''Red Dirt Girl'' is the nineteenth studio album by American country artist
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...
, released on September 12, 2000 by
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Nonesuch ...
. The album was a significant departure for Harris, as eleven of the twelve tracks were written or co-written by her. At the time, she was best known for covering other songwriters' work. Prior to this album, only two of Harris' LPs had more than two of her own compositions (''
Gliding Bird'' in 1969, and ''
The Ballad of Sally Rose
''The Ballad of Sally Rose'' is the eleventh studio album by American singer Emmylou Harris released in February 1985. It marked a significant departure for Harris for two reasons. First, all the songs were written by her and her then-husband Pa ...
'' in 1985). Her next album, ''
Stumble into Grace'', was also written by Harris. The album contains "Bang the Drum Slowly", a song
Guy Clark
Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff ...
helped Harris write as an elegy for her father.
The album peaked at number 3 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' country album charts and won the
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1991 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 2007, this category was renamed Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. As ...
in 2001.
Reception
The album was very positively received, being declared "spellbinding" by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
.,'' while the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote: "Miss Harris has found herself.
The album was included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music criti ...
,''
which describes it thus:
''“drum loops and middle eastern melodies nestle in comfortably next to warm guitar work and Harris' gently wavering voice... a big departure from her rootsy '70s releases.”''
Track listing
*Track information and Personnel credits taken from the album's liner notes.
Personnel
1. "The Pearl"
*Emmylou Harris: Acoustic guitar
*
Malcolm Burn
Malcolm Burn (born October 4, 1960) is a Canadian-born music producer, recording engineer and musician. Emmylou Harris's '' Red Dirt Girl'', produced by Burn, won Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 2001 Grammys.
Biography
Born in Cornwall, Onta ...
: Bass
*
Ethan Johns
Ethan Thomas Robert Johns (born 1969 in Merton, London) is an English record producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Johns has worked with artists including Robert Vincent, Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Paul McCartney, ...
: Electric guitar
*
Daryl Johnson
Daryl E. Johnson (August 11, 1946 – November 25, 2023) was an American professional football defensive back who played in the American Football League (AFL), the National Football League (NFL), and the World Football League (WFL). He was a m ...
: Drums, bass, percussion, harmony vocals
*
Buddy Miller
Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller (born September 6, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in T ...
: Electric guitar
2. "Michelangelo"
*Emmylou Harris: Acoustic guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Bass, Drum box programming
*Ethan Johns: Electric guitar
3. "I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now"
*Emmylou Harris: Acoustic guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Piano, electric guitar, tambourine
*
Jill Cunniff
Jill Cunniff (born August 17, 1966) is an American musician and artist, best known as the lead singer of the band Luscious Jackson. Cunniff was born and raised in New York City and attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School where she studied visua ...
: Electric guitar, bass, harmony vocals
*Ethan Johns: Drums
*Daryl Johnson: Bass, harmony vocals
*
Julie Miller
Julie Anne Miller (born Julie Griffin, July 12, 1956) is an American songwriter, singer, and recording artist living in Nashville, Tennessee. She married Buddy Miller in 1981. They sing and play on each other's solo projects and have recorded ...
: harmony vocals
4. "Tragedy"
*Emmylou Harris: Baritone electric Guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Piano, 12-string guitar, bass, Fender Rhodes, drum box programming
*Ethan Johns: Electric guitar
*Daryl Johnson: Chord bass
*Buddy Miller: Pedal steel
*
Patti Scialfa
Vivienne Patricia Scialfa ( ; born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984 and has been married to Bruce Springsteen since 1991. In 2014, Scialfa was inducted into t ...
: Duet vocal
*
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
: Harmony vocals
5. "Red Dirt Girl"
*Emmylou Harris: Acoustic guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Bass, electric guitar, drum box programming
*Ethan Johns: Omnichord
*Daryl Johnson: Percussion, bass pedals
*Buddy Miller: Electric guitar
6. "My Baby Needs A Shepherd"
*Emmylou Harris: Acoustic guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Electric guitar, percussion, dulcimer, drum box programming
*Ethan Johns: Baritone electric guitar, percussion
*René Coman: Bass
*
Patty Griffin
Patricia Jean Griffin (born March 16, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.Griffin, Patricia She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs ...
: Harmony vocals
*Daryl Johnson: Baritone acoustic guitar, percussion
7. "Bang The Drum Slowly"
*Emmylou Harris: Baritone electric guitar, acoustic guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Piano, synth bass, electric guitar
*Ethan Johns: EBow
*Daryl Johnson: Bass. harmony vocals, percussion
8. "J'Ai Fait Tout"
*Malcolm Burn: Acoustic guitar, electric guitar
*Jill Cunniff: Bass, harmony vocals, electric guitar
*Ethan Johns: Drums
*Daryl Johnson: Bass, harmony vocals
*
: Accordion
*Jim Watts: Fender Rhodes
9. "One Big Love"
*Malcolm Burn: Bass, 12-string guitar, drum box programming, harmony vocals
*John Deaderick: Fender Rhodes
*Ethan Johns: Electric guitar, drums
*Buddy Miller: Electric guitar, mando guitar
*Julie Miller: Harmony vocals
*Jill Cunniff: Harmony vocals
*Carlo Nuccio: Drums
10. "Hour Of Gold"
*Emmylou Harris: Acoustic guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Fender Rhodes, synth
*Patty Griffin: Harmony vocals
*Ethan Johns: Mando cello
*Daryl Johnson: Bass
11. "My Antonia"
*Emmylou Harris: Baritone electric guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Harmonica, acoustic guitar, omnichord, synth bass
*Ethans Johns: Acoustic guitar, mando cello
*Daryl Johnson: Bass, percussion
*
Dave Matthews
David John Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is an American musician and the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band (DMB).
Matthews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved frequently between South Africa, ...
: Duet vocal
*Buddy Miller: Pedal steel, electric guitar
12. "Boy From Tupelo"
*Emmylou Harris: Acoustic guitar
*Malcolm Burn: Bass, percussion, piano, electric guitar, drums
*Ethan Johns: EBow, acoustic guitar
*Kate McGarrigle: Piano, harmony vocals
*Julie Miller: Harmony vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
Emmylou Harris albums
2000 albums
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album
Albums produced by Malcolm Burn
Nonesuch Records albums