Hear Emmylou Harris cover Tom Petty & the Heartbreaker’s “Thing About You”
Emmylou Harris will release Spyboy on November 7 via New West Records. You can hear her rendition of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “A Thing About You” from the album below.
Emmylou Harris will release Spyboy on November 7 via New West Records. You can hear her rendition of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “A Thing About You” from the album below.
The 19-track live album was produced by Buddy Miller and Harris and features Miller on guitar and vocals, Brady Blade on drums, percussion and vocals and Daryl Johnson on bass, djembe, percussion and vocals as well.
Originally issued on compact disc by Eminent Records in 1998, the 2025 edition of Spyboy features five previously unreleased recordings of the band performing Tom Petty & the Heartbreaker’s “Thing About You”, Bob Dylan’s “Every Grain Of Sand”, Bill Monroe’s “Get Up John”, Lucinda Williams’ “Sweet Old World” as well as the Harris and Kate & Anna McGarrigle co-write “All I Left Behind”.
It also features updated artwork as well as new and updated liner notes written by Harris and Miller. A limited pressing of Spyboy was made available in celebration of Record Store Day in May but sold out.
Spyboy grew out of Wrecking Ball, Harris’ groundbreaking 1995 collaboration with the producer Daniel Lanois. That album, among her best and most celebrated, offers a very different idea of what country music could be, how it might sound and move. “It was such a sonic departure for me,” says Harris. “When we were making the record, I was thinking: Okay, I love this, but how am I going to play it? I’d had the Hot Band and then I’d had my bluegrass band, the Nash Ramblers. I loved playing with them, but I knew this was different.” For the subsequent tour, Lanois temporarily played guitar (before being replaced by Miller), and brought in bassist Johnson and drummer Blade. In 1996 and 1997 they toured America and Europe together. The recordings of those shows were collated on Spyboy.
Spyboy will be available across digital platforms, compact disc and clear vinyl. The album is available for pre-order here.
The tracklisting for Spyboy is:
My Songbird (Jesse Winchester) Where Will I Be I Ain’t Living Long Like This (Rodney Crowell) Love Hurts (Bouldleaux Bryant) Green Pastures Deeper Well Prayer In Open D Calling My Children Home Tulsa Queen Wheels (Flying Burrito Brothers) Born To Run Boulder To Birmingham All My Tears (Julie Miller) The Maker A Thing About You (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) * All I Left Behind (Emmylou Harris, Kate & Anna McGarrigle) * Every Grain Of Sand (Bob Dylan) * Get Up John (Bill Monroe) * Sweet Old World (Lucinda Williams) *
