Red Dirt Girl

Emmylou Harris

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 12, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B00004WZOJ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (194 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,803 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Consider this Emmylou Harris's emancipation proclamation--an album that confirms that 1995's adventurously atmospheric Wrecking Ball wasn't an aberration, but a preview of more radical changes to come. Long the godmother of alternative-country's traditionalist wing, Harris here writes songs with Luscious Jackson's Jill Cunniff, sings a duet with Dave Matthews ("My Antonia"), and recruits Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa to provide harmonies on the album's most compelling ballad ("Tragedy"). The production by Malcolm Burn applies sonic treatments of drum machines, shimmering guitars, and echoed vocals to a song cycle by Harris that is largely original and deeply personal, filled with dream imagery and evocations of a spiritual quest. While material such as "Michaelangelo" and "Bang the Drum Slowly" suffers from an arty ponderousness, it's doubtful that Harris has ever recorded an album that means more to her than this one. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glad to hear her singing her own words . . ., September 13, 2000

By	Glen P Hansman (North Bay, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

It's about time Emmylou Harris got back to singing her own songs. After the wonderful "Wrecking Ball" (where she sang everything from Bob Dylan to Lucinda Williams to Jimi Hendrix to the McGarrigles), much touring, "Spyboy" and several collaborative efforts, now it's just Emmylou singing her own material, playing her own songs, and sounding amazing.

Last year's album with Linda Ronstadt contained a few gems penned by Harris, and once she got on a roll, it must've been hard to stop. 11 of the 12 songs on "Red Dirt Girl" are by Harris, and they capture a range of emotions, from the dark and the loving to a sense of loss that is carried through so poingnantly with her voice (which I feel has gotten better with age, thank you very much).

And the fact that Daniel Lanois was too busy with U2's new record didn't harm things either -- while his magic touch was all over "Wrecking Ball" and more or less made the album "The Joshua Tree, Part II" (this is not a bad thing), his absence leaves his protege Malcolm Burn room to experiment further in his own directions. Like on "Wrecking Ball," Burn is credited with special treatments, but this time moves into the producer chair (previously having worked with Blue Rodeo, Sinead Lohan, Midnight Oil, Indigo Girls and others). He also plays drums, guitar, bass and omnichord on many tracks, along with Buddy Miller and Daryl Johnson -- Harris' regular live backups these days. Also present on most tracks is Ethan Johns (son of famous producer Glyn Johns), a multi-instrumentalist who also worked with Harris on the Ronstadt album, and Harris regulars Julie Miller and Kate McGarrigle. Jill Cunniff also makes an appearance on guitar and harmonies, as does Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews and Patti Scialfa.

Malcolm Burn takes the "Wrecking Ball" sound and pushes it further -- building each song into a dense wall of sound, blending the instruments into one another to create ONE BIG NOTE rather than a loose jangling of separate sounds. Mood is the key here, and it's very autumnal. Harris reflects on loss, transition and loneliness, and the instrumentation compliments her to a T.

The while album starts off strong with "The Pearl," the standout tracks (for me) come towards the end -- with the beautiful closing trio of "Hour of Gold," "My Antonia" and the sad but funny "Boy from Tupelo."

A masterpiece she should be proud to call her own.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arresting and Hypnotic, September 13, 2000

By A Customer

It's unfortunate that this is going to get stuck in the country section of the music store, because like it's predecesor "Wrecking Ball" (one of the few undisputed GREAT albums of the 90s), Emmy's new music is beyond any classifications. Is it rock? Is it folk? Is it tribal? Is it country? None of the above, but all at once, really.

After flexing her songwriting muscles again with "The Western Wall" album with Linda Ronstadt (a skill which had more or less remained dormant for over a decade), Emmylou manages to come up with 11 new songs of her own for this release, and they don't pale beside the great tunes she recorded on "Wrecking Ball." In fact, it makes it even more poignant that these words are coming FROM her rather than just THROUGH her like last time around, and on previous 90s outings.

While Daniel Lanois provided a rejuvination in Emmylou's creativity, he's absent her -- stuck somewhere in the studio with U2 far far away, a band that takes a notoriously long time to finish an album. His "Wrecking Ball" partner in crime, Malcolm Burn, takes over instead -- and pushes the sound they were going for last time even further. And while some complain that the Lanois sound is muddy or difficult to wade through, I say "Too bad for you!" Lanois has coaxed some of the best work out of artists as wide ranging as Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, U2, the Neville Brothers, Robbie Robertson and many others.

Burn, who participated on many of those artists albums, had a few of his own tricks as well. He seems to have learned quite a few things from Lanois and the latter's sometimes-partner Brian Eno. "Bang the Drum Slowly" features a beautiful Eno-esque soundscape. "I Don't Want to Talk About it Now" is a mean wall-of-sound groove featuring looping polyrythms and telephone answering machines. Background vocals from Kate McGarrigle, Julie Miller, Bruce Springsteen and others are layered into the mix to make everything blend together into a harmonious blend rather than isolated parts. The results are magnificent.

The playing of Daryl Johnson, Ethan Johns and Burns is magificent, and accents from Buddy Miller and others only add to a rich mix.

While she might not be selling millions of records any more, I'm glad Emmylou Harris is being brave enough to make the music she wants to make, regardless of commercial appeal.

The only song on this album which could remotely work on radio is the closer "Boy from Tupelo," but even that one presents an audio challenge as the mix isn't quite a straightforward as conventional radio would like.

"Your last chance Texaco, your sweetheart of the rodeo, a Juliet to your Romeo, the border your cross into Mexico . . ." Emmy, you can be all those things to me.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Emmylou does it again..., October 6, 2000

By	E. M. Carey "LGW" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I didn't think Emmylou could come up with another album as haunting and captivating as "Wrecking Ball." Of course, I was wrong. "Red Dirt Girl" shows Emmylou again at her best, with wonderful songs, melodies and lyrics that highlight her other-worldy voice. From the opening beats of 'The Pearl,' I was totally hooked. So much of the music is totally hers, very distinctly Emmylou. She does an intriguing cover of Patty Griffin's 'One Big Love' and makes it her own. There's also a terrific duet with Dave Matthews as well that is, as is so much of her music, hauntingly beautiful.

I used to say that I hated country music. Well, Emmylou was one of the first to reveal to me the depth and breadth of 'country' and she is now among my all-time favorites. And this is a remarkable album from a great artist, one that will appeal to anyone who simply likes good music. I highly recommend it to everyone, even those who think they don't like country - Emmylou's music defies all characterization except that it's wonderfully unique.