Cowgirl's Prayer

Cowgirl's Prayer
Studio album by Emmylou Harris
Released	September 28, 1993
Recorded	Nashville, 1993
Genre	Country
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Allen Reynolds, Richard Bennett
Emmylou Harris chronology
At the Ryman (1992) Cowgirl's Prayer (1993) Wrecking Ball (1995)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	A+[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
Orlando Sentinel	[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]

Cowgirl's Prayer is a 1993 Emmylou Harris album. 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' 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' 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.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"A Ways to Go"	Lainie Marsh	3:38
2.	"The Light"	Kieran Kane, Emmylou Harris	2:29
3.	"High Powered Love"	Tony Joe White	3:08
4.	"You Don't Know Me"	Eddy Arnold, Cindy Walker	3:07
5.	"Prayer in Open D"	Emmylou Harris	4:17
6.	"Crescent City"	Lucinda Williams	3:31
7.	"Lovin' You Again"	Roger D. Ferris	5:31
8.	"Jerusalem Tomorrow"	David Olney	4:17
9.	"Thanks to You"	Jesse Winchester	3:56
10.	"I Hear a Call"	Tony Arata	2:50
11.	"Ballad of a Runaway Horse"	Leonard Cohen	5:35

Personnel

• 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, Harmony
• 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 & 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

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

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Chicago Tribune review
3. Entertainment Weekly review
4. Los Angeles Times review
5. Orlando Sentinel review
6. Rolling Stone review

External links

• Boehm, Mike (19 August 1993). "ANSWER TO A 'PRAYER': Emmylou Harris' Latest Digs Deep Into Universal Lament of Superficiality". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
• Gettelman, Parry (8 October 1993). "Emmylou Harris, Cowgirl's Prayer (Asylum): Cowgirl's Prayer is a bit uneven, but the high points make it worth negotiating a few rough spots.". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 12 May 2011.