Elite Hotel [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: Emmylou Harris
Artist: Linda Ronstadt; Jonathan Edwards; Bernie Leadon
Engineer: Miles Wilkinson; Rudy Hill; Stuart Taylor; Bradley Hartman; Brian Ahern
Producer: Brian Ahern
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks. Personnel: Emmylou Harris (vocals, guitar); Joanthan Edwards (vocals); Brian Ahern (guitar, bass); James Burton, Rick Cunha, Amos Garrett, Bernie Leadon (guitar); Ben Keith, Hank DeVito (pedal steel guitar); Herb Pedersen (banjo, background vocals); Byron Berline (mandolin, fiddle); Mike Auldridge (dobro); Micky Raphael (harmonica); Glen D. Hardin, Bill Payne (piano); Emory Gordy (bass, background vocals); John Ware, Ron Tutt (drums); Fayssoux Starling, John Starling, Dianne Brooks (background vocals). Recorded at the Enactron Truck, Beverly Hills, California. Originally released on Reprise (2286). Personnel: Emmylou Harris (acoustic guitar); John Starling, Rodney Crowell, Bernie Leadon (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Rick Cunha, Brian Ahern (acoustic guitar); James Burton, Amos Garrett (electric guitar); Mike Auldridge (dobro); Herb Pedersen (banjo, background vocals); Byron Berline (mandolin, fiddle); Ricky Skaggs (fiddle); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Jo-El Sonnier (accordion); Glen D. Hardin (piano, electric piano); Bill Payne (piano); Ron Tutt, John Ware (drums); Emory Gordy, Fayssoux Starling, Dianne Brooks, John Randall, Linda Ronstadt (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Doug Beal; Brian Ahern. Recording information: The Enactron Truck, Beverly Hills, CA (1975). Photographer: Michael Putland. Arranger: Brian Ahern. On her second album ELITE HOTEL, Emmylou Harris follows the blueprint she established with PIECES OF THE SKY. She even draws songs from many of the same sources, going to the well one more time for songs by Rodney Crowell ("Till I Gain Control Again") and the Beatles ("Here, There, and Everywhere"). With guitar legend James Burton, pianist Bill Payne, and singer Linda Ronstadt among the returning guests, the supporting cast also echoes that of PIECES. Whereas that album only hinted at Harris' potential commercial success, however, ELITE HOTEL delivers on the promise. With three top-five singles ("Together Again," "One of These Days," and "Sweet Dreams"), HOTEL established Harris as one of country's premier artists. HOTEL goes further than Harris' previous album in acknowledging her debt to her mentor, country-rock avatar Gram Parsons. Three Parsons songs ("Sin City," "Wheels," and "Ooh Las Vegas") appear here, and other selections clearly reflect Parsons preferences (the Louvin Brothers' "Satan's Jewel Crown" and Buck Owens' "Together Again"). Harris does Parsons proud, maintaining his traditionalist musical vision while polishing his execution. In so doing, she accomplishes something Parsons never would have; Harris succeeds in reintroducing classic country to mainstream contemporary audiences. Elite Hotel is the second album Emmylou Harris recorded for Warner Brothers, issued in the same year as her debut masterpiece, Pieces of the Sky. Elite Hotel is the album that garnered Harris her first pair of number one singles on Billboard's country charts, with her soulful reading of Buck Owens' "Together Again" and the impassioned performance of Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams." And while these two tracks may have been the most played, they are far from the finest tracks on this stellar outing. While Harris continues to perform the material of her late collaborator, Gram Parsons, Elite Hotel is almost a tribute recording given that it features three of his songs, two from his period with the Flying Burrito Brothers, "Sin City" and "Wheel," and "Ooh Las Vegas," from her recording with him on his album Grievous Angel. Other standouts here include a beautiful version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" and her now legendary cut of Rodney Crowell's "Till I Gain Control Again." On this early date, Harris' voice arrives fully focused, fully articulate, and completely in control of the material. Her backing group, the illustrious Hot Band, included guitarist James Burton, Crowell, her producer and husband Brian Ahern, Mike Auldridge, Hank DeVito, and many others. Guests like Linda Ronstadt and Amos Garret appear as well. Elite Hotel, like all of the early Warner recordings, has aged remarkably well, and sounds as fresh and revelatory today as it did in 1975. [The 2004 reissue by Rhino offers fully remastered 24-bit sound, and the inclusion of a pair of bonus tracks: "You're Running Wild," a duet with Crowell, and the nugget "Cajun Born," by the then-unknown songwriter Jo-El Sonnier. In addition, there are fine -- even exhaustive -- liner notes by critic Holly George-Warren.] ~ Thom Jurek

Entertainment Weekly (2/27/04, p.99) - "[Transcends] distinctions between traditional and pop country music..." - Rating: A Uncut (4/04, p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[L]ess starchy, proving she'd absorbed the passionate economy of traditional country music..."

Emmylou Harris first came to public attention as Gram Parsons's singing partner, but her solo career took off after his passing. Throughout the 1970s and '80s, she was a major force in progressive country, championing the works of great songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and Paul Siebel. By the '90s, the eclecticism that she'd always practiced came to full bloom in the hands of producer Daniel Lanois, especially on her milestone 1995 album, WRECKING BALL.

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