“If I Could Only Win Your Love” is a song by The Louvin Brothers from their album Country Love Ballads (1959). The composition gained fame by Emmylou Harris , becoming the second single from her debut country album Pieces of the Sky (1975). This version of the song reached No. 4 on the Hot Country Songs chart and No. 58 on the Hot 100 of Billboard , as well as No. 1 on the Country Tracks charts of the Canadian RPM . The song was the first success in the solo career of the singer and contributed to the emergence of neotraditionalism in country music in the 1980s.
| If I Could Only Win Your Love | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Emmylou Harris from the Pieces of the Sky album | ||||
| Side “A” | "If I Could Only Win Your Love" | |||
| Side B | " Boulder to Birmingham " | |||
| Released | June 4, 1975 | |||
| Format | single | |||
| Genre | country | |||
| Duration | 2:36 | |||
| Producer | Brian Ahern | |||
| Songwriter | Charlie Luivin, Ira Luvin | |||
| Label | ||||
| Reprise | RPS 1332 | |||
| Chart Seats | ||||
No. 4 in Hot Country Songs ( Billboard , USA ) | ||||
| Emmylou Harris Singles Timeline | ||||
| ||||
Content
- 1 Background
- 2 Description
- 3 Value
- 4 musicians on record
- 5 notes
Background
The original song was recorded by The Louvin Brothers in August 1958. This song was not released as a single and was released a year later on Country Love Ballads . “I don’t know exactly what this song is about, but Ira, at least in his own view, was a favorite of women and, I think, it is dedicated to someone with whom he did not work out. When we recorded it, it was a completely new song, ”explained Charlie Luvin [1] .
In 1972, Emmylou Harris began singing duets with Graham Parsons , who introduced her to traditional country music, including The Louvin Brothers music [2] . Harris became their fan and managed to record two songs with her brothers Parsons: "Cash on the Barrelhead" and "The Angels Rejoiced Last Night". In 1973, he died of an overdose of drugs, and Harris soon released a solo album with the Luvin song “If I Could Only Win Your Love”, which became a turning point in her career [3] .
Description
Since since the time of working with Graham Parsons, the singer has gained fame as a talented harmonizer of vocal parts, the song “If I Could Only Win Your Love” allowed her to demonstrate her corporate identity at her first solo work. This time her partner was Herb Pedersen [4] . On the advice of her friend John Starling , one of the founders of the bluegrass band The Seldom Scene , she added an old-fashioned mandolin solo to her interpretation of the song [5] . “I suppose I didn’t even think about it,” Harris recalls, “no one added mandolin to country songs at that time” [6] .
The original version of the song performed by The Louvin Brothers at that time was little known [7] . The composition was released on the debut album Harris Pieces of the Sky in February 1975, and in June appeared in single format. As a result, “If I Could Only Win Your Love” became one of the most popular country songs of the year, reaching No. 4 in the Hot Country Songs and No. 58 in the Hot 100 of Billboard , as well as No. 1 in Country Tracks of the Canadian RPM [8 ] [9] [10] . This crossover between country and pop charts secured the role of Harris as a continuer of Parsons and his ideas about mixing different genres of popular music into one [4] .
| "If I Could Only Win Your Love" | |
| Playback help | |
The singer received approval from Charlie Luvin : “If you heard the recording of The Louvin Brothers, and then what Emmila did to her, you will hardly believe that this is the same song. It’s absolutely amazing for me to realize how some young people perceive old songs. And I think it's great. ” [1]
Value
Despite the fact that Harris at that time belonged to the California country rock community and lived in Los Angeles , the song “If I Could Only Win Your Love” ensured her success and recognition in the traditional country industry of Nashville [11] . The composition made her the new country star and created a reputation as an independent artist [11] [12] . After the release of the song, she was invited to the CMA Awards ceremony , where she performed her duet with Charlie Luvin [13] .
The success in the mainstream country of this old-fashioned composition with a tremolo on a mandolin and vocal harmonies characteristic of the bluegrass genre anticipated the emergence of neotraditionalism in the 1980s - a reversal of the country industry towards a more traditional sound as opposed to the previously dominant pop country [14] [15] [ 16] . This record also revived public interest in the work of The Louvin Brothers , whose albums at that time were already out of sale [14] [3] .
Recorded Musicians
- Herb Pedersen - Vocal, Banjo
- Brian Ahern - Acoustic Guitar
- Emmilou Harris - Acoustic Guitar
- Byron Burline - Mandolin
- Glen Hardin - Piano
- Ray Folman - Bass
- Ron Tutt - drums
- James Burton - Electric Guitar
- Ben Keith - Pedal Steel
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Charles K. Wolfe. In Close Harmony: the Story of the . - Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1996 .-- S. 89 .-- 168 p. - ISBN 9781617034138 .
- ↑ Bill C. Malone. Southern Music / American Music . - University Press of Kentucky, 1979.- S. 144.- 262 p. - ISBN 0813126355 .
- ↑ 1 2 Charles K. Wolfe. In Close Harmony: the Story of the . - Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1996 .-- S. 125 .-- 168 p. - ISBN 9781617034138 .
- ↑ 1 2 James E. Perone. The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations [4 volumes ]. - ABC-CLIO, 2012-10-17. - S. 717. - 1539 p. - ISBN 9780313379079 .
- ↑ Timothy White. Emmylou Harris 1999 Recipient of the Century Award // Billboard: Journal. - 1999. - December 4 ( t. 111 , No. 49 ). - S. 16 . - ISSN 0006-2510 .
- ↑ Richard Harrington . Emmylou Harris's Unending Circle of Friends (English) (October 20, 2006). Archived July 20, 2018. Date of appeal October 26, 2018.
- ↑ Bill C. Malone, Tracey Laird. Country Music USA: 50th Anniversary Edition . - University of Texas Press, 2018-06-04. - S. 485. - 769 p. - ISBN 9781477315354 .
- ↑ Country Music: Top Country Songs Chart - 27 Sept 1975 , Billboard . Archived on May 17, 2018. Date of appeal October 27, 2018.
- ↑ Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart - 13 Sept 1975 , Billboard . Archived February 19, 2018. Date of treatment October 28, 2018.
- ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Image: RPM Weekly (English) (July 17, 2013). Date accessed October 27, 2018. Archived October 28, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 Kurt Wolff. Country Music: The Rough Guide . - Rough Guides, 2000 .-- S. 407. - 612 p. - ISBN 9781858285344 .
- ↑ Lol Henderson, Lee Stacey. Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century . - Routledge, 2014-01-27. - S. 276. - 801 p. - ISBN 9781135929466 .
- ↑ Emmylou Harris. Charlie Louvin: the singer of God-fearing country the Guardian (January 24, 2010). Date of treatment October 26, 2018. Archived June 18, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 Chet Flippo . NASHVILLE SKYLINE: Emmylou Harris' Shining Legacy , CMT News . Archived July 19, 2018. Date of appeal October 26, 2018.
- ↑ Ivan M. Tribe. Country: A Regional Exploration . - Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 .-- S. 190. - 308 p. - ISBN 9780313330261 .
- ↑ Thomas Goldsmith. The Bluegrass Reader . - University of Illinois Press, 2004 .-- 384 p. - ISBN 9780252029141 .
