Wrecking Ball (album)

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

Wrecking Ball is 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 has been noted for its 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 Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Personnel 2.1 Additional personnel 3 Charts

[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

• Emmylou Harris – vocals, acoustic guitar on 3 5 7 10 11 12, harmony vocals on 10
• Daniel Lanois – mandolin on 1 2 3 5 8 10 11 12, electric guitar on 1 2 3 4 6 8 9 11 12, acoustic guitar on 2 7 11, bass on 1 3, dulcimer on 10, duet vocals on 1 9, chant vocals on 3, percussion on 4, bass pedals on 8
• Malcolm Burn – piano on 2 4 8 11 12, tambourine on 4 10 11, vibes on 4, organ on 5 7, synthesizer on 5, keyboards on 6, slide guitar on 8 12, bass on 11, drums on 11, harmony vocals on 11
• Larry Mullen Jr. – drums on 2 4 6 7 8 9 12, cymbal on 4, hand drum on 10
• Tony Hall – percussion, bass on 2 4 6 7 12, stick drum on 10
• Daryl Johnson – high harmony vocals on 1, tom tom on 1, drum kit bass pedals on 5, backing vocals on 5, harmonic bass on 6, harmony vocals on 10

[edit] Additional personnel

• Brian Blade – drums on 1, Indian hand drum on 5
• Steve Earle – acoustic guitar on 2 7 8
• Sam O'Sullivan – roto wheel on 4
• Neil Young – harmony vocals on 4 8, harmonica on 8
• Kufaru Mouton – extro percussion on 5
• Lucinda Williams – acoustic guitar on 8
• Richard Bennett – tremolo guitar on 8
• Anna McGarrigle – harmony vocals on 12
• Kate McGarrigle – harmony vocals on 12

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1995	The Billboard 200	94

v • d • e Emmylou Harris Studio albums Gliding Bird • Pieces of the Sky • Elite Hotel • Luxury Liner • Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town • Blue Kentucky Girl • Light of the Stable • Roses in the Snow • Evangeline • Cimarron • White Shoes • The Ballad of Sally Rose • Thirteen • Angel Band • Bluebird • Brand New Dance • Cowgirl's Prayer • Wrecking Ball • Red Dirt Girl • Stumble into Grace • All I Intended to Be Live albums Last Date • At the Ryman (with The Nash Ramblers) • Spyboy Compilations Profile: Best of Emmylou Harris • Profile II: The Best of Emmylou Harris • Duets • Songs of the West • Portraits (3 disc set) • Anthology (2 disc set) • The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways • Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems (4 disc set + dvd) Collaborations With Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt: Trio • Trio 2 • With Linda Ronstadt: Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions • With Mark Knopfler: All the Roadrunning • Real Live Roadrunning Films and videos Live at the Ryman • Spyboy - Live from the Legendary Exit/In • Real Live Roadrunning (DVD - with Mark Knopfler)