NEWS: Six Degrees of Emmylou Harris

If you’re a fan of country music, and even if you’re not, you probably know who Emmylou Harris is.  Most importantly there is her unique voice, beautiful, weightless, mournful and wholly her own.  Then there is her remarkable long white hair.  What I find myself drawn to is her tendency to pop up on so many albums by other people.  She seems willing to lend her talent in duet or support of any artist who asks, spreading her long-standing country cred to a new generation in the process.  From Gram Parsons and Willie Nelson to Ryan Adams and Beth Orton, Emmylou is out there doing what she does best, making other people sound good by sounding great with them.  So, in lieu of a traditional list I present to you a new twist on a familiar game you can play at home or at parties.  Look how easy it can be!

Emmylou Harris to Heavy Metal in 4 moves:
Emmylou made two albums with the “Trio” of Linda Ronstadt and…
…Dolly Parton, who put her assets to good use in “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas” with the man, the myth, the mustache…
…Burt Reynolds, who pimped his way back into celebrity favor in “Boogie Nights” starring…
…Mark Wahlberg’s giant fake penis.  Mark also plays a fan-turned-rockstar in “Rockstar,” based on the story of Rob Halford’s fall from grace with metal mainstay…
…Judas Priest!

Emmylou Harris to Eminem in 3 moves:
She sang on the six zillion selling soundtrack to “O, Brother Where Art Thou?” starring…
…George Clooney, who you might remember from “ER,” now featuring…
…Mikai Pfeiffer, who co-stars in “8 Mile” with your least favorite favorite hip-hop entrepreneur…
…Eminem…

Or, for musical purists…
Emmylou Harris to Eminem, in 6 moves - no movies:
She sings backup on “Oh My Sweet Carolina” on “Heartbreaker,” the essential solo debut by…
…Ryan Adams, who, in true spoiled drunken prematurely famous and ill-adjusted rock-star style, yells nasty words on stage at fellow hip young alt-whatever-music trend setter…
…Jack White of the White Stripes, who receives kind mention from the strangest place any of us can hope to find ourselves one day, the title of a song by…
…The Flaming Lips, whose oddly sweet “Thank You Jack White (For The Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)” appears among other aberrant numbers on their “Fight Test” ep.  But wait, it gets weirder.  During a January 2003 performance on “Top of Pops” The Lips were joined on stage by guest bass “player”…
…Justin Timberlake!  JT’s mega smash Britney bash “Cry Me a River” features…
…Timbaland, and it's just too easy from here since rappers drop lines on other MC’s tracks like you or I drop chewed gum.  Timbaland appears with Dr. Dre on “Say What You Say” by…
…Eminem

Emmylou Harris to New York Punk, in 5 moves:
Her landmark album “Wrecking Ball” was given signature production by…
…Daniel Lanois, who also produced that modest little Irish band…
…U2, who are featured on the soundtrack to “Far Away, So Close” by...
...Wim Wenders, a film which features an on-screen performance by…
…Lou Reed, who helped lay New York’s pre-punk bedrock with…
…The Velvet Underground.  (For Pop-Culture Bonus Points: Andy Warhol did their album cover AND paintings of Marilyn Monroe who in turn did JFK!  That's some good company Emmylou!)

Emmylou Harris to The Matrix, in 6 moves:
The title track on “Wrecking Ball” is a cover of the classic by…
…Neil Young, who later recorded the album "Mirror Ball" with…
…Pearl Jam, who played in Temple of the Dog with, among others…
…Soundgarden, whose singer now fronts…
…Audioslave, which is really…
…Rage Against the Machine minus Zach la Rocha (so it's mostly just the machine), but while Rage was still raging they contributed to the soundtrack of…
…The Matrix.  I, too, know Kung Fu.

Emmylou Harris to Disco, in 6 moves:
Back to “Wrecking Ball,” where she covers “Waterfall” by…
…Jimi Hendrix who ruined a perfectly good fire with all that guitar playing at Woodstock, where everyone stood up and went to the bathroom when…
…Sha Na Na took the stage.  Yes, they were really there.  They were also in "Grease," starring…
…Olivia Newton John and that guy, what’s his name… and technically speaking I could stop there, but it gets waaay more disco when you discover that miss Newton John sang a duet with…
…Andy Gibb on his “After Dark” album - no, I don’t own that one - and he was a Brother Gibb, which brings us to…
…The Bee Gees… but wait, there’s more!  In 1978 The Bee Gees lost Billboard's International Disco Forum “Disco Group of the Year” award to…
…The Village People, and it doesn’t get more disco than that.
(I swear I didn’t make any of that up.)


Wasn’t that fun!?  Now who wants to help alphabetize the contents of my refrigerator?