Search - Emmylou Harris :: Anthology: The Warner - Reprise Years

Almost Perfect Collection Of Emmylou Harris Classics

Matt Coker | Davis, CA, USA | 04/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unlike many of her country music colleagues in the 1970s, Emmylou Harris didn't record singles and pad an album around them. She recorded detailed, consistent, expensive, and high-quality albums and pulled the songs with the highest commercial potential for singles. Listening to ANTHOLOGY: THE WARNER/REPRISE YEARS and comparing it to recordings by other stars of the 1970s and 1980s is a revelation. There is no contest in terms of the quality of songs and the breath-taking beauty and power of the performances. This compilation features six of her #1 hits: "Together Again", "Sweet Dreams", "Two More Bottles Of Wine", "Beneath Still Waters", "(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date", and "To Know Him Is To Love Him". (Her seventh #1, "We Believe In Happy Endings" was originally released on the BMG label and wasn't licensed for this collection.) I've listened to lots of country music collections lately and found only three or four songs half as incredible as "White Line", "Beneath Still Waters", "Boulder To Birmingham", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Easy From Now On" or "In My Dreams". These songs are just the beginning. ANTHOLOGY features Emmylou Harris' legendary heart breaking ballads "Making Believe", "Beneath Still Waters", "Sweet Dreams", and "On Our Last Date". Her uptempo material is terrific, just listen and love "In My Dreams", "C'est La Vie", "Two More Bottles Of Wine", "White Line", and "Heaven Only Knows". In addition, its hard not to be impressed by "If I Could Only Win Your Love", "To Know Him Is To Love Him", "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Here, There And Everywhere", "Boulder To Birmingham", and "Heartbreak Hill". ANTHOLOGY is the beginning of Rhino Records updating the extraordinary Emmylou Harris catalog - a collection of quality music without equal. Emmylou Harris brought the beauty and emotional resonance of traditional music back to a country music era that desperately needed a lesson about its own past. Harris was also the chief leader in bringing rock music's album orientated approach to a country music audience that had been fed cheaply manufactured LPs reminiscent of pre-Beatles rock records. ANTHOLOGY is a completely different type of compilation from 1996's excellent PORTRAITS box set. PORTRAITS is a great collection that highlights Emmylou Harris' artistry, though I find the minimal coverage of the 1982-1987 years disappointing. ANTHOLOGY functions more as a greatest hits collection, its an almost perfect in this matter except that it omits "I Don't Have To Crawl" from EVANGELINE. Hopefully, EVANGELINE will be issued soon. ANTHOLOGY corrects many of the omissions that were made on the original greatest hits collections, the highly enjoyable PROFILE series. PROFILE II released in 1984 omits "The Boxer", "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again", "I Don't Have To Crawl", "If I Needed You", "Tennessee Rose", "So Sad", "Drivin' Wheel", and "In My Dreams". which were released as singles between 1979-1984 the years that compilation covers. ANTHOLOGY collects most of these songs, but in Emmylou Harris' rich catalog the only box set that would work is one that features all her songs. ANTHOLOGY succeeds immensely because it collects most of the singles not featured on PROFILE or PORTRAITS, (the omission of "I Don't Have To Crawl" does bother me), and all of the songs released as singles after the 1984 release of PROFILE II. It's hard to argue with what's here in terms of hits "If I Could Only Win Your Love", "Sweet Dreams", "Easy From Now On", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Born To Run", "Pledging My Love", "White Line", "Heartbreak Hill", as ANTHOLOGY is essentially a greatest hits collection, even if Emmylou Harris is recognized for her album artistry. The single versions of "Mister Sandman" and "Tennessee Rose" are welcome. "Mister Sandman" was re-recorded by Harris after the "TRIO Project" was cancelled. The version with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton is available on PORTRAITS and (though still not available) EVANGELINE. The version here is featured on PROFILE II, and the song is different. When CIMARRON spent its ten-plus years as a cassette only release, the instrumental ending to "Tennessee Rose" was replaced by the vocal harmony fade-out of the single, which is also a shorter version. Eminent's exceptional reissue of CIMARRON featured the original version with the instrumental backing as opposed to the vocal harmony ending. I don't know why the collection lists certain tracks: "Sweet Dreams", "I'm Movin' On", "On Our Last Date", and "So Sad" as being live versions. If studio versions exist they have yet to be released, ANTHOLOGY features the same "Sweet Dreams" as ELITE HOTEL, PROFILE, and PORTRAITS. On ELITE HOTEL "Sweet Dreams" was one of three live tracks which showcased the Hot Band in concert, LAST DATE which features "I'm Movin' On", "So Sad", and "On Our Last Date" is a live album with the Hot Band. Another notable accomplishment of ANTHOLOGY is the first CD issue of two tracks from THIRTEEN, one of Harris' most underrated recordings, "I Had My Heart Set On You" and "Today I Started Loving You Again". This collection also features five of the six exclusive B-sides Emmylou Harris issued in the early 1980s: "Precious Love", "Fools Thin Air", "Colors Of Your Heart", "Another Pot O Tea" and "Maybe Tonight". "Precious Love" and "Fools Thin Air" have never been released on CD. Overall ANTHOLOGY is an excellent Emmylou Harris collection. The real place to experience her extraordinary talent is her catalog of incredible albums, still ANTHOLOGY is a wonderful introduction to one of the most talent artists of all-time."

