Elite Hotel [Bonus Tracks]

1	Amarillo 3:01
2	Together Again 3:54
3	Feelin' Single - Seein' Double 2:28
4	Sin City 3:55
5	One of These Days 3:03
6	Till I Gain Control Again 5:36
7	Here, There and Everywhere 3:42
8	Ooh Las Vegas 3:43
9	Sweet Dreams 4:08
10	Jambalaya 3:10
11	Satan's Jewel Crown 3:13
12	Wheels 3:16
13	You're Running Wild previously unreleased / Bonus Track 1:44
14	Cajun Born previously unreleased / Bonus Track 3:19

Barnes & Noble

Building on the template set on her first solo album, Pieces of the Sky, Emmylou Harris closed out 1975 with another eclectic stunner in Elite Hotel. Her interpretive skill is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, whether she's digging into a tear-jerking rendition of Buck Owens's "Together Again" or going back to the '50s to reimagine the Louvin Brothers' version of "Satan's Jewel Crown" as a plaintive, gospel-tinged dirge; whether crossing genres to find a tender country ballad in Lennon & McCartney's "Here, There and Everywhere" or laying down definitive readings of songs by her contemporaries, such as Gram Parsons' "Sin City" and her bandmate Rodney Crowell's devastating "Till I Gain Control Again." By adding some solid mainstream country entries -- such as a twangy take on "One of These Days" and Hank Williams's jubilant "Jambalaya" -- Harris and producer Brian Ahern also position Elite Hotel as solidly ahead of its time -- by about a decade -- in bringing country's past boldly and expressively into the present in defiance of the increasingly watered down commercial fare emanating from Nashville in those days. This task was made all the easier with assistance from the stellar musicians in tow, including James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, Crowell, Hank DeVito, John Ware, and Ricky Skaggs, along with scintillating contributions by bluegrass virtuoso Mike Auldrige on dobro and Louisiana legend Jo-el Sonnier on accordion. This remixed, remastered reissue includes two fine bonus cuts: a beautiful Harris-Crowell duet on "You're Running Wild" (with the singers backed evocatively and solely by their own acoustic guitars), and an exultant workout on Sonnier's stomping "Cajun Born." Which is to say, a classic album just got better. David McGee

All Music Guide

Elite Hotel is the second album Emmylou Harris recorded for Warner Brothers, issued in the same year as her debut masterpiece, Pieces of the Sky. Elite Hotel is the album that garnered Harris her first pair of number one singles on Billboard's country charts, with her soulful reading of Buck Owens' "Together Again" and the impassioned performance of Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams." And while these two tracks may have been the most played, they are far from the finest tracks on this stellar outing. While Harris continues to perform the material of her late collaborator, Gram Parsons, Elite Hotel is almost a tribute recording given that it features three of his songs, two from his period with the Flying Burrito Brothers, "Sin City" and "Wheel," and "Ooh Las Vegas," from her recording with him on his album Grievous Angel. Other standouts here include a beautiful version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" and her now legendary cut of Rodney Crowell's "Till I Gain Control Again." On this early date, Harris' voice arrives fully focused, fully articulate, and completely in control of the material. Her backing group, the illustrious Hot Band, included guitarist James Burton, Crowell, her producer and husband Brian Ahern, Mike Auldridge, Hank DeVito, and many others. Guests like Linda Ronstadt and Amos Garret appear as well. Elite Hotel, like all of the early Warner recordings, has aged remarkably well, and sounds as fresh and revelatory today as it did in 1975. [The 2004 reissue by Rhino offers fully remastered 24-bit sound, and the inclusion of a pair of bonus tracks: "You're Running Wild," a duet with Crowell, and the nugget "Cajun Born," by the then-unknown songwriter Jo-El Sonnier. In addition, there are fine -- even exhaustive -- liner notes by critic Holly George-Warren.] Thom Jurek