Thirteen is an album by the American musician Emmylou Harris, released in 1986. The title came from its status as her thirteenth studio album, not counting her 1969 debut Gliding Bird, which she disowned.
The album was co-produced by Harris and her then-husband, Paul Kennerley. It became available as a CD in 2013 in a compilation issued by the Rhino Entertainment Company called Emmylou Harris Original Album Series Vol.2.
Two singles from the album were released and charted on the Hot Country Singles chart, with "If I Had My Heart Set on You" peaking at No. 60 and "Today I Started Loving You Again" peaking at No. 43. The latter was nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards.
Critical reception
The Los Angeles Times deemed Thirteen Harris's "most thoroughly satisfying studio album since 1979's Blue Kentucky Girl." The Orlando Sentinel wrote that Harris "always has been real country, in the bluegrass-mountain music branch—what she does better than any major artist is to add a measure of present to the past."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Jason Ankeny called Harris' cover of Bruce Springsteen's "My Father's House" "lovely", but believed the rest of the material and performances were "lackluster".
Track listing
Personnel Mike Bowden – bass Steve Cash – harmonica Rodney Crowell – backing vocals Steve Fishell – steel guitar, slide guitar, resonator guitar Vince Gill – backing vocals Carl Jackson – mandolin, fiddle, banjo, acoustic guitar, backing vocals Don Johnson – keyboards Shane Keister – synthesizer Mary Ann Kennedy – backing vocals Paul Kennerley – acoustic guitar Mark O'Connor – fiddle Frank Reckard – mandolin, electric guitar, acoustic guitar Pam Rose – backing vocals Buddy Spicher – fiddle Barry Tashian – backing vocals, accordion Steve Turner – drums, percussion Paul Worley – acoustic guitar Emmylou Harris – vocals, acoustic guitar
Chart performance Chart (1986) Peakposition
Release history + Release history and formats for Thirteen Region Date Format Label Ref. North America February 1986 Warner Bros. Records
References