Cimarron

Personnel includes: Emmylou Harris (vocals, acoustic guitar); Don Williams, Fayssoux Starling (vocals); Brian Ahern (acoustic & electric guitars, bass, 6-string bass, percussion); Barry Tashian (acoustic & electric guitars, background vocals); David Kirby, Barry "Byrd" Burton, Paul Kennerley, Rodney Crowell (acoustic guitar); Frank Reckard (electric & gut-string guitars); Hank DeVito, Steve Fishell (pedal steel guitar); Ricky Scaggs (banjo, fiddle, background vocals); Herb Pedersen (banjo, background vocals); Wayne Goodwin (mandolin, fiddle); Albert Lee (mandolin); Glen D. Hardin (strings, piano, electric piano); Tony Brown (piano, electric piano); Don Johnson (electric piano); Mike Bowden, Emery Gordy (bass); John Ware (drums).
Producer: Brian Ahern.
Reissue producers: Monty Hitchcock, Steve Wilkison.
Engineers: Brian Ahern, Donivan Cowart, Stuart Taylor.
Recorded at The Enactron Truck & Magnolia Sound Studios, North Hollywood, California. Originally released on Warner Brothers (7599 23603). Includes liner notes by Brian Mansfield.
Digitally remastered by Brian Ahern & Doug Sax (The Mastering Lab, Hollywood, California).
By the time Emmylou Harris made CIMARRON, her 10th release for Warner Bros., the 34 year-old singer had established herself as both an indisputable and an anomalous country music star. This 1981 release, focused thematically on New Mexico, is lyrically reflective and truth seeking, with musical flavors of bluegrass, rock, and folk.
The album's highlights are probably the two biggest singles, "If I Needed You," and "Born to Run." The former is a tender, forlorn Townes Van Zandt tune that features Don Williams singing along with Harris, his deep baritone complementing her fragile tone. Despite the hits and Harris's return to a more contemporary country sound, CIMARRON didn't get quite the enthusiastic reception accorded her previous albums. However, it did stay on the Billboard charts for 42 weeks, peaking at number six.