Elite Hotel [EXTRA TRACKS] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Emmylou Harris

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 24, 2004)
• Original Release Date: February 24, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00013BN52
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #571 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #3 in	Music > Country > Roadhouse Country
  #4 in	Music > Indie Music > Country > Country Folk
  #5 in	Music > Country > Outlaw Country

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After introducing her country-rock recipe on Pieces of the Sky, Emmylou Harris returned later in 1975 with a strikingly similar sophomore effort that continued to blend traditional and contemporary elements. Here she revisits three tunes from the pen of old friend Gram Parsons, including "Sin City" and "Wheels," two of his most enduring compositions. However, she really struck it big by interpreting two of country music's most recognizable standards--Buck Owens's "Together Again" and Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" (a huge hit for Patsy Cline)--riding them both to the top of the country charts. Not many artists could handle both a Beatles ballad and a Hank Williams honky-tonker--not many would even want to--but Harris's diamondlike voice can be beautiful and translucent or sharp and cutting. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OPUS THREE, March 20, 2001

By	wdanthemanw "wdanthemanw" (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Elite Hotel (Audio CD)

Released in December 1975, just a few months after PIECES OF THE SKY, Emmylou Harris's ELITE HOTEL is already a first achievement in her career. Twelve songs, twelve little musical pearls. One would never repeat enough that half of the success of a singer depends on the members of the band playing in the recording. In ELITE HOTEL, the Angel Band hides such great names as Glen D. Hardin at the piano, James Burton at the electric guitar or Herb Pedersen at the banjo. Some of you certainly remember that Glen D. Hardin and James Burton used to play with another successful singer : Elvis Presley...

Twelve musical pearls because, like in PIECES OF THE SKY, Emmylou gives to the musicians the opportunity to develop superb instrumental solos. In my opinion, Buck Owen's " Together Again " can be compared to Ray Charles's version partly thanks to the incredible piano arrangement invented by Glen D. Hardin. The supporting vocals are also terrific, specially in Gram Parson's " Sin City " , John Starling forming with Emmylou a duo that has haunted me for days.

Three songs recorded live " Ooh Las Vegas ", " Sweet Dreams " and Hank Williams's " Jambalaya " and an homage to Emmylou Harris's former mentor Gram Parsons with " Sin City ", " Ooh Las Vegas " and " Wheels ". At last, a perfect version of Lennon/McCartney's " Here, there and everywhere " that is going to make you wonder why this song is not one of the most known recording of the Beatles.

A CD for your library.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The True American Beauty . . ., June 17, 2003

By	Gary Popovich "Retired Banjo Picker" (Chesterfield, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Elite Hotel (Audio CD)

Beautiful, vulnerable, full of musical integrity, and possessing a voice so pure that you could drink from it - one could easily make the argument that Emmylou Harris was the Alison Krauss of the 1970's. "Elite Hotel" was Emmylou's second effort after working with the late Gram Parsons, and in some ways typical of a lot of her work - tributes to her mentor ("Sin City" and "Wheels") while putting a rootsy spin on a broad spectrum of material, including The Beatles "Here, There, and Everywhere," Patsy Cline's (well, Don Gibson's, if you want to get technical) "Sweet Dreams," and Buck Owen's "Together Again."

Her voice is quite capable of breaking the hardest of hearts - but I also enjoy the more uptempo numbers (her backing group, The Hot Band, was and remains one of the truly great ensembles), like the driving "Amarillo" (Emmylou's only original) and the rollicking "Feeling Single, Seeing Double" (the little growl in her voice when she intones "wound up in a whole lotta trouble" makes my knees knock!). And her plaintive plea on "One of These Days" - "there's gonna be peace of mind for me/one of these days" - is the very essence of quiet desperation.

Listening to any Emmylou Harris collection is an artistic pleasure and an education in American music. "Elite Hotel" set the bar at a high level, and put Emmylou on the way to becoming the stateswoman of country/Americana music that she is today.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb sophomore effort, May 25, 2000

By	Sleepy Bumpkin (east of those Shenandoah hills) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elite Hotel (Audio CD)

Emmylou Harris' second Warner/Reprise album follows the pattern of its predecessor, Pieces of the Sky. Genre-wise, it's a mixed bag containing everything from Hank Williams ("Jambalaya") to the Beatles ("Here, There and Everywhere"); stylistically, it's an absolutely coherent masterpiece that unifies those vastly different genres and elevates them to a higher plane. Emmylou co-wrote the lead-off track, the rollicking "Amarillo," with Rodney Crowell, a superb singer-songwriter in his own right whose professional relationship with Emmylou has been long and fruitful. Crowell penned what's arguably the finest song on the album, "Till I Gain Control Again," a confessional ballad with a slow rhythmic groove that draws the listener in utterly and completely. Three Flying Burrito-era Gram Parsons tunes--"Sin City," "Ooh Las Vegas" and "Wheels"--add lyrical depth and stark musical imagery to Elite Hotel, and even the Buck Owens chestnut "Together Again" is rendered with such passion that the borderline-trite lyrics seem profound. Perhaps the most moving track of all is Earl Montgomery's "One of These Days." Reputedly the singer's mother's favorite, it showcases Emmylou's voice in a breathtaking balance between tenderness and tenacity, humility and grit. As good as it sounds on the first hearing, this album still grows on a person. After listening to Emmylou sing the classic "Sweet Dreams" enough times, even the most diehard Patsy Cline fan might wonder if the remake isn't superior. One caveat: The crowd noise (apparently dubbed in) between three of the tracks is annoying. All in all, it's a superb sophomore effort from the singularly divine entertainer who is Emmylou Harris.