Not Her Best Collection

Avalon Don | Huntington Beach, California United States | 10/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Five years ago Emmylou Harris "Portraits" was released which is as good as any career highlight box set in music. The "Elvis 50's Masters" covered only half a decade and doesn't count. I can honestly say "Portraits" is ten times better than "Anthology", but in all fairness there are radio people out there, the get in the car and go crowd. For those fans, this collection is better. I still give "Anthology" a 5 star because Emmylou takes the hands on approach to ALL her recordings and has the reputation for never making a bad song, including the singles. She's takes an average song like "Here, There And Everywhere" makes it twice as good. If some of you still question how great this lady is, how many other female stars from the mid-seventies are still filling the halls in present times? Enjoy this collection or the box set, they don't come much better than Emmylou Harris - the greatest female Country Rocker of alltime."

Terrific Introduction To Country's Top Vocalist

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 12/30/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My collection included about half of Emmylou Harris's releases on either vinyl or cassette, and when the Portraits box set came out in 1996 I saw it as an excellent opportunity to upgrade to CD. Five years later along comes Anthology and I figured it would be little more than a condensed version of the box set. Boy, was I wrong.Only twenty of these songs are duplicated from Portraits. Two other songs are repeated from the box set but in different versions: "Sweet Dreams" is presented here (somewhat puzzlingly) in a live version and "Mister Sandman" is the original single version. [The album version of this song--included on the box set--was an alternate take with backing vocals from Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt.] So what you get with the remaining twenty-two songs are the rest of Harris's singles and non-album B-sides from her 1975-1990 tenure at Warner/Reprise. Disc-1 offers three additional songs not found on the box set: two non-album B-sides, "Precious Love" and "Fools Thin Air"; and the non-charting single "Colors of Your Heart," written by Rodney Crowell.Disc-2 only duplicates three tracks from the box set: "In My Dreams," "To Know Him Is to Love Him" and "Heartbreak Hill." The second disc starts with the three singles (all Top 10 country hits) from 1981's Cimarron, including the duet with Don Williams on "If I Needed You." "Another Pot O' Tea" and "Maybe Tonight" are non-album B-sides from "(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date" (Harris's fifth No. 1) and "I'm Movin' On"--both taken off 1982's live Last Date album. A third single from that album, "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)," is a heartfelt cover of the Everly Brothers classic.Disc-2 also showcases Harris as a songwriter. Three singles were extracted from the song cycle The Ballad of Sally Rose. They were "White Line," "Rhythm Guitar" and "Timberline," all co-written with Paul Kennerley who played guitar and co-produced the album with Harris. [They would latter marry in 1987.] "White Line" was the biggest hit peaking at No. 14 in 1985. Harris's last No. 1 was a remake of the Phil Spector-penned "To Know Him Is To Love Him" from the Trio album. Her final top ten was another Harris-Kennerley original "Heartbreak Hill" from 1989's Bluebird.Anthology serves not only as a terrific introduction to one of country's greatest female vocalists, but its focus on her singles output makes it a wonderful supplement to her box set. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"