Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems (Rhino, 2007)
Emmylou Harris
Reviewed by Don Armstrong
That is the lesson of this four-CD, one-DVD retrospective of "rare tracks and forgotten gems," selected by Harris. Like many enduring stars, she is generally defined by her disregard of categories, but it is mostly a false framing. Except, perhaps, when she sings bluegrass - among her most inviting work, including this package's "Get Up John" - it is Harris's voice that is the most distinctive element.
She collaborates here with the likes of Nelson, Mark Knopfler, The Pretenders, George Jones and, of course, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, but the real guessing game is what style, among the innumerable worthwhile songs, seems most natural to Harris's crystalline - if slightly detached - soprano. The vote here goes to "1917's" tale of a soldier's misery and debauchery.
CDs by Emmylou Harris





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