Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] (CD - 1978)

Emmylou Harris & The Hot Band: Emmylou Harris (vocals, acoustic guitar); Rodney Crowell (acoustic guitar); Albert Lee (electric guitar); Hank DeVito (pedal steel guitar); Glen D. Hardin (piano); Emory Gordy (bass); John Ware (drums).

Additional personnel: Willie Nelson (vocals); Brian Ahern, James Burton (guitar); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Ricky Skaggs (fiddle, viola); Rick Danko (fiddle); Garth Hudson (baritone saxophone, accordion); Fayssoux Starling, Nicolette Larson, Diane Brooks (background vocals).

Recorded at the Enactron Truck, Beverly Hills, California. Originally released on Warner Bros. (3141).

Personnel: Emmylou Harris (acoustic guitar); Albert Lee (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, piano); Rodney Crowell (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Brian Ahern (acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, gut-string guitar, percussion); James Burton, Frank Reckard (electric guitar); Steve Fishell (steel guitar); Ricky Skaggs (fiddle, viola); Rick Danko (fiddle, background vocals); Wayne Goodwin (fiddle); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Garth Hudson (accordion, baritone saxophone); Barry Tashian (accordion, background vocals); Glen D. Hardin (piano, electric piano); John Ware (drums, percussion); Dianne Brooks, Nicolette Larson (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Doug Beal; Brian Ahern.

Recording information: Enactron Truck, Beverly Hills, CA (1978).

Photographers: Ed Thrasher; Alan Messer.

Arranger: Brian Ahern.

All of Emmylou Harris' albums from the '70s and early '80s are flawless gems. But if there is one that rises above the others, then QUARTER MOON IN A TEN CENT TOWN is that album. From song selection to performance and production, MOON is the perfect distillation of Harris' remarkable work during this period. A wonderful duet with Willie Nelson ("One Paper Kid") and guest appearances from Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and harmonica wizard Mickey Raphael are what puts this album over the top.

At the time of MOON's release, Harris sat atop the country world. She was the genre's most widely respected artist and one of its most popular personalities. Not surprisingly, MOON yielded three hits: Delbert McClinton's rocking "Two More Bottles of Wine," Carlene Carter's "Easy from Now On," and "To Daddy," Dolly Parton's chilling evocation of a loveless marriage. Other standout tracks include "Defying Gravity," "Green Rolling Hills," and the Cajun-inflected "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight." But every track on this 1978 classic is a hands-down winner.

1978's Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town was Emmylou Harris' first deliberate swing for the country music charts -- though she had been there steadily since 1975. Unlike her previous outings, she left pop songs off the record, and for the first time, she released an album without any songs by Gram Parsons in the deck. There are no left turns at all, but that hardly matters because as far as consistency goes, this one delivers in spades, and it's a knockout. Rodney Crowell had left the Hot Band by this time, but he nonetheless contributes two solid cuts here: in the now-classic "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" and his anthem, "I Ain't Living Long Like This." Harris also covers Delbert McClinton's roadhouse standard "Two More Bottles of Wine," Dolly Parton's classic weeper "To Daddy," and a pair of Jesse Winchester tunes with "Defying Gravity" and "My Songbird." Willie Nelson -- beginning his ascent of the outlaw country superstardom movement -- makes an appearance, dueting with Harris on Walter Martin Cowart's "One Paper Kid." But it's the opener, "Easy From Now On," by Susanna Clark and Carlene Routh, that is the album's finest moment. With its long West Texas melody loping through languid paces, it is the very sound of amorous resolve as it comes out of the test by fire. Produced by Brian Ahern, with accompaniment provided by a mutating Hot Band, the record was a hit, reaching number three on the Billboard country charts and number 29 on the pop charts for a crossover success. [The 2004 remastered and expanded edition contains two bonus live tracks in Guy Clark's "New Cut Road" and the Iry LeJeune Cajun standard "LaCassine Special." Liner notes by Holly George-Warren offer a detailed account of the sessions and the time period.] ~ Thom Jurek minimize