I liked this next album so much I
bought it on vinyl as well. In case you’re wondering, yes, it does sound better
on vinyl. That’s because it is recorded on analog, and analog is just warmer
and more beautiful for me.
Remember though, record snobs, if you buy a bunch of digitally
recorded music that’s been pressed on vinyl, that doesn’t magically make it sound better.
Garbage in = garbage out. On to the review.
Disc 776 is….Elite Hotel
Artist: Emmylou
Harris
Year of Release: 1975
What’s up with the Cover? Emmylou Harris always looks good,
but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her make sexy look so easy as on the cover of
“Elite Hotel.” She looks eight feet tall as well, but she’s sitting down so she
can look eye-to-eye at us mortals.
How I Came To Know It: I had recently listened to a
couple of Emmylou’s later albums and I was eager to try out something from the
beginning of her career. I bought “Elite Hotel” first and since then I’ve gone
on to purchase the six albums she recorded after this one.
How It Stacks Up: I now have eleven of Emmylou
Harris’ solo albums, with plans to get four more before I’m through. Of the
eleven I’ve got, I’m putting “Elite Hotel” first overall.
Ratings: 4 stars but close to 5
“Elite Hotel” is as good as Emmylou Harris gets, and
that’s damned good.
This record is her first major release, and she
packs it with amazing vocal performances, and Brian Ahern’s relaxed production decisions
showcase those performances perfectly.
Harris covers everything on this record reinventing old
standards by Patsy Cline (“Sweet Dreams”)
and Hank Williams (“Jambalaya”) with
the same grace that she sweetens the mournful and modern (for the time) songs
of Gram Parsons (“Sin City,” “Ooh Las Vegas” and “Wheels”).
Parsons had just died two years earlier, and his
influence on Harris’ record is clear. Where Parsons was interested in infusing
rock and roll into country standards, Harris takes his song and flips them; stripping
them down to their base elements so the hurt at their centre can float to the
top on her voice.
“Sin City”
was originally a Flying Burrito Brothers song and was grim already, but in
Emmylou’s hands it just drips regret. When you hear Emmylou sing:
“On the thirty-first floor
A gold-plated door
Won’t keep out
The Lord’s burning rain.”
You are immediately assured down to your bones that the
apocalypse is on the way. When Harris sings it she’s more than sad – you can
tell that she feels sorry for all the sinners that are about to die in a
burning rain. She’s kind-hearted that way.
Later she delivers a sweet and regretful version of “Wheels.” Where “Sin City” is a song about retreating into materialism, “Wheels” is about retreating to the road.
Both songs are about getting away, and Harris sings them both with the pain of
a woman who had just lost one of her closest friends two years earlier, and has
been left nothing but his songs.
Emmylou writes sparingly, and her only credit on
this album is for “Amarillo” which
isn’t my favourite song. Despite the song having good bones and a beat you can
jump around to, the idea of losing your sweetheart to a pinball machine just
seems a bit silly. She’s written far better over her illustrious career.
Fortunately, she has also always had a knack for
picking just the right songs, and “Elite Hotel” is the best example in her
discography. In addition to the unmatched talent of channeling the soul of Gram
Parsons, “Elite Hotel” also features songs from long-time (and current)
collaborator, Rodney Crowell. Yes Crowell is the co-writer of “Amarillo” but his other offering is “Till I Gain Control Again.”
“Till I Gain
Control Again” is one of the greatest “let us cling together” songs ever.
For years I thought it was a Blue Rodeo song, but when I heard Emmylou sing it
my mind was blown all over again. The quavering beauty and tone of her voice carries
strong and certain through the darkness. When she pleads for her lover to stand
by her it feels like her voice is cutting right down to your marrow.
Musically, this album assembles some great players
as well, and they form an intrinsic part of the experience. The wayfaring
semi-devotional “One of These Days”
is a classic example of great singing combined with great musicianship. This is
a song about hope and while the hope isn’t fully realized in the lyrics, the
song ends with a note of finality that tells you she’s going to get there.
And just to show she can do it all, Harris delivers
one of my favourite songs of hers, “Feelin’
Single, Seein’ Double” a fun-lovin’ romp about going out all night and then
coming home to your spouse to face the music. Best of many good lines:
“Well I really had a ball last
night
I held all the pretty boys tight
I was feelin’ single, seein’
double
Wound up in a whole lotta trouble
But today I’ll face the big fight
But I really had a ball last
night.
“When I came home from work this
morning
My baby was feelin’ low
And he told me what was on his
mind
Then he told me where I could go.
Well I didn’t go where he told me
to
‘Cause the water was cold in the
lake
Now there’s something fish ‘bout
this whole deal
I don’t see where I made my
mistake.”
Sure, go ahead and get surly with Emmylou – she’ll
talk to you about it in the morning after going out all night and blowing off
some steam with God-knows-who. This song is even better for putting a woman in
the “out at the bar role.” Back in 1975 that notion kicked a lot of men in the
pants right when (and where) they needed it.
My CD copy of “Elite Hotel” is a re-issue with two
bonus tracks, “You’re Running Wild”
and “Cajun Born” and both great
additions that hold up well against the original content.
They fit in great with a record where the tone of
Emmylou’s voice is as at its most pure and perfect. It is so emotionally
affecting, it is the first non-rock album I have ever bought on vinyl
Best
tracks: Together Again, Feelin’ Single Seein’ Double,
Sin City, One of These Days, Till I Gain Control Again, Satan’s Jewel Crown,
Wheels, Cajun Born
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