Elite Hotel

There is a lot of Gram Parsons on this album. She does covers of the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Sin City" and "Wheels," along with "Ooh Las Vegas" from Gram's Grievous Angel album. Another Beatles cover on "Here, There and Everywhere" (a hit for her) and Hank Williams' "Jambalaya". The album also contains her first two number one hits: "Together Again" and "Sweet Dreams". This re-release contains two bonus tracks: "You're Running Wild" (with Rodney Crowell) and "Cajun Born". A must have for any Emmylou Harris collection.

Great follow-up to Pieces of the sky

Like many others, I tend to regard this album as the weakest of Emmylou's classic era, yet this is an outstanding album in its own right - it's just that the quality of Emmylou's first seven original albums (including her Christmas album) for Warner was unbelievably high - so much so that the eighth (Evangeline) while also excellent by normal standards, has never been released on CD although several tracks have appeared on compilations.

This album contains many covers but other singers have recorded covers of the original songs included here, so this is a very influential album. Rhino re-released this album with two extra tracks (You're running wild, Cajun born) but I haven't heard these tracks. The album is worth buying just for the original twelve tracks on which my review focuses.

The original songs include Amarillo (a rousing up-tempo song that Kathy Mattea covered for her album, Lonesome standard time), Feeling single seeing double (another up-tempo song - this one has been covered by Chely Wright for her album, Let me in) and Till I gain control again (a lovely ballad since covered by several singers including Crystal Gayle, who had a country number one hit with it, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson).

Three of the covers are of Gram Parsons songs - Sin city, Ooh Las Vegas and Wheels. Other covers include Jambalaya (a Hank Williams song that became a pop hit for Jo Stafford at the time and later became a pop hit for the Carpenters), Here there and everywhere (which became a UK pop hit for Emmylou) and two songs that became country number one hits for Emmylou - Together again (Buck Owens) and Sweet dreams (the Don Gibson song normally associated with Patsy Cline).

So this is a very strong album, with or without the Rhino bonus tracks. If you are interested in building a collection of Emmylou's original albums, this one should certainly be on your list of albums to buy.

If you're just sticking your toes in country music waters...

...this album and Emmylou Harris are for you. Twenty-plus years ago, while a college student, if anyone had told me I would ever enjoy George Jones, I would have said they're nuts. But that was when I was introduced to Emmylou Harris, whom I didn't think of as country at the time. But she reeled me in.



Elite Hotel is one of her finest, IMO. There are so many wonderful songs on this album: "Sin City", "Jambalaya", "Together Again", "One of These Days", and more. In her liner notes, she makes the point that country music attempts something bold when it aims for the heart but that when it hits it, it is a thing of beauty. In that vein, her "Till I Can Gain Control Again" on this album is absolutely breathtaking.