25 Country Albums You Need to Hear (Even If You Hate Country Music)

12. ELITE HOTEL
Emmylou Harris
After the death of her duet partner, Gram Parsons, Harris almost single-handedly kept the torch of true country-rock alive with a string of still-revered 1970s Warner Bros. records. This 1975 effort may be the best example of why she was the rock crowd's favorite sweetheart of the rodeo, as the song selection veers from Buck to the Beatles, from the Louvin Brothers to the Everly Brothers, as well as new material from young bucks like Rodney Crowell. It must have been right around this time that the word ''crystalline'' was invented just for her, but this Hotel is a little rough around the edges, too.