Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0075597992854
Label: Nonesuch
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
MPN: 480444
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Nonesuch
Release Date: 2008-06-10
Studio: Nonesuch

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 Rating:
Summary: I love this album!
Comment: This is the first time in my entire life (and I'm pretty old) I've purchased an album and liked every song! Highly recommend this album.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER GREAT ALBUM BY EMMYLOU HARRIS!
Comment: Another lovely album by Ms. Harris! The title song is haunting, and the songs contemplative; Ms. Harris at her best! Highly recommended!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Deep Waters
Comment: Emmylou Harris' new CD is a lovely folk set. Four of the tracks have caught my ear at this point. "All That You Have Is Your Soul" is a Tracy Chapman song that Harris remakes with great result, "Hunger only for a taste of justice; Hunger only for a word of truth 'cause all that you have is your soul." For me, the album is backloaded with my very favorites coming right at the end. "Not Enough" is an Emmylou penned tune about loss, "I still have your memory, one or two pictures of you & me, Life is long & life is tough, but when you love someone, life's not long enough." What wisdom! "Sailing Round the Room" was written by Emmylou with Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Its lovely melody shines with the McGarrigles' backup vocals, "From the tall pines of Carolina all the way to the wall of China." The set ends with the lovely harmonies of Mike Auldridge & John Starling on "Beyond the Great Divide." "All I Intended to Be" is a quiet set that is like deep waters. Enjoy!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: hunger only for a world of truth
Comment: Once again I feel compelled to comment on Emmylou's music. When I first saw this disk I read various reviews here whining that this album is a "downer" and the like. I smiled to myself and bought it without a second thought. I would have bought it no matter what the reviews said. Yes, Emmylou sings about pain, but she also sings about redemption and perseverance, the dawn that follows the darkness. Anyway, what price do you put on music that brings tears to your eyes?

But I am writing just to comment on one track from this disk. "All That You Have Is Your Soul", a song that did not grab me when I heard the author's version two decades ago, is rescued here and made Emmylou's own. The song includes the lines: "hunger only for a taste of justice, hunger only for a world of truth." The depth of longing in the "hunger only", the slight hush of reverence in "justice" and "truth". Those lines, at this time, in that voice... Whatever I might think of the tracks on this album, and my opinion varies, those few seconds are worth the price of the album to me, and I would not be without it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Middle of the Road
Comment: At least I can say it's not a bad album, but I'm not going so far to say it is a great disk either. It's no 'Wrecking Ball' or 'Red Dirt Girl'. Heck, it's not even a 'Cowgirl's Prayer'.

It seems when it was released a few months back, every reviewer heaped nothing but praise on it. That's hard to live up to. And in my opinion, it doesn't.

As expected, there is nothing wrong with Harris' voice - it is still crystalline and unique as always. And though it was recorded over a three year stretch with her ex-husband as producer, it still has decent flow and consistency. A little too much consistency, where to a point there seems to be little deviation in the song style.

Maybe it's the material. But whatever it is, it is just not firing on all cylinders for me.

That's not to say it is bad - as I said earlier. It's fine, but it doesn't have too many stand-outs and that is usually what I love about Emmylou - she has plenty of them. But compared to anything else out there, it's a very good disk, but compared to some of her other works, it is just very middle of the road.

As usual, I just purchased her without listening to it, as you usually get a quality disk. Technically it is - I was just expecting so much more.

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