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Early Emmylou


fortyearspickn

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For any here not yet a fan, or any interested in seeing Emmylou before she was 'discovered' .   Very moving. 

 

 

 

 

THE LADY OF THE ROSE 

I know a soft lady, she lives up the stairs,

And sometimes she combs it down, her long greying hair

And she wears it gathered loosely up, pinned back with a rose,

Whose petals are turning black and beginning to fold.

Don't talk of where life goes, she won't understand,

She'll pretend she can't hear you, though you know that she can.

Oh everyone has tried to teach her to say goodbye,

But she just can't stand it when the roses die.

And her eyes are lost children that wait for him,

From the morning to the day, 'till the lights are dim

And the nights must be long and lonely more than I'll ever know,

She just won't let the roses go.

He's not in the backyard, he's not in the hall,

And if she can't hear his laughter, he's not there at all

So she waits and waits, and waits for nothing,

But in her heart she knows, that it's gone and gone for ever, And it tears apart her soul.

So I'll leave my soft lady with her dying rose,

I can't reach you with all your doors and windows closed,

But I wonder if I'll ever love the way you do,

And have it break me, the way it's broken you.

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30 minutes ago, 62burst said:

. . . and I was too busy listening to her voice, and thinking how she had lost much of the Joan Baez–like vibrato since her early days, that I almost missed those too-real lyrics. Thanks for including those in the post

Baez was pretty much the model when it came to vocal qualities for female folksingers in those days. Most of them sang with a fair amount of vibrato (exceptions were folks like Mary Travers and Judy Collins).

I personally find excess vibrato a bit distracting, although I can make an exception for Emmylou,  just because...

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Tracy Nelson with Mother Earth used to hit the vibrato a lot.    But what a singer.. 

When it comes to Emmylou , I have  enjoyed her in more of in accompaniment role than as a solo artist.    After hearing her with Gram Parsons I went and dug up her first solo LP from the late 1960s which is where I first heard the songs on the vid..   Years later I  bought her "Pieces of the Sky" LP but that was it.  T

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Old dudes ain't supposed to look at videos of a young Emmylou, especially late at night...........Saw her at Crown Center back in the late 80's.  Outdoor concert and the KC Star said nearly 40,000 people were there.  We were about 25-30 ft from her.  It was when her long hair was showing a lot of gray and she was drop-dead gorgeous.  The face and voice of an angel and that big J200.  And The Hot Band lived-up to its name.  The equal of any concert I've ever seen.....and I've seen several Cash concerts, Dylan, The Stones, Gordon Lightfoot, Leslie Gore, Johnny Rivers, Stevie Nicks, Frankie Vali.....Anyway, she was awesome.  And she's just a talented and gorgeous today and she's two months older than me.  Wish I aged like that.

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8 hours ago, MissouriPicker said:

Old dudes ain't supposed to look at videos of a young Emmylou, especially late at night........ And she's just a talented and gorgeous today and she's two months older than me.  Wish I aged like that.

She's two months younger than me, so I'm sure that's why she looks so much younger than I do. She is one of the few people who look as good at 70 as they did at 30. Maybe it's just my own taste "maturing."

Then there are those like Mick and Keef whose faces show every one of their years, plus a few. Gettin' old ain't for sissies.

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4 hours ago, Old Cowboy said:

 Like Nick (although he's MUCH older than I 😂), I find her an ever attractive peer/easy to forgive - impossible to forget.

Two days older ain't much, cowpoke.

You're only as old as you feel. I'm going on 100 this morning, working in the south of France under a broiling sun. But there's wine at the end of the day, and the food is good....

Should be a song in there somewhere.

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Also in this apparent sweet spot - I'm a little less thanr 2 months younger than this ageless angel.   I am amazed, given the hard life of   "Living on the road my friend"  for 50 years - how she can look better and sing better than all the 20 year old divas in Nashville and Austin!   My face looks more like Willie's than anything. Notwithstanding decades old suggestions it looked like the south end of a horse heading north. 

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A couple years ago a local animal rescue group put together a tribute concert for her birthday as a fund raiser. A couple friends of mine were in the band that was put together using some of the top local talent from various groups. Emmylou donated a few personal items for the auction including a dress and jacket she wore when she accepted some CMA awards. Very classy lady. The concert was excellent. If I remember, they did a few of her albums in order. I’ll try to link a few of the videos. 

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Thanks a lot for this topic. Nothing special to be told here am afraid, except Emmylou Harris definetely is my favorite singer. Let us just remember about gems such as "Songbird", "Pancho and Lefty",  "Red Dirt Girl", "Prayer in Open D" and alike: her voice made of silk & satin, her guitar playing as clear as crystal. "Blue Bird" is one of my all time favorite albums, i must admit. Quite a great lady, in every respect. Thanks for the music. Peace!

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  • 2 years later...
39 minutes ago, Dave F said:

I saw her in concert earlier this year. I thought she was great. 

Unfortunately at the Opry she only did a few songs as it was not her concert, and one of the Opry's WSM's (I think those are the call letters) radio broadcast. I saw about 9 acts that night. Toby Keith played the longest. He is not the country I listen to. Paul Thorn was on the bill and he played about 5 songs. He was really good, and talked about when he was a boxer and fought Roberto Duran, I think he said. 

Edited by Sgt. Pepper
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