Trio (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt And Emmylou Harris Album)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Trio'' is a collaborative album by American singers
Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
,
Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...
, and
Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...
. It was released on March 2, 1987, by
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
. 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 ''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. Background A dozen years after the release of their Platinum, Grammy-winning '' Trio ...
'', 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" and "Evangeline" appeared on Harris' album ''
Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel during the e ...
'' 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 "Palms of Victory", also called "Deliverance Will Come", "The Blood-washed Pilgrim", and "The Way-worn Traveler", is a Christian hymn that appears to have been written in 1836 by John B. Matthias, a Methodist Episcopal minister in New York St ...
", 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 ...
'' 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 may refer to: *I Can't Help It (film), ''I Can’t Help It'' (film), an upcoming film based on the novel ''The Ax'' by Donald E. Westlake, Donald Westlake (English title: ''No Other Choice'') *I Can't Help It (album), ''I Can't Help ...
", from ''
Heart Like a Wheel ''Heart Like a Wheel'' is the fifth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1974. It was Ronstadt's last album to be released by Capitol Records. At the time of its recording, Ronstadt had already moved to Asylum Records and re ...
,'' 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 or () is the name for the garment that the Bible, Biblical Joseph (Genesis), Joseph owned; it was given to him by his father Jacob in Vayeshev (Book of Genesis, Genesis 37). Biblical narrative Jose ...
" and " To Daddy", 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", 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 t ...
. When ''Trio'' was released in March 1987, it spawned four hit singles–including a remake of
Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...
's 1958 hit by
the Teddy Bears The Teddy Bears were an American pop music group. They were record producer Phil Spector's first vocal group. History Following graduation from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California, Phil Spector became obsessed with " To Know Him Is ...
, " 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 advertis ...
'' 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 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
—in a duet with
James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song. After beginning his career ...
—with ' Somewhere Out There'." A review in the March 14, 1987, issue of '' Cashbox'' 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 Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also m ...
and
Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Mu ...
among them."


Commercial performance

The album peaked at No. 6 on the main U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 Album chart. It peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard''
Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...
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 r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...
'' 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, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name si ...
Albums Top 60 chart, and in the U.K. it peaked at No. 60 on the
Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. The album's first single, " To Know Him Is to Love Him", was released in January 1987 and peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard''
Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...
chart. The single also peaked at No. 1 in Canada on the ''RPM'' Country Singles chart. The second single, " Telling Me Lies", was released in May 1987 and peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart, No. 35 on the U.S. ''Billboard''
Hot Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
chart and No. 6 in Canada on the ''RPM'' Country Singles chart. " Those Memories of You" was released as the third single in August 1987 and it peaked at No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart and No. 1 in Canada on the ''RPM'' Country Singles chart. The album's fourth and final single, "
Wildflowers A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...
", was released in March 1988 and peaked at No. 6 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart and No. 8 in Canada on the ''RPM'' Country Singles chart.


Accolades

The album won the
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
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 ...
. It was also nominated for Album of the Year alongside
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
, U2,
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
, and
Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
. " Telling Me Lies" was also nominated for
Best Country Song The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, unless the artist is also the songwriter. There have ...
. The album won the 1987
Academy of Country Music Award The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country music ...
for Album of the Year and won Vocal Event of the Year at the
Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...
at the 1988 ceremony. In December 2020, ''Trio'' was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
.
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 ...
, - , rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;", 1988 , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", ''Trio'' ,
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 ...
, , - , Album of the Year , , - , style="text-align:center;", " Telling Me Lies" ,
Best Country Song The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, unless the artist is also the songwriter. There have ...
, , - 22nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards , - , style="text-align:center;", 1987 , style="text-align:center;", ''Trio'' , Album of the Year , , - 22nd Country Music Association Awards , - , style="text-align:center;", 1988 , style="text-align:center;", ''Trio'' , Vocal Event of the Year , , -


Track listing


Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes. Musicians *
Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...
– lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 5, 7), arrangements (11) *
Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
– lead and harmony vocals *
Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...
– lead and harmony vocals *
Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949, in Waco, Texas) 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 A ...
– 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, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...
(11),
harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...
(11) *
Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also m ...
– acoustic guitar solo (1), acoustic guitar (2, 3, 6, 10, 11), high-strung guitar (2, 11),
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
(5, 7), lead acoustic guitar (8) * Steve Fishell –
pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...
(1, 6),
Dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars 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 a gui ...
(4), Kona Hawaiian guitar (8) * David Lindley – mandolin (1–3, 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 t ...
(5, 7), harpolek (5), acoustic guitar (6),
dulcimer The term dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...
(10) *
Ry Cooder Ryland Peter 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, and h ...
Tremolo guitar (3) * John Starling – acoustic guitar (4), rhythm acoustic guitar (8), arrangements (11) *
Herb Pedersen Herbert Joseph Pedersen (born April 27, 1944, in Berkeley, California) is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, singer-songwriter, and actor who has played a variety of musical styles over the past fifty years including country, blueg ...
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 in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...
(4), vocal arrangements (4, 6) *
Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Mu ...
– viola (1, 2, 5, 7), fiddle (2, 8), acoustic guitar (5), lead acoustic guitar (7), mandolin (10) *
Kenny Edwards Kenneth Michael Edwards (February 10, 1946 – August 18, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, bassist, guitarist, mandolinist, and session musician. He was a founding member of the Stone Poneys and Bryndle and a long-time collaborator ...
– Ferrington acoustic bass (1–3, 5, 7, 8, 10), electric bass (6) *
Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. He rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coalesced into a group in its own right, The Section, which supported so many of Asylu ...
– Ferrington acoustic bass (4) *
Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Cass Elliot, Dan Fo ...
– drums (1–3, 5, 6, 8) * Marty Krystall –
clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
(8) * Brice Martin –
flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
(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 *
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 t ...
– producer, recording * Sharon Rice – assistant engineer *
Doug Sax Doug Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Charles' multiple ...
– mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California) * Liza Edwards – production coordinator * Robert Blakeman – photography *
John Kosh John Kosh, known simply as Kosh, is an English art director, album cover designer, graphic artist, and documentary producer/director. He was born in London, England and rose to prominence in the mid-1960s while designing for the Royal Ballet a ...
– art direction, design * Ron Larson – art direction, design * John Starling – music consultant


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

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