Harris, Parton, Ronstadt on Late Show, March 24, 1999 (full, stereo)

"Trio II" was recorded in 1994 but not released until 1999, when Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt appeared on Late Show to perform Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush." The Glass Harmonica (or Armonica) was played by Dennis James, who remembers the performance in an interview with Rich Bailey in 2002: Rich Bailey: I remember when you appeared with her on Letterman and you discussed the Armonica a bit. How was that? Dennis James: Well, it was a great surprise. A sort of unspoken message in the air to me before the broadcast was "Do not say anything on the air!”. After all, these things are Linda's appearances. When David L. leaned over his desk and directed a question to me I simply froze- on playback of the dub I can see myself caught and unable to speak. I received a glance from Linda that said to me it was OK and so when he tried again I called back a flip one liner and on things went from there. http://www.ronstadt-linda.com/djames.html The synthesizer player is Cliff Carter. I think the pianist is Robbie Kondor. The Trio altered two lines in their original "Trio II" recording: 1. "in the nineteen seventies" changed to "in the twentieth century." 2. "And I felt like getting high" changed to "And I felt like I could cry." Here's their CD version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykMzS6ugnPI It'd be tough to imagine them changing the lyrics without first getting Neil's permission. So to everyone complaining about the lyric changes in this live performance: Don't blame the show or the network. The changes had been made in the Trio's original recording. And, we must assume, with Neil Young's blessing. Update: Quoting Wikipedia: "Parton also released a solo version of the song in 1996, though her version altered the line 'I felt like getting high' to 'I felt like I could cry' with the permission of Neil Young."

Added 26 Mar 2026