Diamonds in the dirt

A couple of weeks ago I was rifling through a box of records at a car boot sale (so what's new?).  I say records; it was more like a box of empty and torn sleeves, dirt and a few shards of broken vinyl, but I carried on regardless, ever hopeful of finding something worth playing/actually playable. My luck was in and I pulled out a dog-eared copy of an album I'd read good things about, but never heard before - Trio by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.

The gals: Linda, Dolly and Emmylou.

Trio (1987)

These three Queens of Country are all heroes of mine and this album had been on my wishlist for a while, so I was delighted to find it for just £1.

Trio wasn't their first attempt to collaborate in this way. They'd tried during the 70s to record some material but as they were all such busy and successful artists, and all on different labels, this made finding the time to give such a project their full attention too difficult.

They finally got it together in the second half of the 80s and the result was 1987's hit album on Warner Bros. Records.

A collection of traditional country-style covers and a lovely original by Dolly called Wildflowers, Trio is an absolute gem of an album.  Given the talents involved, it couldn't really suck, and it doesn't.  As well as the glorious vocals of the ladies, who harmonise beautifully and provide b/v's for one another with none ever overshadowing the others, plus Emmylou's acoustic guitar on three tracks, members of the band include the likes of Ry Cooder, Albert Lee and in-demand sessioneer David Lindley.

Of course the project was wildly successful, reaching no.1 on the US Country chart and 6 on the Billboard chart.  The first single to be released off the album was their cover of the Teddy Bears' 1958 no.1 single To Know Him Is To Love Him which went to the top of the US Country singles chart, followed by Linda Thompson's Telling Me Lies (no.3), Those Memories of You (no.5) and the sweet Wildflowers (no.6).

My car boot copy came with the added bonus of an amusing set of communiqués between a former owner and his pal:

Well, that's something you don't get with mp3s, anyway.  Viva vinyl!

P.S. REALLY looking forward to watching Dolly at Glastonbury on the box Sunday teatime.