Getting back to the albums of 1995, here’s the first one that struck me as something I wish I’d had in my life over the last 30 years.
Wrecking Ball is Emmylou Harris’ 18th studio album and the only one I’ve heard all the way through. I’m more familiar with the country legend through her guest appearances in the work of other artists (she is a particularly welcome presence on Elvis Costello’s The Delivery Man album).
This record was a sonic departure for Harris, finding her teaming with producer Daniel Lanois to deliver an atmospheric sound unlike her traditional country roots. Lanois did something similar for Bob Dylan on 1989’s Oh Mercy, an album this one reminds me of in places.
Dylan shows up as a songwriter here, as Harris covers his ‘Every Grain of Sand.’ In addition to an original composition and a few written by Lanois, she delivers tunes by Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, Neil Young, and Jimi Hendrix. Quite a lineup.
The marriage of those songs with Lanois’ production and Harris’ evocative voice makes for a bracing listen. This album would have cracked my top ten if I’d discovered it sooner.
The streets are cracked
And there’s glass everywhere
And a baby stares out
With motherless eyes
Under long gone beauty
On fields of war
Trapped in lament
To the poet’s core
[Chorus]
Oh where oh where will I be
Oh where oh when that trumpets sounds
[Verse 2]
Met an Indian boy in Ottawa
He laid me down on a bed of straw
Said don’t waste your breath
Don’t waste your heart
Don’t blister your heels
Running in the dark
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
Yeah I like the heat
Of your body laying under me
May your wild lip get you where your going
With your inventions your intentions, your laughter
Your forever yearning
[Chorus]
[Verse 4]
I walked to the river
And I walked to the rim
I walked through the teeth of the reaper’s grin
I walked to you rolled up in wire
To the other side of desire
[Chorus][x2]
[Outro]
Well the heart opens wide like it’s never seen love
And addiction stays on tight like a glove
Oh where oh where will I be
Meet Me In Montauk 
Sounds like an interesting album.
Good review sir. “Wrecking Ball”, in my opinion is Emmylou Harris’s best LP. There isn’t a bum track on the record, solid from start to finish. Her cover of Steve Earle’s “Goodbye” stops me dead in my tracks every time I hear it. I saw her live here in Montreal about 15 years ago, one of the most professional shows I’ve seen. She was joined on stage with the McGarrigle sisters … I believe it was the last time Kate McGarrigle performed live before she passed in 2010. A very special show.