All I Intended to Be - Emmylou Harris
Though it may be unchivalrous to say so, “All I Intended to Be,” Emmylou Harris’ latest album, has all of the earmarks of a late-period work. Surely only an artist with as long and varied a career as Harris has had can adopt such a reflective stance on the experience of life. The thirteen songs mostly describe dark stages of their singers’ lives: broken hearts, suicidal thoughts, failed relationships, and abandonment. Harris strives mightily, through the communicative power of her voice and the quality of the music
I’m not sure she totally succeeds, but there’s certainly a lot here that sticks in the heart and mind, especially as far as the songwriting is concerned. After the more eclectic sound explorations of her last few solo albums, Harris in “All I Intended to Be” comes full circle back to her roots, especially with work by “old five and dimers” such as Billy Joe Shaver and Merle Haggard included. “Broken Man’s Lament,” the tale of a man who pays the price for thwarting his wife’s ambitions, has the inevitability of a classic folk ballad. “How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower,” co-authored by Harris and the McGarrigles, similarly evokes the classic Carter Family tune and lyrics in describing another husband deserted by his neglected wife. Patty Griffin (”Moon Song”), Jude Johnstone (”Hold On”), Tracy Chapman and Jack Wesley Routh (”Shores of White Sand”) contribute memorable tracks. “Don’t be tempted by the shiny apple/Don’t you eat of the bitter fruit…’Cause all that you have is your soul,” admonishes Chapman in her song, and it seems Emmylou Harris has taken that advice to heart. Wherever she’s gone with her music, it’s been with her heart and soul.
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