Blue Kentucky Girl (Emmylou Harris album)

1979 studio album by Emmylou Harris

Blue Kentucky Girl

Studio album by

Emmylou Harris

Released

April 13, 1979

Recorded

Nashville, 1979

Genre

Country

Label

Warner Bros. Nashville

Producer

Brian Ahern

Emmylou Harris chronology

Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town
(1978)

Blue Kentucky Girl
(1979)

Light of the Stable
(1979)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
The Guardian	^[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[3]

Blue Kentucky Girl is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1979. The album features Harris delving into more traditional country than the country-rock sound of her previous releases. Songs include work by Willie Nelson and Gram Parsons. Rodney Crowell's "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" featured harmonies by Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, and came out of the women's ill-fated 1978 recording sessions, where they first attempted to record a "trio" album (nearly a full decade before they actually succeeded in doing so).

The album won the 1980 Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. "Beneath Still Waters" became Harris' fourth No. 1 hit; covers of the Drifters' 1960 hit "Save the Last Dance for Me" and the album's title track (originally recorded by Loretta Lynn) were top ten hits on the US country charts.

In 2006, the album ranked No. 20 on CMT's "40 Greatest Albums in Country Music".

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sister's Coming Home" (with Tanya Tucker)	Willie Nelson	2:52
2.	"Beneath Still Waters"	Dallas Frazier	3:41
3.	"Rough and Rocky"	Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs	3:50
4.	"Hickory Wind"	Gram Parsons, Bob Buchanan	4:01
5.	"Save the Last Dance for Me"	Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman	3:30
6.	"Sorrow in the Wind" (with Sharon & Cheryl White)	Jean Ritchie	3:28
7.	"They'll Never Take His Love from Me"	Leon Payne	2:34
8.	"Everytime You Leave" (with Don Everly)	Charlie Louvin, Ira Louvin	2:58
9.	"Blue Kentucky Girl"	Johnny Mullins	3:17
10.	"Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (harmony by Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton)	Rodney Crowell	3:56
11.	"Cheatin' Is" (with Glen Campbell) (bonus track for 2004 CD re-issue)	Rafe Van Hoy	2:28
12.	"I Know an Ending When It Comes" (bonus track for 2004 CD re-issue)	Hank Cochran	2:52

Personnel

Brian Ahern – acoustic guitar, high-strung guitar, bass, percussion, 6-string banjo
Duke Bardwell – bass
Mike Bowden – bass
Tony Brown – piano
James Burton – electric guitar
Rodney Crowell – acoustic guitar, high-strung guitar
Lincoln Davis Jr. – accordion
Hank DeVito – pedal steel
Don Everly – duet vocals
Emory Gordy Jr. – bass
Glen Hardin – piano, string arrangements
Emmylou Harris – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Ben Keith – pedal steel
Albert Lee – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin
Dolly Parton – backing vocals
Bill Payne – piano
Mickey Raphael – harmonica
Linda Ronstadt – backing vocals
Ricky Skaggs – fiddle, 5-string fiddle, mandolin, backing vocals
Fayssoux Starling – backing vocals
Tanya Tucker – duet vocals
Ron Tutt – drums
John Ware – drums
Cheryl White – duet vocals, backing vocals
Sharon White – duet vocals, backing vocals

Technical

Brian Ahern – producer, engineer
Donivan Cowart – engineer
Bradley Hartman – engineer
Stuart Taylor – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1979)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[4]	43
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[5]	3

Year-end charts

Chart (1979)	Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[6]	22
Chart (1980)	Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[7]	16

Release history

Release history and formats for *Blue Kentucky Girl*
Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
North America	December 28, 1976	LP cassette	Warner Bros. Records	^[8]

References

^ Ankeny, Jason. Blue Kentucky Girl at AllMusic
^ Sweeting, Adam (April 9, 2004). "Emmylou Harris, Blue Kentucky Girl". The Guardian. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 307, 308.
^ "Emmylou Harris Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
^ "Emmylou Harris Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1979". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1980". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
^ Harris, Emmylou (April 13, 1979). Blue Kentucky Girl (Media notes). Warner Bros. Records. BSK-3318 (LP); M5-3318 (Cassette).