Star rating - 9/10
Being one of
my very favourite artists I have seen Emmylou Harris perform live many times
now, but her current tour with Rodney Crowell really was a special treat. They,
together with their 5 piece band, played their hearts out in two separate, long
sets; the first a collection of songs from their shared history, and the second
from their new album Old Yellow Moon. Their infectious sense of
fun and enjoyment at being on stage on this, the first night of their tour, transmitted
to the crowd, and it almost felt like intruding on a private, joy-filled, jamming
session.
Harris and Crowell
are old friends, he having joined her Hot
Band way back in 1975 as a rhythm guitarist. And their voices blend
together beautifully, but then Emmylou is an absolute magician at wrapping her
voice around others, especially male ones, and making harmonies so sweet it is
startling. Of course the most famous vocal duets she created were with Gram Parsons,
and the evening kicked off with a very special rendition of his Return of the Grievous Angel, followed
by more Parsons treats in the shape of Wheels
and Luxury Liner. The latter featured
some stunning electric guitar picking by Australian Jedd Hughes.
There were
also some of my favourite numbers from Emmylou's own back catalogue including Red Dirt Girl, with its sad story of the unbelievably hard life and early death
of a working class girl named Lillian, who dreamt hopelessly of a better life. Covers
of the beautiful Susanna Clark song I'll be your San Antone Rose, a friend whose death last year obviously touched Harris. As did the death in 2010 of Kate
McGarrigle, and the simple solo acoustic version of Darlin' Kate was truly moving. Crowell also contributed some of his own lovely songs
including The Rock of My Soul and Earthbound.
Their second
set included the Louvin Brothers classic The
Angels Rejoiced Last Night, and Leaving
Louisiana with its gorgeous pedal
steel accompaniment. But it was mainly a show case for their new album, which
was clearly a labour of friendship and love. Hanging
Up My Heart is a great Hank DeVito cover; Invitation to the Blues an old country shuffle; and Back When We Were Beautiful a hauntingly
beautiful song about lost youth and growing old. Harris lovingly recounted how
she first heard Crowell sing, at the end of a dodgy batch of demo tapes that
had been sent to her, his Blueberry Wine
caught her attention, and fully deserves its place on the new record.
This talented
group of musicians were clearly having fun as a band, playing country and rock
n roll and everything in between. Crowell described Emmylou as having 'the soul of a poet, the voice of an angel,
and heart of a cowgirl.' It's hard to disagree. It was a treasure of an
evening, and the first time I have not heard her sing Boulder to Birmingham live (my all time favourite song by anyone). They
left us with the lucious Sin City,
and such was the quality of the night that there was no room at all for
disappointment.
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