I had forgotten how good Wrecking Ball was or how long ago it came out.
But as they prepare it for reissue 20 years or so on (complete with a series of demos and unreleased songs), one listen to “Goodbye” reminds me instantly how she and producer Daniel Lanois reinvented her sound and made us see new possibilities in her voice.
Suddenly the amazing vocalist (who we’d all loved for her country/folk soul and her part in the best Gram Parsons moments and then followed by the amazing bluegrass reinvention through the Hot Band with Ricky Skaggs) -
(sorry about the 80s hair Emmy!)
was redeemed from a series of releases that had (frankly) flattered to deceive by being vocal tour de force performances without great settings. And had got lost in Nashville country somehow.
Wrecking Ball invented a new sound and style – New Orleans country trip hop (or something like that… we might have just made that up). It confused some, and reinvented her for others. It was a little bit country but mostly that came from Emmylou’s voice. Actually it was really something new – and it won a new audience for her. All atmosphere, vocals, a touch of beats & second line drums, great song selection and incredible vocals. For me it’s an immense pleasure and I was happy to be reminded how great it was.
So to finish here’s one of its better songs – Deeper Well – done live with an inspired Brady Blade drum intro stealing from Iko Iko
It’s not the staggering album version with its Lanois added stew of feedback flavours but it shows the spirit of adventure perfectly.
-TH
The Wrecking Ball reissue is out this Friday (11.4.14) on Nonesuch and comes complete with a bonus disc of outtakes plus an hour long “making of” documentary which isn’t bad either. If you act quickly you can get it from JB HiFi with a signed print as a nice slice of memorabilia.
