Ghosts haunt the grooves of Thirteen, the 13th studio set from Emmylou Harris since her Reprise debut in 1975. The opening “Mystery Train” ushers forth a panoply of bluegrass, Cajun, traditional country, gospel and few modern twists. Unlike its predecessor, the concept album The Ballad of Sally Rose, she reverts to the smart mix of covers and originals that accented her classic LPs of the 1970s and early ‘80s, including the aforementioned “Mystery Train,” George Jones and Merle Haggard sides, and Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska-era “My Father’s House,” which features tasteful synths.
Yet, released in February 1986, it fared about as well as her previous few albums, topping out on the country charts at No. 9 and failing to crossover to the top half of the Billboard Top 200. The two singles, “If I Had My Heart Set on You” and “Today I Started Loving You Again,” didn’t catch fire, either. Perhaps because of that lackluster reception, the LP—which I picked up that summer—didn’t make the leap to CD until 2013, and then only as part of the second volume of Rhino’s Emmylou Harris Original Album Series collection. (I.e. part of a multi-disc set of CDs most fans already owned.)
Upon that first listen, I loved it. Of course, it was also the second new Emmylou album I picked up, after discovering her by way of Gram Parsons and Sally Rose, and then checking into the Elite Hotel. I was 20 and leaning hard into the country- and folk-flavored sound thanks to deejaying a folk music show on my college radio station, so was primed to like it. Of this set: It’s subdued, for sure, even mournful in spots—aka a true country album. “Mystery Train” reaches back to Elvis and rockabilly, while “You’re Free to Go” mines the same era for a country lament. “Sweetheart of the Pines,” written by Emmylou and then-husband Kennerley, conjures several tracks from the Sally Rose sessions, including the similarly titled “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.” It’s a mid-tempo tune yearning to break free.
The album flows like that for the rest of its 10 tracks. Throwbacks such as “Just Someone I Used to Know,” written by the legendary Jack Clements, was a hit for George Jones (as “Just a Girl I Used to Know”) in 1962 and Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner (with “Someone” swapped in for “Girl”) in 1969, set side by side with the Rodney Crowell-Paul Kennerley cowrite “I Had My Heart Set on You.” Springsteen’s haunting “My Father’s House” is a moody tour de force, with tasteful synths adding to the song’s color.
In a March 16, 1986, review, the Los Angeles Times’ Craig Lee called it Emmylou’s best album since 1979’s Blue Kentucky Girl. He also observed that it was somewhat of a “theme-oriented album, with the majority of songs about the pain of love parted.” He also noted that her duet with John Anderson on “Just Someone I Used to Know” is “a stunning tapestry of harmonies equal to the best of the Louvins and the Everly Brothers.” The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Steven Rea, however, didn’t hear a thematic link between songs in his February 23, 1986 review, though he liked it just as much.
L. Kent Wolgamott of the Lincoln Journal Star, on the other hand, thought that the songs were “never quite as twang as the pure traditionalist sound” and, thus, nothing “really rips it up or tears at the heart.” Ron Chalmers of the Edmonton Journal, however, found much to like, pointing out that Emmylou’ “is enduring evidence that you don’t need lungs like Lanza to sing like a superstar” and that Emmylou’s “melodic sense is rare in an industry awash with market-minded producers and pseudo-musicians from electronics labs.” The Chicago Tribune’s Daniel Brogan, for his part, referenced Emmylou’s efforts to introduce Bruce Springsteen to the country audience in his February 21, 1986, review, citing the Boss songs she’d covered on earlier albums—although he mistook her “Born to Run,” which was written by Paul Kennerley, for Springsteen’s breakthrough anthem!
Although Thirteen cracked the Top 10 of Billboard’s country charts, it soon faded in memory—hastened, no doubt, by Emmylou’s next project, Trio with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. The technological leap to compact disc also played a role, I think. Even though CDs were a thing by the mid-‘80s, its release as a shiny platter took decades. New fans who discovered Emmy by way of Wrecking Ball and the Americana scene of the ‘90s simply didn’t have access to it. A true shame, that.
It can now be streamed, however. So if you’re an Emmylou fan, or just have a hankering for some classic country music, give Thirteen a listen. It’s an unheralded classic.
Side 1:
Side 2:
The Old Grey Cat 