Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions

Last updated
Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions
Western Wall- The Tucson Sessions.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 24, 1999
Recorded1999, Tucson, Arizona
Studio
Genre Country, folk
Length52:47
Label Asylum Nashville
Producer Glyn Johns
Linda Ronstadt chronology
Trio II
(1999)
Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions
(1999)
A Merry Little Christmas
(2000)
Emmylou Harris chronology
Trio II
(1999)
Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions
(1999)
Red Dirt Girl
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
The A.V. Club (favorable) [2]
Entertainment Weekly A− [3]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
People (favorable) [5]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Robert Christgau Five Pointed Star Solid.svg [7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]

Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions is a 1999 duet album by American singer, songwriter, and producer Linda Ronstadt and singer, songwriter, and guitarist Emmylou Harris, who had previously collaborated on two albums with Dolly Parton.

Contents

The album was well received critically, and it made several year-end Top Ten lists. The disc was recorded at the Arizona Inn in Tucson, Arizona.

This album hit #6 on Billboard 's Country albums chart and #73 on Billboard's main album chart. The two artists teamed for a concert tour in support of the disc in late 1999. It was nominated for several Grammy Awards.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Loving the Highway Man" Andy Prieboy 3:30
2."Raise the Dead"Emmylou Harris3:18
3."For a Dancer" Jackson Browne 4:43
4."Western Wall" Rosanne Cash 2:35
5."1917" David Olney 5:24
6."He Was Mine" Paul Kennerley 3:19
7."Sweet Spot"Emmylou Harris, Jill Cunniff 3:34
8."Sisters of Mercy" Leonard Cohen 3:58
9."Falling Down" Patty Griffin 3:15
10."Valerie" Patti Scialfa 4:04
11."This Is to Mother You" Sinéad O'Connor 3:16
12."All I Left Behind"Emmylou Harris, Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle3:23
13."Across the Border" Bruce Springsteen 6:20
Total length:52:47

Personnel

Production

  • Glyn Johns – producer, engineer
  • George Massenburg – vocal recording for Linda Ronstadt (3, 6, 9)
  • John Nowland – vocal and harmonica recording for Neil Young and Emmylou Harris (3, 13)
  • James "Jumbo" Aumonier – assistant engineer
  • Michel Pepin – additional recording (12)
  • Jim Brady – technical support
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering at A&M Studios (Hollywood, California)
  • Chris Walters – production coordinator
  • Meghann Ahern – production assistant
  • Alli Truch – art direction, design
  • Caroline Greyshock – photography

Chart performance

Chart (1999)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums6
U.S. Billboard 20073

Release history

Release history and formats for Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions
RegionDateFormatLabelRef.
North AmericaAugust 24, 1999
  • CD
  • cassette
Asylum Records [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Trio</i> (1987 album) 1987 studio album by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris

Trio is a collaborative album by American singers Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris. It was released on March 2, 1987, by Warner Bros. Records. The album has platinum certification in the U.S. for sales of one million copies, and has total worldwide sales of approximately four million. A second collaborative album, Trio II, was released in 1999.

<i>Wrecking Ball</i> (Emmylou Harris album) 1995 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Wrecking Ball is the eighteenth studio album by American country artist Emmylou Harris, released on September 26, 1995, through Elektra Records. Moving away from her traditional acoustic sound, Harris collaborated with producer Daniel Lanois and engineer Mark Howard. The album has been noted for its atmospheric feel, and featured guest performances by Steve Earle, Larry Mullen Jr., Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Lucinda Williams and Neil Young, who wrote the title song.

<i>Trio II</i> 1999 studio album by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt

Trio II is the second collaborative studio album by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. It was released on February 9, 1999, by Asylum Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Johns</span> English record producer, songwriter, and musician

Ethan Thomas Robert Johns is an English record producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Johns has worked with artists including Robert Vincent,Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Paul McCartney, Ray LaMontagne, Tom Jones, Kaiser Chiefs, Rufus Wainwright, The Boxer Rebellion, Crowded House, Turin Brakes, Lauren Hoffman, The Vaccines, Laura Marling, The Staves, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. In 2012, he won the Brit Award for Best British Producer.

<i>Blue Kentucky Girl</i> (Emmylou Harris album) 1979 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Blue Kentucky Girl is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1979. The album features Harris delving into more traditional country than the country-rock sound of her previous releases. Songs include work by Willie Nelson and Gram Parsons. Rodney Crowell's "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" featured harmonies by Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, and came out of the women's ill-fated 1978 recording sessions, where they first attempted to record a "trio" album.

<i>Evangeline</i> (Emmylou Harris album) 1981 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Evangeline is the eighth studio album by Emmylou Harris that was composed mostly of leftover material from past recording sessions and which did not fit into any of her other albums. Songs included a remake of "Mister Sandman", "Evangeline", which she had previously performed with The Band, Rodney Crowell's "Ashes By Now", and a cover of John Fogerty's "Bad Moon Rising". Though it received mixed reviews upon its release, the album was yet another commercial success for Harris. It was certified Gold in less than a year after its release. A single release of "Mister Sandman" did well on the charts, though neither Ronstadt's nor Parton's record companies would allow their artists' vocals to be used on the single, so Harris rerecorded the song, singing all three parts for the single release. Rodney Crowell's "I Don't Have to Crawl" was released as the album's second single.

