Emmylou Harris--Boulder to Birmingham (1975)

     Emmylou Harris has one of the purest voices in any genre, and much like Neil Young, she has followed her muse at all times, encouraging her fans to follow along. This has made her impossible to pigeon-hole, but has won her fans from all genres, picking up a dozen Grammys along the way. She has recorded many memorable songs, but this one is one of my favorites.
      Harris was admitted to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro on a drama scholarship when she began to take music more seriously. Beginning heavily into folk music she dropped out and moved to New York where she produced her first album in 1969, married, had a child, and soon divorced. She moved moved back to Maryland with her parents to start the new decade.
     She soon returned to singing and in 1971 was heard by Chris Hillman, then of the Flying Burrito Brothers. After briefly considering asking her to become a member of the group, referred her to Gram Parsons who had just left to pursue a solo career. Personally they hit it off immediately. Parsons introduced her to his brand of country rock, and she brought a crystalline voice that was made for his. Although never romantic, she was totally devastated by his death in 1973.   (Harris has some interesting comments on this in an article from The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/emmylou-harris-i-smoked-country-music-but-i-didnt-inhale-2267867.html)
      Thanks to Linda Ronstadt, she got a record deal with Warner and released the 1975 album, "Pieces of the Sky" which contained, "Boulder to Birmingham" which was the first of many attempts to sort out Gram's life, death, and their relationship to one another. It has remained a fan favorite, and laid out the template for her future in music as the torch bearer of his country rock vision.

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Arlo Guthrie--The City of New Orleans (1972)

     I wonder what it must be like to be the child of a musical icon? Some go into the same musical profession such as what Lisa Marie Presley or Nancy Sinatra has done, but there must be an enormous amount of pressure since the father of those two ladies were true musical superstars. For Arlo Guthrie however, it was probably even more so because his father was as much a political and social icon than he was a musical one. There isn't a person that was raised in this country over the last 50-plus years that hasn't committed to memory at least one Woody Guthrie song. "Roll on Columbia" and of course, "This Land is Your Land" is a major part of this county's musical lexicon
      For Arlo, who was born in 1947, his father's influence was mostly transmitted to him through his mother and friends as Woody, because of what was eventually diagnoses as Huntington's disease moved from New York to California when Arlo was 5 because he thought his erratic behavior would be a danger to his children. His parents would eventually divorce although when he was admitted to a hospital for the last time in 1956 (for the next 9 years), his mother Marjorie would help care for him until his death in 1967.
     Arlo grew up surrounded by some of the greatest folk artists of his time. Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and many others. Given that, it's not surprising that from the first time he sang on stage in 1961 at the age of 13, he was singing folk. It was a perfect time for that as well as folk music was going through a major renaissance. He worked on his craft, and when he went into the studio for the first time, it was to record the album that he is best known for, the classic, "Alice's Restaurant". The eighteen minute long title track was a song which tapped into his dad's political legacy, without seeming heavy handed (in fact it's very funny). Arlo was never much of a force on the charts however, except for, "City of New Orleans".
     Written by Steve Goodman, it is a song which Guthrie makes his own. The haunting lyrics and a production that gives a real warmth to the proceedings, propelled the song into the top 20 in the late summer of 1972. Guthrie continues to record, and tour non-stop, with his blend of folk and political songs. He has also done some acting, writing and promotes the group founded by his mother, The Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease  Much more about Arlo can be found here: http://www.arlo.net/

      
     

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