''Trio'' is a collaborative album by American singers Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

. It was released on March 2, 1987, by Warner Bros. Records. The album has platinum certification in the US 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.

Background

Longtime friends and admirers of one another, Parton, Harris, and Ronstadt first attempted to record an album together in the mid-1970s, but scheduling conflicts and other difficulties (including the fact that the three women all recorded for different record labels) prevented its release. Some of the fruits of those aborted 1970s recording sessions did make it onto the women's respective solo albums. "

Mr. Sandman "Mr. Sandman" (or "Mister Sandman") is a popular song written by Pat Ballard and published in 1954. It was first recorded in May of that year by Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra and later that year by the Chordettes and the Four Aces. The song's ly ...

" and "Evangeline" appeared on Harris' album '' Evangeline'' and Parton's "My Blue Tears" was included on Ronstadt's 1982 album '' Get Closer''.

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

's "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" was on Harris' '' Blue Kentucky Girl'' album. "

Palms of Victory The gospel song, Palms of Victory, also called "Deliverance Will Come", and "The Way-worn Traveler", was evidently written in 1836 by the Rev. John B. Matthias, a Methodist Episcopal minister in New York state. This attribution is not well docume ...

", another track from the aborted 1970s sessions, was included on the Harris' 2007 box set '' Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems''. Parton and Ronstadt also recorded a version of the traditional ballad "I Never Will Marry", which appeared on Ronstadt's 1977 ''

Simple Dreams ''Simple Dreams'' is the eighth studio album by the American singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1977 by Asylum Records. It includes several of her best-known songs, including her cover of the Rolling Stones song "Tumbling Dice" (featured in the f ...

'' album, though that was recorded separately from these sessions, as was Ronstadt's cover of Hank Williams' "

I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You) "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" is a song written and originally recorded by Hank Williams on MGM Records. It hit number two on the '' Billboard'' country singles chart in 1951. In his autobiography, George Jones printed the ...

", from '' Heart Like a Wheel,'' on which she was joined by Harris. During this time, Ronstadt and Harris also covered a number of Parton's compositions — Harris covered "

Coat of Many Colors In the Hebrew Bible, the coat of many colors ( he, כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים, ketonet passim) is the name for the garment that Joseph (Hebrew Bible), Joseph owned, which was given to him by his father, Jacob. Biblical narrative Joseph' ...

" and "

To Daddy "To Daddy"" is a country song, written by Dolly Parton. It was performed by Emmylou Harris in the 1970s, included on her album '' Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town'' and released as a single. Having reached number three on Billboard's Hot Country ch ...

", and Ronstadt recorded "

I Will Always Love You "I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career, ...

"—for inclusion on their various solo albums during the mid- to late-1970s. Parton, in turn, covered Harris' "

Boulder to Birmingham "Boulder to Birmingham" is a song written by Emmylou Harris and Bill Danoff which first appeared on Harris's 1975 album ''Pieces of the Sky.'' It has served as something of a signature tune for the artist and recounts her feelings of grief in the y ...

", including it on her 1976 album, '' All I Can Do''. Finally, a collaboration effort came to fruition, being produced by

George Massenburg George Y. Massenburg (born Baltimore, Maryland c. 1947) is a Grammy award-winning recording engineer and inventor. Working principally in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Macon, Georgia, Massenburg is widely known for submitting a paper to ...

. When ''Trio'' was released in March 1987, it spawned four hit singles–including a remake of Phil Spector's 1958 hit by the Teddy Bears, " To Know Him Is to Love Him".

Critical reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' published a review in the issue dated March 14, 1987, which said, "If the "new traditionalists" in country music still have a body of work to draw from, it's largely because these three celestial songbirds kept it alive and vibrant throughout the adulterated '70s. But the members of the trio are not resting on their reputations here; their album is stunningly beautiful on every cut. Crossover is certain and will most likely be instantaneous, fueled by Ronstadt's current ride atop the Hot 100–in a duet with James Ingram–with "Somewhere Out There"." In the March 14, 1987 issue of '' Cashbox'' a review was published that said, "The long-awaited collaboration of three of country/pop’s greatest voices is an unqualified success. The near-perfect song selection gives the three ample room to develop subtleties and nuance that in places is heart rending (listen to "Telling Me Lies"). These three singular voices blend together in seamless harmony, floating over the sweetest country melodies and poignant understated lyrics. Augmented by an assemblage of some of the best sidemen available, including Albert Lee and Mark O’Connor among them."

