1978's Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town was Emmylou Harris' first deliberate swing for the country music charts -- though she had been there steadily since 1975. Unlike her previous outings, she left pop songs off the record, and for the first time, she released an album without any songs by Gram... [+] Expand

1978's Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town was Emmylou Harris' first deliberate swing for the country music charts -- though she had been there steadily since 1975. Unlike her previous outings, she left pop songs off the record, and for the first time, she released an album without any songs by Gram Parsons in the deck. There are no left turns at all, but that hardly matters because as far as consistency goes, this one delivers in spades, and it's a knockout. Rodney Crowell had left the Hot Band by this time, but he nonetheless contributes two solid cuts here: in the now-classic "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" and his anthem, "I Ain't Living Long Like This." Harris also covers Delbert McClinton's roadhouse standard "Two More Bottles of Wine," Dolly Parton's classic weeper "To Daddy," and a pair of Jesse Winchester tunes with "Defying Gravity" and "My Songbird." Willie Nelson -- beginning his ascent of the outlaw country superstardom movement -- makes an appearance, dueting with Harris on Walter Martin Cowart's "One Paper Kid." But it's the opener, "Easy From Now On," by Susanna Clark and Carlene Routh, that is the album's finest moment. With its long West Texas melody loping through languid paces, it is the very sound of amorous resolve as it comes out of the test by fire. Produced by Brian Ahern, with accompaniment provided by a mutating Hot Band, the record was a hit, reaching number three on the Billboard country charts and number 29 on the pop charts for a crossover success. [The 2004 remastered and expanded edition contains two bonus live tracks in Guy Clark's "New Cut Road" and the Iry LeJeune Cajun standard "LaCassine Special." Liner notes by Holly George-Warren offer a detailed account of the sessions and the time period.] ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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