<i>Roses in the Snow</i> 1980 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Roses in the Snow is the seventh studio album by country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1980. 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 Johnny Cash. Cash, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, The Whites, Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nelson and Tony Rice made guest appearances. "Wayfaring Stranger" was released as the first single in 1980 and went to #7 on the Billboard Country charts. The second single, a remake of a Simon & Garfunkel song, "The Boxer", reached #13. Backing musicians included Albert Lee and Jerry Douglas.

<i>The Ballad of Sally Rose</i> 1985 studio album by Emmylou Harris

The Ballad of Sally Rose is the eleventh studio album by American singer Emmylou Harris released in February 1985. It marked a significant departure for Harris for two reasons. First, all the songs were written by her and her then-husband Paul Kennerley, while her previous albums had consisted mostly of others' material. Secondly, it is a concept album, loosely based on Harris' relationship with Gram Parsons. The album tells the story of a character named Sally Rose, a singer whose lover and mentor, a hard-living, hard-drinking musician, is killed while on the road. Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Gail Davies sing harmony on several of the songs. Many of the songs flow into one another to create a continuous momentum.

<i>Pieces of the Sky</i> 1975 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Pieces of the Sky is the second studio album and major-label debut by American country music artist Emmylou Harris, released on February 7, 1975, through Reprise Records.

<i>Stumble into Grace</i> 2003 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Stumble into Grace is the twentieth studio album by American singer/songwriter Emmylou Harris, released on September 23, 2003 by Nonesuch Records. It peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard country albums chart. Like its immediate predecessor, Red Dirt Girl, the album contained a significant number of Harris' own compositions.

<i>Prisoner in Disguise</i> 1975 studio album by Linda Ronstadt

Prisoner In Disguise (1975) is Linda Ronstadt's sixth solo LP release and her second for the label Asylum Records. It followed Ronstadt's multi-platinum breakthrough album, Heart Like a Wheel, which became her first number one album on the US Billboard 200 album chart in early 1975.

<i>Get Closer</i> (Linda Ronstadt album) Album by Linda Ronstadt

Get Closer is the eleventh studio album by singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1982.

<i>Light of the Stable</i> 1979 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Light of the Stable is the first Christmas album by Emmylou Harris. It was originally released in 1979 by Warner Bros. Records but has since gone through several intervening releases. The 1992 Warner release was a remastered version of the original with a different album cover. The latest edition was released in 2004 by Rhino Records. It contains three newly recorded tracks in addition to remastered versions of the ten original tracks. Its cover came from the record sleeve of the original 45-rpm single version of "Light of the Stable" that was released in 1975. The title song featured harmony vocals from Neil Young, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt.

<i>Flyer</i> (album) 1994 studio album by Nanci Griffith

Flyer was the eleventh studio album released by singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith. Released in 1994, it contained 15 tracks, mostly of original material. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards. The album had contributions from Peter Buck, Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton, Adam Duritz, the Chieftains and the Indigo Girls.

<i>Real Live Woman</i> 2000 album by Trisha Yearwood

Real Live Woman is the eighth studio album by American country music singer Trisha Yearwood, released on March 28, 2000.

<i>We Ran</i> 1998 studio album by Linda Ronstadt

We Ran is a 1998 rock album by American singer Linda Ronstadt. The disc featured back-up from three members of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. It spent two weeks on the Billboard albums chart, peaking at #160.

<i>Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems</i> 2007 box set by Emmylou Harris

Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems is a 2007 box set of songs personally selected by Emmylou Harris: "I've selected not greatest hits, but personal favorites: that, with a few exceptions-have never appeared on any other compilations, but were important gems in the string of pearls that each album strives to become. Also included are special collaborations, unreleased live and demo tracks, as well as contributions to tribute projects, which I may now gather into this fold.”

<i>All I Intended to Be</i> 2008 studio album by Emmylou Harris

All I Intended to Be is the 25th studio album from Emmylou Harris and her third release on Nonesuch Records. It was released in the United States on June 10, 2008. The album debuted at number 22 on the Billboard 200, and number four on Top Country Albums, which makes the album Harris’ highest charting solo record on the Billboard 200 since Evangeline was released in 1981. As of 2014 it has sold 153,973 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.

<i>Feels Like Home</i> (Linda Ronstadt album) 1995 studio album by Linda Ronstadt

Feels Like Home is a studio album by American singer Linda Ronstadt released in 1995. It reached #75 and lasted 12 weeks on the Billboard album chart. It received excellent critical reviews upon release. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the disc sold 188,815 copies in the United States. This album is now out of print physically, although it is available digitally and five of its tracks were remixed and subsequently included on Trio II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernie Leadon discography</span>

Bernie Leadon is an American musician and songwriter. In addition to his solo album and recordings with Eagles, Hearts & Flowers, Dillard & Clark, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, he has been featured as a performer and composer on many albums by other artists.

References

  1. LaVeck, Theresa E.. Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions at AllMusic
  2. The A.V. Club review
  3. Entertainment Weekly review
  4. "Adventurous, Rewarding Ride". Los Angeles Times . 1999-08-15. Archived from the original on 2017-10-14.
  5. People review
  6. Album reviews at CD Universe
  7. Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
  8. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide . New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p.  701. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone linda ronstadt album guide.
  9. Harris, Emmylou; Ronstadt, Linda (August 24, 1999). "Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (Liner Notes)". Asylum Records . 62408-2 (CD); 62408-4 (Cassette).