Search - Emmylou Harris :: Blue Kentucky Girl

Classic Emmylou Harris wrapped in a sweet package.

Joel Lee Bradford | Eugene, OR USA | 08/24/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a fan of Emmylou Harris, you can't miss with this one. Herein lies a great collection of older tunes that are well defined by Harris' voice. Her sweet voice, joined by Don Everly, just breaks perfectly over the Louvin Bros. 'Everytime You Leave', and she makes Jean Ritchie's 'Sorrow in the Wind' cry with perfection. The collection also includes a terrific cover of Gram Parson's 'Hickory Wind' and the old tune, 'Save the Last Dance for Me'. Highly recommended"

Emmylou at her absolute best

R. Gahan | 12/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If Emmylou had a single best recording, this might be it. Ostensibly a departure from her first four country-rock albums and a move into pure country, that description is an oversimplification. The sound here is much like that on Emmylou's preceding four recordings, and there are moments of guitar, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle that have a bluegrass flavor you might expect to hear only on her "Roses in the Snow" album if you believed everything you read in music guides. What is distinctive about this recording is more the pure country song selection than any difference in instrumental style between this and her other albums. What makes it special to me is not that it is consistently excellent, which is the case for most of Emmylou's early albums, but that the level of excellence rises beyond that of most of those amazing recordings, partly due to the particularly well-chosen material and partly due to absolutely breathtaking performances of that material. She was in her best voice, and by now knew how to use it to milk every bit of emotion from each song.As one reviewer noted below, this CD is worth the purchase price just for "Hickory Wind". This is the quintessential Gram Parsons song, and the most moving rendition of it imaginable. From earlier covers of his material to her country-rock opera based loosely on their relationship, "The Ballad of Sally Rose", Emmylou has paid tribute to her mentor. But here she does so eloquently not only with her remarkable version of this one great song, but in the way the entire album captures the sweet aching feel of country music that Parsons tried to bring to the Woodstock generation, young people much more interested in rock music but open to new ideas. Nowhere else in her discography does Emmylou perform this particular feat so very well. This is where she conveys Parsons' message with all her heart and soul.Beyond "Hickory Wind", there are absolutely gorgeous versions of "Beneath Still Waters", "Sorrow In The Wind", "Everytime You Leave", and the title track. As others have written, of the many other recordings of the song, none stands up to Emmylou's version of "Save The Last Dance For Me". I'm not quite as fond of "Sister's Coming Home", "Rough and Rocky", or "They'll Never Take His Love From Me" as songs, but the performances are superb, and on any other early Emmylou album they'd have been among the best compositions - she just raised the bar so very high on this recording. At her finest here, she takes a mediocre Rodney Crowell song, loosely inspired by the then-trendy Tom Robbins book, and makes "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" a rousing finale to a near-perfect album.For anyone who is at all a fan of Emmylou's early years, this is bound to be a favorite. Many prefer "Roses In The Snow", and I have a soft spot for "Last Date", which perfectly captures the magic of her live shows of the early 80's. But even if you don't agree this is her absolute best, it's unlikely you'll think it's less than magnificent."