9 Emmylou Harris

Angel Band

WARNER BROS 1987, £4.99 You Say: “I’m a godless atheist but these songs of belief in the ever-after, Precious Memories and ultimate truth still move me deeply,” Mark Roscoe, via e-mail As with so many artists of her generation, Harris’s ‘80s were not quite as glorious as the decade before, but her work was still often adventurous and impressive – as evidenced by the self-written 1985 “country opera” The Ballad Of Sally Rose (reissued with demos earlier this year), and this inspired artistic detour into acoustic gospel songs, which was recorded live. Angel Band harks back to country’s beginnings in Appalachia, but its delivery also hints at some of the stripped-back, intimate stuff Harris would create from 1995 onwards. It’s time it was reappraised, and understood in the context of what came next.