Sweetheart of the Rodeo: Emmylou Harris’ “The Ballad of Sally Rose” Goes Deluxe in June
Today is Emmylou Harris’ birthday, and Rhino is celebrating the songbird’s illustrious career with a brand-new 2-CD remastered and expanded edition of one of her most cherished albums. On June 1, the label will reissue 1985’s The Ballad of Sally Rose, a concept album inspired by Harris’ short but blazing time spent with the late Gram Parsons. This deluxe edition will also be available as a digital download, on streaming services, and as a 2-LP vinyl set. (The vinyl release will also be released early for participants in the Record Store Crawl on May 19 in Harris’ hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.)
Harris’ first entirely self-written album, The Ballad of Sally Rose was once described by the artist as a “country opera.” The songs loosely tell the story of Sally Rose (an actual alias used by Harris for years as she toured), whose romantic partner and musical mentor – a musician living life in the fast lane – is killed while on the road. The album was inspired, too, by Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, another intensely personal statement from a singer-songwriter. Prior to this album, only Harris’ long-disappeared debut (1969’s Gliding Bird) had featured more than two of her own compositions. She wouldn’t concentrate on her own material again until 2000’s Red Dirt Girl. A handful of famous friends joined Emmylou for the album including Waylon Jennings (who plays lead on “Rhythm Guitar”) and her longtime friends and future Trio collaborators, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt.
The lead single from The Ballad of Sally Rose, “White Line,” reached No. 14 on the U.S. Country chart, but the LP was met with disappointing sales. It did, however, earn Harris a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. It’s been expanded for this release with a second disc of 10 previously unreleased demos. Most of these showcase Emmylou accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, providing an alternate, stripped-down look at the genesis of the album’s material. Colin Escott has provided the new liner notes.
Look for the deluxe reissue of The Ballad of Sally Rose at the links below! It’s due on June 1 from Rhino!
Emmylou Harris, The Ballad of Sally Rose (Warner Bros. 9-25205-2, 1985 – reissued Warner Bros./Rhino, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD)
CD 1: Original Album
- The Ballad of Sally Rose
- Rhythm Guitar
- I Think I Love Him/You Are My Flower
- Heart to Heart
- Woman Walk the Line
- Bad News
- Timberline
- Long Tall Sally Rose
- White Line
- Diamond in My Crown
- The Sweetheart of the Rodeo
- K-S-O-S
- Sweet Chariot
CD 2: Demos (all tracks previously unreleased)
- Timberline
- The Sweetheart of the Rodeo
- Sweet Chariot
- The Ballad of Sally Rose
- Heart to Heart
- Woman Walk the Line
- White Line
- Diamond in My Crown
- Rhythm Guitar
- Bad News
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2 thoughts on “Sweetheart of the Rodeo: Emmylou Harris’ “The Ballad of Sally Rose” Goes Deluxe in June”
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Amazon currently has this for $24.98, which I consider way out of line for a set with only a disc of demos to qualify as “deluxe”. It all could have fit on a single disc.
Unless there is super deluxe packaging, I would expect a price more like the Doors’ Singles or Otis Redding’s “Otis Blue” packages at $12.99. Even so this would be a worse deal.
It’s listed as Expanded Edition. Seems like the CD and LP prices will drop. Probably won’t sell very well.
Amazon is now selling CDs for $19.02.
I agree with you, it should have just be a single CD release. Several other Emmylou re-issues had bonus tracks on single CDs.