Emmylou Harris - All I Intended To Be
Saturday, June 14, 2008 13:18
“Emmylou Harris has been so busy in recent years—collaborating with Mark Knopfler, touring with Neil Young and Elvis Costello, assembling a boxed set—that it’s surprising to realize her last album of new material was five years ago. Blending five originals with a selection of tracks by others, the prosaically titled 13-song set represents a fusing of Harris’ past and present. Produced by longtime collaborator Brian Ahern, “Intended” blends the country and folk flavor of her early recordings with the ethereal ambience that’s marked her work of the last dozen or so years. There’s classic balladry via Harris’ own “How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower” and her renditions of Merle Haggard’s “Kern River” and Mark Germino’s “Broken Man’s Lament.” Dolly Parton lends just the right touch to Harris’ “Gold,” while Vince Gill joins in for a duet on Billy Joe Shaver’s “Old Five and Dimers Like Me.” Harris’ take on Tracy Chapman’s “All That You Have Is Your Soul” is definitive, and “Beyond the Great Divide” provides a sublime closing to an album that was well worth the wait.—Gary Graff”
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