Track Listing

1. Bluebird Wine
2. Too Far Gone
3. If I Could Only Win Your Love feat Herb Pedersen
4. Boulder To Birmingham
5. Before Believing
6. Bottle Let Me Down
7. Sleepless Nights
8. Coat Of Many Colors
9. For No One
10. Queen Of The Silver Dollar
11. Hank And Lefty
12. California Cottonfields

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12129 in Music
• Released on: 2004-03-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Emmylou Harris's 1975 major-label debut unveiled the formula that she would revisit numerous times throughout the decade: a melding of traditional country's honesty, folk music's heart, and country rock's punch. Her choice of material followed a similar curve--everything from Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, and the Louvin Brothers to the Beatles and Shel Silverstein. Former Elvis sidemen James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, and Ron Tutt along with guests like Ricky Skaggs, fiddler Richard Greene, and pianist Bill Payne of Little Feat form a formidable supporting cast. What's most impressive is Harris's versatility--she moves from delicate acoustic ballads to buoyant two-steppers to lavish string arrangements without ever sounding overmatched. She even takes a very personal tale like Dolly Parton's wonderful "Coat of Many Colors" and makes it her story. She may have inherited the band and the vision from her late mentor Gram Parsons, but the shimmering soprano voice is all her own. --Marc Greilsamer

CD Description
Although Emmylou Harris recorded the GLIDING BIRD album in 1969 for the small Jubilee label, PIECES OF THE SKY is considered her "debut". Harris's pure soprano and excellent tastein material and backing musicians (over the years she has employed James Burton, Ricky Skaggs, Rodney Crowell and Albert Lee) have earned her tremendous respect in the country music world, and many top country hits.
Recovering from the shock of the 1973 death of Gram Parsons, her partner and mentor, Emmylou Harris formed her own band. PIECES OF THE SKY, released in 1975, had a top-10 country hit in her remake of the Louvin Brothers' "If I Could Only Win Your Love". It also contains a tribute to Parsons ("Boulder To Birmingham") and a version of the Beatles' "For No One".

Customer Reviews

'I stood on the mountain, in the night and I watched it burn ...'
This official debut album from 1975 is an impressively varied and emotionally stirring collection of quality songs that includes compositions by country legends like Merle Haggard, a Lennon/McCartney composition and a powerful Harris co-composition: her aching, poetic tribute to Gram Parsons titled Boulder to Birmingham. This reissue of Pieces of the Sky has been enhanced by the addition of two previously unreleased tracks.

Of the up-tempo numbers, If I Could Only Win Your Love, Bottle Let Me Down and Queen of the Silver Dollar are the most outstanding. Among the slow songs I love Too Far Gone, Sleepless Nights and the exquisite & tender Before Believing. Even her version of Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors, though firmly in the country tradition, sounds fresh. But perhaps the best track is Boulder to Birmingham with its striking imagery and melancholy tune. Emmylou's singing is spot-on, tasteful and sometimes understated, the arrangements are appealing while the virtuoso playing perfectly complements her spiritually resonant voice.

This is the recording of a genius just setting out on her creative path, one that would lead to bluegrass masterpieces like Roses in the Snow (1980), classic country albums like Blue Kentucky Girl (1980) & Cowgirl's Prayer (1993), famous collaborations like Western Wall (1999) & Trio and traditional devotional music in a folk vein on Angel Band (1987), as well as boundary shifting atmospheric rock classics such as Wrecking Ball, Red Dirt Girl & Stumble Into Grace. Pieces of the Sky shows that the mastery of songcraft and the authentic soulful approach were there from the beginning.

The start of a great career
Yes, there was an Emmylou album before this – the Gliding bird album on an independent label – but good though it was, it is this album that marks the beginning of Emmylou's career as we know it. Setting a pattern that would characterize many of Emmylou's albums, it featured many covers and few originals. Top quality musicians and Emmylou's superb voice ensured that the covers were often as good as, and sometimes better than, the originals.

On this album, there are three new songs, beginning with the rocking, upbeat Bluebird wine, the first of many songs written by Rodney Crowell that Emmylou would record. Even better is Boulder to Birmingham, a great ballad that has been covered by both the Hollies and Joan Baez. Incidentally, the title contains the names of two towns – Boulder in Colorado and Birmingham in Alabama. The other original, another fine ballad, is Before believing.

My favorite track here is Queen of the silver dollar, a song originally recorded by Dr Hook and the Medicine show. I like their version but Emmylou and her musicians improved on it and I don't understand why it wasn't released as a single. It was left to Dave and Sugar to take the song up the country charts. Their version is wonderful but still can't match Emmylou's.

Emmylou does a fine cover of Dolly's Coat of many colors, but this autobiographical song is the most personal of all Dolly's songs. Emmylou's cover is the best I've heard, but still not quite up to the original, although I'm glad she recorded it.

The other covers are all equal to or better than the original versions, and that is hifg praise indeed considering who the original artists were. Too far gone was originally recorded (as far as I can tell) by the late, great Dottie West in the sixties but remained obscure until Barbara Fairchild took it up the country charts. If I could only win your love was the first Louvin brothers song that Emmylou covered but certainly not the last. Bottle let me down was one of Merle Haggard's early classics. Sleepless nights was first recorded by the Everly brothers in the early sixties and was later covered by the Judds in the eighties. For no one is a Beatles song that first appeared on the Revolver album.

This, then, was a very strong debut album from Emmylou. It set the standard for the next few years. The style of the music would vary but the quality was consistently high.

One of the Best Country Albums Ever!
I really love this album. Emmyloyu has a great voice! She is one of the best female singers ever! The songs "Bluebird Wine", "Sleepless Nights", and "Boulder to Birmingham" are so beautiful and good! This is a 70's classic!