Pieces of the Sky

On this album, there are three new songs, beginning with the rocking, upbeat Bluebird wine, the first of many songs written by Rodney Crowell that Emmylou would record. Even better is Boulder to Birmingham, a great ballad that has been covered by both the Hollies and Joan Baez. Incidentally, the title contains the names of two towns – Boulder in Colorado and Birmingham in Alabama. The other original, another fine ballad, is Before believing.

My favorite track here is Queen of the silver dollar, a song originally recorded by Dr Hook and the Medicine show. I like their version but Emmylou and her musicians improved on it and I don't understand why it wasn't released as a single. It was left to Dave and Sugar to take the song up the country charts. Their version is wonderful but still can't match Emmylou's.

Emmylou does a fine cover of Dolly's Coat of many colors, but this autobiographical song is the most personal of all Dolly's songs. Emmylou's cover is the best I've heard, but still not quite up to the original, although I'm glad she recorded it.

The other covers are all equal to or better than the original versions, and that is hifg praise indeed considering who the original artists were. Too far gone was originally recorded (as far as I can tell) by the late, great Dottie West in the sixties but remained obscure until Barbara Fairchild took it up the country charts. If I could only win your love was the first Louvin brothers song that Emmylou covered but certainly not the last. Bottle let me down was one of Merle Haggard's early classics. Sleepless nights was first recorded by the Everly brothers in the early sixties and was later covered by the Judds in the eighties. For no one is a Beatles song that first appeared on the Revolver album.

This, then, was a very strong debut album from Emmylou. It set the standard for the next few years. The style of the music would vary but the quality was consistently high.


'I stood on the mountain, in the night and I watched it burn ...'   November 27, 2002
 23 out of 25 found this review helpful

This official debut album from 1975 is an impressively varied and emotionally stirring collection of quality songs that includes compositions by country legends like Merle Haggard, a Lennon/McCartney composition and a powerful Harris co-composition: her aching, poetic tribute to Gram Parsons titled Boulder to Birmingham. This reissue of Pieces of the Sky has been enhanced by the addition of two previously unreleased tracks.

Of the up-tempo numbers, If I Could Only Win Your Love, Bottle Let Me Down and Queen of the Silver Dollar are the most outstanding. Among the slow songs I love Too Far Gone, Sleepless Nights and the exquisite & tender Before Believing. Even her version of Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors, though firmly in the country tradition, sounds fresh. But perhaps the best track is Boulder to Birmingham with its striking imagery and melancholy tune. Emmylou's singing is spot-on, tasteful and sometimes understated, the arrangements are appealing while the virtuoso playing perfectly complements her spiritually resonant voice.

This is the recording of a genius just setting out on her creative path, one that would lead to bluegrass masterpieces like Roses in the Snow (1980), classic country albums like Blue Kentucky Girl (1980) & Cowgirl's Prayer (1993), famous collaborations like Western Wall (1999) & Trio and traditional devotional music in a folk vein on Angel Band (1987), as well as boundary shifting atmospheric rock classics such as Wrecking Ball, Red Dirt Girl & Stumble Into Grace. Pieces of the Sky shows that the mastery of songcraft and the authentic soulful approach were there from the beginning.