''Hard Bargain'' is the twenty-sixth studio album by American country music singer-songwriter
Emmylou Harris, released on April 26, 2011, and recorded at Tragedy/Tragedy, TN. The album is her fourth solo recording for
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...
.
With 17,000 copies sold in its first week, the album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums, Harris' highest entry since her bluegrass LP ''
Roses in the Snow
''Roses in the Snow'' is the seventh album by country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1980. While Harris' previous release, 1979's '' Blue Kentucky Girl'', featured traditional, straight-ahead country (as opposed to the country-rock of ...
'' in 1980. At the same time it debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200, displacing 1977's ''
Luxury Liner'' as her most successful solo LP ever on that chart.
Album information
The songs which were to become the "Hard Bargain" album were, according to Emmylou, recorded within four weeks in August 2010. Only three people can be heard on the album, namely Harris herself, producer
Jay Joyce
John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine and began working as a record producer, working with artists suc ...
, and Giles Reaves.
In December 2010 six video clips were filmed at Laughing House Studios, Nashville, TN, directed by Jack Spencer.
These videos, with additional commentary, can be found on the bonus DVD of the album's deluxe release.
The opening number "The Road" is about the late
Gram Parsons
Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, ...
, her musical mentor who died in 1973 and is the first Harris-penned song to directly focus on his death since "
Boulder to Birmingham "Boulder to Birmingham" is a song written by Emmylou Harris and Bill Danoff which first appeared on Harris's 1975 album ''Pieces of the Sky.'' It has served as something of a signature tune for the artist and recounts her feelings of grief in the y ...
", a track from her 1975 release ''
Pieces of the Sky
''Pieces of the Sky'' is the second studio album and major-label debut by American country music artist Emmylou Harris, released on February 7, 1975, through Reprise Records.
Although she had released the obscure folk-styled '' Gliding Bird'' fi ...
''.
"My Name Is Emmett Till" tells the story of
Emmett Till, an African-American boy who was killed in 1955.
"Darlin' Kate" is a tribute to the late
who died of cancer in 2010. Kate, and her sister
Anna McGarrigle
Anna McGarrigle, CM (born December 4, 1944) is a Canadian folk music singer and songwriter who recorded and performed with her sister, Kate McGarrigle, who died in 2010.
Early life
Anna McGarrigle studied at the École des beaux-arts de Montré ...
, collaborated with Harris on numerous occasions since the 1970s.
"New Orleans" makes references to
Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged the city in 2005.
Track listing
Personnel
* Emmylou Harris – vocals, acoustic guitar
* Jay Joyce – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, piano, omnichord, ganjo, mandolin
* Giles Reaves – drums, keyboards, percussion, piano, organ, vibraphone, marimbula
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2011 albums
Emmylou Harris albums
Nonesuch Records albums
Albums produced by Jay Joyce
Country folk albums