10 Times Dolly, Emmylou and Linda’s Trio Wowed Us with Their Heartfelt Harmonies
Dolly Parton became the first country singer honored by MusiCares as its 2019 Artist Of The Year last Friday, with a star-studded tribute concert dedicated to the Country Queen and her amazing musical legacy. But the highlight of the night had to be seeing Dolly reunited with her fellow Trio band mates, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. This was not a musical reunion of course as Ronstadt can sadly no longer sing due to Parkinson’s Disease, but it was a magical moment nonetheless to see these three legends together again with Harris and Ronstadt beautifully paying tribute to Parton with a touching speech dedicated to their old friend.
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To celebrate this little reunion we’ve gathered together 10 of our favorite ever performances by the Trio ladies over the years.
1) “The Sweetest Gift,” Dolly! (1976)
The first time we ever saw the Trio together and were treated to their incredible harmonies was in 1976 on Dolly Parton’s short-lived TV show Dolly! Apparently Parton was good friends with both Ronstadt and Harris (who she actually calls “one of my best friends” during the show) and they would get together to chat and sing which naturally led to Parton asking them to appear on the second episode of her new series. Ronstadt at the time had just covered the old J.B. Coats song, “The Sweetest Gift,” on her 1975 album Prisoner In Disguise with backing vocals from Harris but this version, with the added addition of Parton, is even more special.
2) “Bury Me Beneath The Willow” Dolly! (1976)
Again from the Dolly! show, the Trio’s take on the old bluegrass song “Bury Me Beneath The Willow” (which was also the first song the three ever sang together) showed the direction they would eventually take on their 1987 debut album. Although it took over 10 years for the album to finally happen, the ladies did attempt to record together in the late ’70s with producer Brian Ahern (who was married to Harris at the time) managing to record almost an album’s worth of songs. Sadly, problems arising from the fact that all three were on completely different record labels (and were all enjoying hugely successful careers at the time) led to them abandoning the project and the best of the tracks they had completed instead ended up on solo albums by both Ronstadt and Harris (Ronstadt has said the remaining songs were too “disappointing” to release.)
3) “Gold Watch And Chain” Live (1979)
Although the first attempt at a Trio album in the ’70s didn’t come to fruition, all three ladies remained friends and would often sing together (there’s a great shot of the three singing live together at Universal Amphitheater in 1979 in Ronstadt’s memoir Simple Dreams.) Sadly there’s no footage of that but we do have this great clip of Ronstadt (and Ricky Skaggs) helping Harris sing the old Carter Family song “Gold Watch And Chain” at this concert filmed for television in 1979. The track would later appear on Harris’ 1980 album Roses In The Snow and both Ronstadt and Parton would also help Harris out by singing harmonies on her 1985 album, The Ballad Of Sally Rose.
4) “My Dear Companion” Dolly (1987)
It took until 1986 for all three to sort out all the logistics to finally make an album together and Trio was eventually released in March 1987. Despite the acoustic, traditional sound of the record going against the more polished trend of the time, it proved a huge success winning the ladies numerous awards and going on to sell more than four million copies worldwide. “My Dear Companion,” one of the highlights from the album, is a traditional tune featuring lead vocals by Emmylou Harris. This clip – from Dolly’s variety show from 1987 – seems to be attempting to recreate their singing sessions at home in front of roaring fire and includes incredible versions of the Jimmie Rodgers song “Hobo’s Meditation” (with a beautiful lead vocal by Ronstadt) and Dolly leading the way on “Those Memories Of You.”
5) “Those Memories Of You,” The Tonight Show (1987)
Promoting the Trio album, Parton, Ronstadt and Harris also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and were not only interviewed but also performed three tracks from the record (each featuring a different lady on lead vocals.) The most upbeat of the three had to be “Those Memories Of You,” which had previously been a minor hit for Pam Tillis the year before. The Trio version though did even better, reaching #5 in the country charts and even had a rather nice black and white video (although the ladies themselves are in color) featuring the late great Harry Dean Stanton and his dog.
6) “To Know Him Is To Love Him,” The Tonight Show (1987)
The first single from the Trio album was their cover of the Phil Spector-penned tune “To Know Him Is To Love Him” and, helped by a charming video directed by none other than the man behind the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas (who was Ronstadt’s boyfriend at the time), it shot straight to #1 on the country charts.
7) “After The Gold Rush,” The Late Show (1999)
It took 13 more years before the Trio ladies released a second album, again record company issues and scheduling conflicts preventing them from making a more prompt follow-up. The tracks for the album were actually recorded in 1994 but Ronstadt became increasingly frustrated with the progress of the project (particularly Parton’s commitment to it – in one article she even declared she wouldn’t be able to work with Parton again) and decided to take some of the tracks, remix them without Parton, and instead release the songs as part of her 1995 album Feels Like Home. Eventually both Harris and Parton parted ways with their record companies, freeing them up to finally release Trio II as originally intended and Parton apologized for holding the project up (“She wrote us each a letter and said that she was sorry for the way things had happened,” Ronstadt told Goldmine in 1999.) Surprisingly given that both Harris and Ronstadt are friends and have worked with Neil Young in the past, it was actually Parton who proposed covering his song “After The Gold Rush,” which the Trio stunningly performed live on The Late Show With David Letterman in 1999.
8) “High Sierra,” The Today Show (1999)
Showcasing Ronstadt’s incredible vocals, the Trio appeared on NBC’s The Today Show in 1999 performing “High Sierra,” written by the late country singer Harley Allen. Although Trio II wasn’t the runaway success of their debut album it still managed to sell enough copies to be certified Gold and win the three ladies yet another Grammy award. This performance, which captured Ronstadt getting the giggles at the start, is particularly adorable.
9) “When We’re Gone, Long Gone,” TV4 (1999)
There are some lovely acoustic performances of songs from the Trio II album, interlaced with interviews, in this piece from Swedish TV in 1999. The highlight is a gorgeous version of The O’Kane’s song “When We’re Gone, Long Gone” with Harris on lead vocals.
10) “Grey Funnel Line,” Showbiz Today (1999)
The same year that Trio II was finally released, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris also gave us their one and only duet album together, Western Wall: The Tuscon Sessions, with Harris choosing tracks from some of her favorite songwriters from Bruce Springsteen to Patty Griffin. This song, the Cyril Tawney-penned folk tune “Grey Funnel Line,” isn’t on the record but was beautifully performed by the duo on the CNN program Showbiz Today while promoting the album. The pair went on a short six-week tour to promote the album but sadly this would be the last time we would hear Harris and Ronstadt (and Parton too) sing together again.
Did we miss your favorite Trio track? Let us know in the comments!
