DAVID L. CODDON
08-Jun-2000 Thursday
EMMYLOU HARRIS, CIMARRON | EMMYLOU HARRIS, LAST DATE
CIMARRON
EMMYLOU HARRIS
Eminent
* * * 1/2
COUNTRY
LAST DATE
EMMYLOU HARRIS
Eminent
* * *
If your turntable broke down long ago and your vinyl copies of Emmylou Harris' "Cimarron" and "Last Date" have been gathering dust ever since, take heart. These two notable albums by one of contemporary music's peerless artists are now available on CD.
Not only was Harris, now 53, blessed with a flawless soprano, a rare gift for interpretation, and luminous beauty, but she has recorded some of country music's most compelling albums. Count "Cimarron" (from '81) and the "Last Date," recorded live with the Hot Band (from '82), among them.
"Cimarron" includes Harris' high-charting duet with Don Williams, Townes Van Zandt's "If I Needed You," plus the lustrous ballad "Rose of Cimmaron" and a superb cover of Bruce Springsteen's "The Price You Pay."
The Hot Band -- always Harris' best supporting cast -- is in fine form on "Last Date," which finds Harris having a ball with the likes of occasional collaborator Neil Young's "Long May You Run," mentor Gram Parsons' "Return of the Grievous Angel" and a host of others, including "I'm Movin' On," a Harris concert staple.
Both albums come with previously unreleased "bonus tracks," as well -- but even if they didn't, "Cimarron" and "Last Date" would be well worth revisiting, and reveling in.