A Concept Album

This is an interesting album from Emmylou Harris. Released in 1985, it stands as one of her best. Avid fans will want to get their hands on this cd, it's pretty rare to find but worth the search! This is the first album in her career where she wrote or co-wrote all of the songs, something she is more inclined to do on her newer albums. She is an excellent songwriter in my opinion. The album works as a concept album, telling a story of a girl from a small town who gets taken under the wing of singer that takes her (and her angelic voice) out on the road. Which is sort of like what happened with her and Gram Parsons. To get the story of the album though you need to read the liner notes. She truly shines on the slower ballads such as "Diamond in My Crown" and the closer "Sweet Chariot." Not an essential album for casual fans, but the hardcore Harris fans will either already have this, or be looking for it.

Back at Last!

I "inherited" this album as a cassette tape I found in my husband's car about a decade ago. After wearing it completely out, I was heartbroken to find that it was no longer available, but determined to find a copy even if I had to get another old tape on e-bay or some such place. After checking back periodically, I was thrilled to finally find an import version at Amazon today. I only hope that the sound quality is as good as the American release; however, it couldn't be much worse than my old, mangled (and now totally unplayable) tape!

Emmylou's Answer to Willie's Red Headed Stranger

I have many Emmylou Harris albums. This one is my favorite. I enjoy story line recordings, like Willy Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" and Waylon Jenning's "Honky Tonk Heroes." As far as I know, Emmy Lou is the only Country Female star to tightly weave a life story theme into one of her albums, and she does it better than the outlaw boys. The song lyrics are superb, as is the performance. This one will play faithfully for all moods. For Emmy Lou fans, this is a must have. You won't need to backtrack on the good songs here, it's all good! California buyers beware, too many purchasers will bring down our fragile electrical grid on account of maniacal replays during peak load. Otherwise, in the other 49 states, Enjoy!

It Would Make A Great Movie

I was just here to look for the song by Emmylou that was played during the closing credits of The Sopranos last week, but while searching through her catalog was surprised to discover that this CD, probably her best ever, is only available as an import. What a travesty!

A little background...The Ballad Of Sally Rose is the first "concept album" ever in Country music. Talk around the time it was released was that the songs were inspired by the romantic relationship between Emmylou and Gram Parsons, but only one person knows that really, and she's never confirmed it.

The story that's told in the CD is of a half Indian girl named Sally Rose who grows up on a reservation after her father abandons the family. She leaves the reservation, as the opening song goes "with stars in her eyes and greater expectations" and soon joins a band as a guitar player. While on stage one night a huge star is in the audience and falls in love with her at first sight. She joins his band, they get married, but he starts cheating on her before being killed on the road in a traffic accident. Heartbroken, she continues with the band, and is now the biggest star around with sell-outs everywhere they play. But she's all bummed out without him and decides to retire and buy a radio station to play nothing but his music 24 hours a day. Then she dies and goes to heaven.

Great story, huh?

But, just wait until you hear the music! Background singers include Linda Rondstadt, Dolly Parton and Waylon Jennings, and you can hear them really belt it out on some beautiful vocal arrangements. There are ballads, two-steps, and rocking songs on this CD, acoustic and full band songs. It's one of the best ever. I still can't believe it's an import. Get it while you still can.

The Sgt. Pepper of Country Music

This may be the most overlooked album in pop/country music. One reason is because it never had a big radio hit. But that misses the point. This is not a collection of songs; it is a stunningly cohesive work of art. You don't listen to Sally Rose in bits and pieces; you sit down and listen to the whole thing (preferably in a dark room by yourself) and watch it like a movie. Relax, visualize, and let the music and the story take you away. If you get to the end and you don't have shivers up and down your spine and tears forming in the corners of your eyes, well, you weren't really paying attention.

Sally Rose is a glaring omission on all those lists of "Best 100 Albums of All Time." Admittedly the sonics are slighlty sub-par for Emmy; it was first generation digital and the bugs hadn't all been worked out. But once you get used to the slightly thin sound, you're in for an extrordinary musical and emotional experience.