Hard Bargain (Emmylou Harris album)
Encyclopedia
Hard Bargain is a country
/folk
album by Emmylou Harris
, released on 26 April 2011, recorded at Tragedy/Tragedy, TN. It marks the 26th studio album from Harris (including collaborations) and her third solo recording for Nonesuch Records
.
With 17,000 copies sold in its first week, the album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums, Harris' highest entry since her bluegrass LP Roses in the Snow
in 1980. At the same time it debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200, displacing 1977's Luxury Liner
as her most successful solo LP ever on that chart.
In December 2010 six video clips were filmed at Laughing House Studios, Nashville, TN, directed by Jack Spencer. These videos, with additional commentary, can be found on the bonus DVD of the album's deluxe release.
The opening number "The Road" is about the late Gram Parsons
, her musical mentor who died in 1973.
"Darlin' Kate" is a tribute to the late Kate McGarrigle
who died of cancer in 2010. Kate, as well as her sister Anna McGarrigle
, collaborated with Emmylou on numerous occasions since the 1970s.
"My Name Is Emmett Till" tells the story of Emmett Till
, a black boy who was killed in 1955.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
/folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
album by Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, released on 26 April 2011, recorded at Tragedy/Tragedy, TN. It marks the 26th studio album from Harris (including collaborations) and her third solo recording for Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
.
With 17,000 copies sold in its first week, the album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums, Harris' highest entry since her bluegrass LP Roses in the Snow
Roses in the Snow
Roses in the Snow was a 1980 album by Emmylou Harris. While Harris' previous release, 1979's Blue Kentucky Girl featured traditional, straight-ahead country , Roses in the Snow found Harris performing Bluegrass-inspired music, with material by Flatt and Scruggs, Paul Simon, The Carter Family, and...
in 1980. At the same time it debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200, displacing 1977's Luxury Liner
Luxury Liner (album)
Luxury Liner was the second successive #1 country album for Emmylou Harris on the Billboard Music Charts, although, unlike the preceding Elite Hotel, there were no #1 hits from this album...
as her most successful solo LP ever on that chart.
Album information
The songs which were to become the "Hard Bargain" album were, according to Emmylou, recorded within 4 weeks in August 2010. Only three people can be heard on the album, namely Emmylou herself, the producer Jay Joyce as well as Giles Reaves.In December 2010 six video clips were filmed at Laughing House Studios, Nashville, TN, directed by Jack Spencer. These videos, with additional commentary, can be found on the bonus DVD of the album's deluxe release.
The opening number "The Road" is about the late Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
, her musical mentor who died in 1973.
"Darlin' Kate" is a tribute to the late Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle, CM was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle....
who died of cancer in 2010. Kate, as well as her sister Anna McGarrigle
Anna McGarrigle
Anna McGarrigle, CM is a Canadian folk music singer/songwriter who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister, Kate McGarrigle, until Kate's death in 2010.-Musical career:...
, collaborated with Emmylou on numerous occasions since the 1970s.
"My Name Is Emmett Till" tells the story of Emmett Till
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis "Bobo" Till was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois visiting his relatives in the Mississippi Delta region when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married...
, a black boy who was killed in 1955.
Track listing
Personnel
- Emmylou HarrisEmmylou HarrisEmmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
– Acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and vocals - Jay Joyce – Electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, Acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, Hi-string guitars, Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, SynthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, OmnichordOmnichordThe Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument, introduced in 1981 and manufactured by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It typically features a touch plate, and buttons for major, minor, and diminished chords...
, GanjoGanjoGanjo may refer to:*Ganjo Takkar, a limestone hill range in the Sindh province of Pakistan.*Six-string Guitjo, a type of Banjo....
, MandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single... - Giles ReavesGiles ReavesGiles Reaves is a multi-instrumentalist sound artist and audio engineer who has composed albums of space music. His most recognized album, Sea of Glass, 1992, peaked at #11 on the Billboard Top New Age Albums chart.-Biography:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, Wurlitzer piano, DjembeDjembeA djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
, Picked piano, Pump organ, VibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, SynthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, MarimbulaMarímbulaA marímbula is a folk musical instrument of the Caribbean Islands . The marímbula is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments. With its roots in African instruments, marimbula originated in the province of Oriente, Cuba in the 19th century...
, Moog bass, RhodesRhodesRhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
, OrganOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. Shaker
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 48 |
| Australian Country Albums Chart | 2 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 39 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) | 95 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
20 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 27 |
| Canadian Country Albums Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
15 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
49 |
| Irish Individual Artist Albums | 36 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
28 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
11 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
15 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
76 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
30 |
| UK Country Albums Chart | 2 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
18 |
| US Billboard Top Country Albums | 3 |
| US Billboard Folk Albums | 3 |
| US Billboard Rock Albums | 6 |