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Cowgirl's Prayer

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Cowgirl's Prayer
Studio album by
Emmylou Harris
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1993
Recorded1993
StudioNashville
GenreCountry
Label
ProducerAllen Reynolds, Richard Bennett
Emmylou Harris chronology
At the Ryman
(1992) 		Cowgirl's Prayer
(1993) 		Wrecking Ball
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA+[3]
Los Angeles Times[4]
Orlando Sentinel[5]
Rolling Stone[6]

Cowgirl's Prayer is the seventeenth studio album by American country artist Emmylou Harris, released on September 28, 1993, by Warner Bros. Records. Coming immediately after 1992's live acoustic At the Ryman album, Cowgirl's Prayer is a collection of similarly subdued material (with a couple of rockers thrown in, notably "High Powered Love", the album's first single). Released at a time when older artists (i.e. anyone over 40) were being dropped from country radio playlists, the album received little airplay, despite positive reviews, and its relative commercial failure is said to have served as a catalyst for Harris's decision to change course with the harder-edged sound of her subsequent work, beginning with 1995's rockish Wrecking Ball, thus rendering Cowgirl's Prayer Harris's last mainstream country album.

Despite the lack of radio airplay, accompanying videos for the album's three singles, "High Powered Love", the Cajun-themed "Crescent City", and Jesse Winchester's "Thanks to You", received considerable exposure on CMT.

The album's name is taken from the first line of the last song, "Say a prayer for the cowgirl". In Leonard Cohen's original song Ballad of the Absent Mare the subject is a cowboy, but for Jennifer Warnes' 1987 version Cohen changed the name of the song to Ballad of the Runaway Horse and the protagonist to a cowgirl.

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Ways to Go"Lainie Marsh3:38
2."The Light"Kieran Kane, Emmylou Harris2:29
3."High Powered Love"Tony Joe White3:08
4."You Don't Know Me"Eddy Arnold, Cindy Walker3:07
5."Prayer in Open D"Emmylou Harris4:17
6."Crescent City"Lucinda Williams3:31
7."Lovin' You Again"Roger D. Ferris5:31
8."Jerusalem Tomorrow"David Olney4:17
9."Thanks to You"Jesse Winchester3:56
10."I Hear a Call"Tony Arata2:50
11."Ballad of a Runaway Horse"Leonard Cohen5:35

Personnel

[edit]
  • Richard Aspinwall – assistant engineer
  • Larry Atamanuik – percussion, drums
  • Sam Bacco – percussion
  • Grace Bahng – cello
  • Richard Bennett – acoustic, tremolo, electric guitar, percussion, tambourine, producer, mandocello, hi-string guitar
  • Mike Brignardello – bass
  • Lori Brooks – harmony vocals
  • Sam Bush – fiddle
  • Kathy Chiavola – handclapping, harmony vocals
  • Ashley Cleveland – handclapping, harmony vocals
  • Suzanne Cox – background vocals
  • Emory Gordy, Jr. – string arrangements
  • Emmylou Harris – acoustic guitar, harmony vocals
  • Connie Heard – violin
  • John Heiden – design
  • David Hoffner – Hammond organ
  • Roy Huskey, Jr. – acoustic bass
  • Kieran Kane – gut string guitar
  • Mary Ann Kennedy – harmony vocals
  • Jana King – harmony vocals
  • Alison Krauss – background vocals
  • Chris Leuzinger – acoustic and electric guitar
  • Sam Levine – clarinet, flute
  • Joe Loesch – special effects
  • Robin Lynch – art direction
  • Edgar Meyer – double bass
  • Mark Miller – engineer, mixing
  • Al Perkins – pedal steel, steel guitar
  • Jon Randall – harmony vocals
  • Allen Reynolds – producer
  • Pam Rose – harmony vocals
  • Milton Sledge – percussion, drums
  • Jay Spell – piano, accordion
  • Tim White – photography
  • Hurshel Wiginton – harmony vocals
  • Kris Wilkinson – viola
  • Dennis Wilson – harmony vocals
  • Bobby Wood – organ, electric piano
  • Bob Wray – bass
  • Trisha Yearwood – handclapping, harmony vocals

Chart performance

[edit]
Chart (1993) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 34
U.S. Billboard 200 152
Canadian RPM Country Albums 19

Release history

[edit]
Release history and formats for Cowgirl's Prayer
Region Date Format Label Ref.
North America September 28, 1993
  • CD
  • cassette
  • Asylum Records
  • Elektra Records
 [7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Emmylou Harris - Cowgirl's Prayer Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2011-05-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2011-05-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW". Los Angeles Times. 17 October 1993. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  5. ^ "EMMYLOU HARRIS". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Emmylou Harris: Cowgirl's Prayer : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 9 June 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-06-09. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  7. ^ Harris, Emmylou (September 28, 1993). "Cowgirl's Prayer (Liner Notes)". Asylum Records/Elektra Records. 9-61541-2 and 61541-2 (CD); 61541-4 (Cassette).
[edit]
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