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All I Intended to Be
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MSRP: $18.98
Your Price: $9.99
Savings: $ 8.99 ( 47% )
Shipping: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
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Additional All I Intended to Be Information
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On her second Nonesuch disc, Emmylou Harris assembles an extraordinary cast of veteran musicians and fellow singers, all of them longtime friends, for a set that indeed showcases this Nashville icon, and 2008 CMA Hall of Fame inductee, as all she has intended to be - a singularly expressive vocalist, a brilliant interpreter of other people's songs, a graceful and confident songwriter. In particular, the album displays Harris's ability to bring new life to songs that may have been overlooked, forgotten or lost along the way. Some of the most affecting material here may be the least well-known - though not for long: John Wesley Routh's celtic/country "Shores Of White Sands" and trucker-poet Mark Germino's heartrending story-song, "Broken Man's Lament." Harris has chosen these songs with conceptual care. Like much of the gently uplifting All I Intended To Be, the stories may be bittersweet, the characters may be downtrodden, but somehow a sense of redemption always vanquishes regret. The shared history of all the artists involved deepens the feeling of hard-won wisdom that informs All I Intended To Be. Producer Brian Ahern was behind the boards for such early Harris classics as Elite Hotel, Pieces of the Sky and Blue Kentucky Girl. The players and guest stars are not only a veritable who's-who from the worlds of country, bluegrass and folk, but they have each intersected with Harris throughout her four-decade career as a recording artist. They include Dolly Parton, singers Pam Rose and Maryann Kennedy, dobro player (and longtime Seldom Scene member) Mike Auldredge, keyboardists Glenn D. Hardin (of Harris's Hot Band and Elvis Presley's legendary TCB combo) and Bill Payne (of Little Feat). Two songs - the June Carter tribute, "How She Could Sing The Wildwood Flower" and the breathtakingly beautiful "Sailing Round the Room" - were co-written by and performed with Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Singer-songwriter Karen Brooks, whose own eighties-era version of "Shores of White Sands" was the inspiration and thematic jumping-off point for this entire album, contributes backing vocals throughout; Randy Sharp, Brooks' singing partner, did the vocal arranging. (Harris won a 2005 Best Country Vocal Performance Grammy for her rendition of Sharp's "The Connection.") Harris's own songs, like the heartache ballad "Gold" and the elegiac "Not Enough," blend seamlessly with work by Patty Griffin ("Moon Song"), Merle Haggard ("Kern River") and Billy Joe Shaver ("Old Five and Dimers," from which the album title is taken). Harris revives what is arguably Tracy Chapman's most eloquent song, "Fast Car" notwithstanding - "All That You Have Is Your Soul," a cautionary tale with a simple but profound prayer of a chorus. Displaying the maturity, elegance and ease that distinguished All The Road Running, her best-selling 2006 collaboration with Mark Knopfler. Harris has created a riveting emotional and spiritual journey. All That I Intended To Be is everything a listener and fan could hope for.
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What Customers Say About All I Intended to Be:
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The music is vintage, not you). (Sorry, Emmy Lou. This is a great CD. I haven't bought one of Emmy Lou's albums in quite some time, but this one is vintage Emmy Lou.
the first being THE VERY BEST OF EMMYLOU HARRIS.If you listened to the samples without headphones, go back and listen again with headphones.And for all you duds, and you dudetts, if your thinking of just buying downloads, it is worth buying the whole cd just to get the picture of Emmylou that's on the back cover. If you have an ipod or any MP3 player, ALL I INTENDED TO BE is the second Emmylou Harris cd you should have.
There is a strain of American music - the only authentic strain aside from Afro-American - embodied in country, folk and some rock based on the former two that is heart-piercing, but absolutely lovely. I've seen her up close in a small concert and she is the very epitome of grace, modesty and beauty. If you don't know Emmylou Harris at all, buy anything she's ever done. And Emmylou Harris - who defies labels - does it best of all (though her version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" - elsewhere - rocks with a kind of tough cynicism that the Broadway showtune never had). I've been playing this disk for months in my waiting room, and client after client has been struck and asked me about it and her (and Juanes too, but that's another story). The worst that you'll get is really good. This album is lovely, if low-key and sad.
It's more relaxing than others, so if you want rock and roll this is not for you. I love it.
Emmylou sounds great and her backup harmonies are well suited. This really enjoyable collection of music has something for everyone.
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