Commercial performance

The album peaked at No. 6 on the main US ''Billboard'' Top 200 Album chart. It peaked at No. 1 on the US ''

'' Top Country Albums chart for five weeks. In Canada, the album peaked at No. 4 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Albums chart. In Sweden, it peaked at No. 29 on the

Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

Albums Top 60 chart, and in the UK it peaked at No. 60 on the Official Charts Company UK Albums Chart. The album's first single, " To Know Him Is to Love Him", was released in January 1987 and peaked at No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. The single also peaked at No. 1 in Canada on the ''RPM'' Country Singles chart. The second single, "

Telling Me Lies "Telling Me Lies" is a song written by Linda Thompson and Betsy Cook, which was included on Thompson's 1985 ''One Clear Moment'' album (her first solo album, after divorcing husband and former collaborator Richard Thompson). A more famous record ...

", was released in May 1987 and peaked at No. 3 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart, No. 35 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Adult Contemporary chart and No. 6 in Canada on the ''RPM'' Country Singles chart. "

Those Memories of You "Those Memories of You" is a song written by Alan O'Bryant. It was first recorded by Bill & James Monroe in 1978 and later released as a single by Pam Tillis in 1986, whose version peaked at #55 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. In ...

" was released as the third single in August 1987 and it peaked at No. 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart and No. 1 in Canada on the ''RPM'' Country Singles chart. The album's fourth and final single, " Wildflowers", was released in March 1988 and peaked at No. 6 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart and No. 8 in Canada on the ''RPM'' Country Singles chart.

Accolades

The album won the Grammy Award for

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: * In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group * From 1971 to 19 ...

. It was also nominated for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

alongside Michael Jackson, U2, Prince, and Whitney Houston. "

" was also nominated for Best Country Song. The album won the 1987

Academy of Country Music Award The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, sta ...

for Album of the Year and won Vocal Event of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards at the 1988 ceremony. In December 2020, ''Trio'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

30th Annual Grammy Awards The 30th Annual Grammy Awards were held March 2, 1988, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Album of the Year went to U2 for ''The Joshua Tree'', and Song of the Year went ...

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Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes. Musicians *

– lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 5, 7), arrangements (11) * Dolly Parton – lead and harmony vocals * Linda Ronstadt – lead and harmony vocals *

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano roc ...

– acoustic piano (6, 9, 11), electric piano (6),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

(11), harmonium (11) * Albert Lee – acoustic guitar solo (1), acoustic guitar (2, 3, 6, 10, 11), high-strung guitar (2, 11),

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

(5, 7), lead acoustic guitar (8) * Steve Fishell –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

(1, 6),

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

(4), Kona Hawaiian guitar (8) * David Lindley – mandolin (1, 2, 3, 8), Kona Hawaiian guitar (3),

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

(5, 7), harpolek (5), acoustic guitar (6), dulcimer (10) *

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

– Tremolo guitar (3) * John Starling – acoustic guitar (4), rhythm acoustic guitar (8), arrangements (11) * Herb Pedersen –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

(4), vocal arrangements (4, 6) * Mark O'Connor – viola (1, 2, 5, 7), fiddle (2, 8), acoustic guitar (5), lead acoustic guitar (7), mandolin (10) * Kenny Edwards – Ferrington acoustic bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10), electric bass (6) * Leland Sklar – Ferrington acoustic bass (4) * Russ Kunkel – drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8) * Marty Krystall –

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

(8) * Brice Martin – flute (8) * Jodi Burnett – cello (8) * Dennis Karmazyn – cello solo (8) * Novi Novog – viola (8) * David Campbell – orchestrations and conductor (6, 8) * Charles Veal – concertmaster (6) * Avie Lee Parton – arrangements (10) Production *

– producer, recording * Sharon Rice – assistant engineer *

Doug Sax Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including ''The Wall''; Ray Charles ...

– mastering * The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California) – mastering location * Liza Edwards – production coordinator * Robert Blakeman – photography * John Kosh – art direction, design *

Ron Larson Roland "Ron" Edwin Larson (born October 31, 1941) is a professor of mathematics at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, Pennsylvania. He is best known for being the author of a series of widely used mathematics textbooks ranging from middle sch ...

– art direction, design * John Starling – music consultant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1987 albums Emmylou Harris albums Dolly Parton albums Linda Ronstadt albums Warner Records albums Collaborative albums Albums produced by George Massenburg