All I Intended to Be

Editorial Review

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.

Emmylou Harris has always had a way with woe. On All I Intended To Be, she seems more maudlin than ever as she sings her way through songs about loss, heartbreak, even the odd funeral. Of course, this is the kind of material Harris has always been comfortable with, but as her career and years advance gracefully, so her gliding soprano seems to breathe ever more refinement and soul into her material. All I Intended To Be has been produced by Brian Ahern, her former husband and the man behind her first 11 albums--another reason the album sounds so comfortable and accomplished. Joined by a virtuoso set of players including keyboardist Glen Hardin and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Duncan, plus vocalists Vince Gill, Buddy Miller, and Dolly Parton, Harris blends a handpicked selection of cover versions with her own material. Tracy Chapman's "All That You Have Is Your Soul" gets a honeyed reworking, as does Merle Haggard's "Kern River" and Mark Germino's "Broken Man's Lament". Billy Joe Shaver's "Old Five" and "Dimers Like Me" both get respectfully and sublimely covered too. But her own songs--in particular "Sailing Round the Room" and "Gold"--stand up well to these evergreens. An eclectic and profound set, All I Intended To Be is also one of Harris' best in recent years.--Danny McKenna

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
• Emmy lou Harris "All I intended to be"
  This record is so beautiful- excellent! She is unequaled-I am listening to this recording every day, many times. I intend to give some for Xmas gifts.
• All I Intended to Be/Emmylou Harris
  This is a geat albumn. Does tend to be on the sad side as far as song content. Emmylou does a wonderful rendition of Merle Haggard's Kern River. Overall, I am enjoying the music and, as always, Emmylou's voice reaches to my soul.
  KMccall
• Minor keys, haunting melodies --
  Not everything I may I have wished for but very close. Well chosen songs, Ms. Harris' inimitable voice and a production that only occasionally detracts from both. Not the summation of a marvelous career but a stepping stone in that direction.
  
• 3.5 Stars... Emmylou looks back, and then moves forward
  I've always had a great admiration for Emmylou Harris as an artist but I couldn't really call myself a true fan of hers, that is until the release of her 1995 album "Wrecking Ball" in which she transcends the previous limits of country music into something new altogether. I've loved every one of her albums since then, and it's been a long five years since her previous studio album "Stumble Unto Grace".
  "All I Intend To Be" (13 tracks; 56 min.) came as somewhat of a surprise to me, as Emmylou reaches... more info

Tracks:

1. Shores of White Sand
2. Hold On
3. Moon Song
4. Broken Man's Lament
5. Gold
6. How She Could Sing the Wildwood
7. All That You Have is Your Soul
8. Take That Ride
9. Old Five and Dimers Like Me
10. Kern River
11. Not Enough
12. Sailing Round the Room
13. Beyond the Great Divide

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