Emmylou Harris

Artists that have joined Harris on the road for these dates include Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Bruce Cockburn, Steve Earle, Joan Baez, Patty Griffin and Nanci Griffith. Two lovers kissing amongst the scream of midnight,
Two lovers missing the tranquillity of solitude.
Getting a cab and travelling on buses,
Reading the graffiti about slashed seat affairs:
That's entertainment.
--Paul Weller, 'That's Entertainment' (1980). The tour also benefits the VVAF's work to raise America's awareness of the global landmine crisis. A box set of the Jam was released to huge acclaim in 2002 to mark 20 years since their split. All proceeds from the tours support the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation's (VVAF) efforts to assist innocent victims of conflicts around the world. Weller began a solo career in the 1990s which was a success; nicknamed the 'Modfather', he is cited as a hero and father figure to many of the rock bands and Britpop acts which emerged in the UK in the 90s. Since 1999, Harris has been organizing an annual benefit tour called Concerts for a Landmine Free World. At the time, the band was seen as a climbdown by Weller, though retrospective has seen their music hold up just as well as the Jam, despite fewer Top 10 hits and no #1s.

In 2002, Harris joined many of the same artists on the road for the Down From The Mountain Tour. Weller formed the Style Council with ex-Merton Parkas keyboard player Mick Talbot and developed a softer, jazzier sound, though lyrically he remained politically motivated. A documentary/concert film was also released about the making of the soundtrack, which is entitled Down From The Mountain. Both went on to write autobiographies that severely criticized Weller, and the band have never reformed, with Weller always claiming that they were never friends who socialised, even at the band's height, but merely colleagues who worked together. The same year she joined an all star group of traditional country, folk and blues artists for the T-Bone Burnett produced soundtrack to the Coen Brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Rick Buckler played with Time UK and Bruce Foxton released a solo effort, Touch Sensitive. In 2000, Harris guested on Alternative country singer Ryan Adams' solo debut Heartbreaker. The band's sixteen singles were consequently re-released at the beginning of 1983, and all sixteen re-charted simultaneously.

Also, in 1998, Tara MacLean eventually recorded the cover of the Emmylou Harris christmas single Light of the Stable. Paul Weller broke up the group at the height of their popularity at the end of 1982 as they celebrated a final #1 single with "Beat Surrender". In 1998, Harris released Spyboy, backed with a new band which included Nashville producer and songwriter Buddy Miller. While recording the follow-up, Weller had a nervous breakdown; he quit drinking. The Gift (1982) was another successful album, reaching #1 in the UK, and showing the band moving towards an exploration of American soul and R&B. An experimental album for Harris to say the least, the record included Harris' rendition of the Neil Young penned title track, Julie Miller's "All My Tears", Jimi Hendrix's "May This Be Love" and Gillian Welch's "Orphan Girl." U2's Larry Mullen, Jr showed up to play drums for the project. Sound Affects, the Jam's fifth album, was a major success, as was the single "Start", which reached #1 in the UK singles chart. In 1995, Harris released Wrecking Ball, produced by Daniel Lanois, best known for his work with U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan. The following March, Going Underground/Dreams of Children, became their first #1 UK single when it entered the chart at the top spot, the first record to do so for seven years.

They recorded a Grammy-winning live album at the Ryman Auditorium that led to the 8 million dollars restoration of the facility into a premium concert and event venue. The album spawned the band's first UK top ten hit, The Eton Rifles, which rose to #3 in November 1979. In the early 1990s, she dissolved The Hot Band in favour of a carefully selected group of acoustic musicians she named The Nash Ramblers. The album was a major success in the UK, as was Setting Sons (1979), which also charted in the US, a first for the band (it reached #137 in 1980). In 1980, she recorded "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again" with rock legend Roy Orbison for which they would win the Grammy Award for best vocal duo. All Mod Cons (1979) is usually considered the band's opus magnum, as well as the first album with truly great songwriting from Paul Weller occasionally eliciting comparison with The Kinks' Ray Davies. About ten years later, Harris would team up once again with Parton and Ronstadt for the album Trio. The Jam was unable to gain a significant audience in the US, though they were rapidly becoming superstars in their homeland, especially after performing at the Reading Festival in 1978.

In the mid-1970s, Harris began to work on albums for other major artists including Young, Rondstadt and Bob Dylan. In 1978, the band left for another American tour, opening for Blue Öyster Cult. A Christmas single, "Light of the Stable," was released shortly after which featured backing vocals from singers Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Neil Young. Weller was charged with assault, though he would eventually be acquitted. The album included a number of cover songs, including The Beatles' "For No One," and Harris's first hit single, The Louvin Brothers' "If I Could Only Win Your Love." She created The Hot Band, a groups of studio and touring musicians that included Elvis Presley band alumni Glen D. Hardin and James Burton. The next tour, in Britain, ended when the band brawled with some rugby players in Leeds. He produced her debut album, released in 1975 on Reprise Records, entitled Pieces of the Sky. The tour was a disaster.

Eventually, her path crossed with Canadian producer and future husband Brian Ahern (with whom she had another daughter, Meghann). After another successful single, "All Around the World", the Jam toured the country and recorded This is the Modern World (1977); the titular track was a minor hit and the band left to tour the United States. Parsons was found dead in his hotel room on September 19, 1973, from an overdose of drugs including alcohol. The sound was early punk and pub rock with strong mod influences, with Weller compositions and R&B covers. Harris toured as a member of Parsons' "Fallen Angels" band, and in 1973, Harris returned to the studio with Parsons to record Grievous Angel. This was followed by the band's debut album, In the City. Instead, in 1972, Hillman ended up recommending her to Parsons, who was looking for a female vocalist to work with on his first solo album. In 1977, the Jam signed a contract with Polydor Records and released "In the City", a moderate hit.

Hillman was so impressed by Harris that he briefly considered asking her to join the band. He was not replaced, leaving the band as a trio. One night, in 1971, members of the country group the Flying Burrito Brothers happened to be in the audience, including former Byrds member Chris Hillman, who took over the band after the departure of its founder Gram Parsons. After forming the Jam in 1975 and 1976, Brookes left the band, which soon began playing in and around London. Harris soon returned to performing, as part of a trio with local musicians Gerry Mule and Tom Guidera. The band originally consisted of bassist Bruce Foxton, guitarist Steve Brookes, drummer Rick Buckler, and guitarist and vocalist Paul Weller. Harris, who lived for a brief time on her own with her newborn daughter Hallie in Nashville, Tennessee, was forced, after struggling financially, to move back in with her parents, who were now living in Washington, D.C.. The Jam was an early British punk band primarily active in the late 1970s.

Around that same time, Harris' marriage to Slocum began to fall apart and the couple were soon divorced. After the album's release, Harris' record label declared bankruptcy. Harris married fellow songwriter Tom Slocum in 1969, and recorded her first album the following year, Gliding Bird. It was around that time that Harris began to study music seriously, heavily influenced by artists like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

Harris graduated high school as class valedictorian and won a dramatic scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is a country music singer, songwriter and musician from Birmingham, Alabama, USA. ISBN 067941567X. In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998.