, atmospheric feel, and featured guest performances by Steve Earle, Larry Mullen, Lucinda Williams, and Neil Young (who wrote the title song). Though her choice of songs had always been eclectic, the album was regarded as a departure for Harris who, by the age of 48, had become something of an elder stateswoman in country music. It received almost universally positive reviews, making many critics' year-end "best of" lists, and pointed Harris' career in a somewhat different direction, where she would incorporate a harder, albeit plaintive edge that would single her out from the complacent, Country Music mainstream. As a career-redefining album, Wrecking Ball was likened to Marianne Faithfull's 1979 Broken English album and Johnny Cash's later American Recordings. Wrecking Ball won the 1995 Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Where Will I Be?" [with Daniel Lanois] (Daniel Lanois) – 4:15
  2. "Goodbye" (Steve Earle) – 4:53
  3. "All My Tears" (Julie Miller) – 3:42
  4. "Wrecking Ball" (Neil Young) – 4:49
  5. "Goin' Back to Harlan" (Anna McGarrigle) – 4:51
  6. "Deeper Well" (David Olney, Lanois, Emmylou Harris) – 4:19
  7. "Every Grain of Sand" (Bob Dylan) – 3:56
  8. "Sweet Old World" (Lucinda Williams) – 5:06
  9. "May This Be Love" [with Daniel Lanois] (Jimi Hendrix) – 4:45
  10. "Orphan Girl" (Gillian Welch) – 3:15
  11. "Blackhawk" (Daniel Lanois) – 4:28
  12. "Waltz Across Texas Tonight" (Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris) – 4:46

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Additional personnel

[edit] Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1995 The Billboard 200 94
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