Emmylou Harris - Bluebird (10 tracks) +Album Reviews

Voice of an angel

Jake Z | Canada | 01/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Emmylou Harris' 1989 album BLUEBIRD is not an album that should be looked over. You'd be missing some of her best material. If for any reason, buy this album for the beautiful ballad "A River For Him", which she penned herself. This is one of my all time favorite Emmylou songs, and it showed early on that she is a great songwriter, something she proved with later releases in her career when she had more of a hand in the songwriting. She does a magnificent cover of Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone". The album opens with "Heaven Only Knows", which is a great song to open the album with. "Love Is" is a nice uptempo song that would have been a good single. Her cover of John Hiatt's "Icy Blue Heart" is haunting and beautiful. "Lonely Street" and "Heartbreak Hill" are other great songs, the latter is another one she helped write. Overall BLUEBIRD is a great album that shouldn't be missed, some of her best ballads on here. The album closes with the beautiful sentiment on "If You Were A Bluebird". Don't miss this album!"

Top Notch

J. M. Zuurbier | Canada | 07/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a treat this CD is. It has everything an Emmylou Harris fan could possibly want, some rich cover songs, some inspiring songs, self penned songs and more. She wrote "A River For Him", which to me is the standout of the album. She expresses heartbreak so poetically and beautifully, and sings it so heartbreakingly. As well on BLUEBIRD she covers a few tracks. Johnny Cash' "I Still Miss Someone", which is so beautiful, and Andy Williams' "Lonely Street". She duets with Bonnie Raitt on the John Hiatt penned "Icy Blue Heart", about the games and tricks of love. The album closes with "If You Were A Bluebird", a beautiful emotive song about everlasting love. Other highlights include "Heaven Only Knows", "Love Is", and "Heartbreak Hill", but with any Emmylou album, you can't lose, especially when its BLUEBIRD."

The Sopranos has created newfound glory for this gem

J. Erhart | Tempe, AZ United States | 03/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Sopranos Season 5 premier "Two Tony's" has created buzz for a song that was released in 1989. The song is Heaven Only Knows by Emmylou Harris and it is found on this album. Overall, I think the album is good, and Emmylou is one of those artists that does not get the commercial success she deserves. I guess it took the monster poularity of the Sopranos to lend this album newfound glory in sales. As I type , this album is #27 on the Amazon bestseller list. What a feat for a 1989 release. Good stuff. Thanks to David Chase and the rest of the Sopranos crew for making this album a hit again."

Superb Song Selections

James Carragher | New York | 07/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Each time I play this CD I am amazed all over again at the range of superb songs from outstanding writers that Harris selected for Bluebird. This is all about love -- its infinite pleasures and heartbreak -- and seven of the ten cuts (a pretty skimpy amount I think) are off the chart excellent. From Heaven Only Knows through Tom Rush's No Regrets -- although in the lyrics it is immediately clear there are plenty of regrets from a lover who couldn't find a way to make the love that should have lasted stay -- the first five songs top those of any country or alt-country CD I have heard. I especially like the contrast of John Hiatt's barroom bleak Icy Blue Heart ("she came on to him like a slow moving cold front/His beer was warmer than the look in her eye") immediately followed by the giddiness of the McGarrigle sisters's Love Is ("Love is a shiny car/Love is a steel guitar... and my personal favorite "Love is your blue suede shoes"). Lonely Street and I Still Miss Someone are too oft-recorded for even Harris to bring much fresh to them, but the CD closes superbly with her own A River for Him and Butch Hancock's If I Were a Bluebird, a pairing that reprises the Icy Blue Heart/Love Is duality. The last lyric promises "if I was a highway I'd be stretching, I'd be fetching you home..." and then the pedal steel, the mandolins, and Emmylou's ethereal harmony sailing in the background do exactly that. It's perfect."

The almost forgotten classic

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 04/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Emmylou's classic period began with her major label debut album, Pieces of the sky, and ended with her 1980 bluegrass album, Roses in the snow. After that, her subsequent albums for Warner were of a high quality but not generally of the classic standard set by those early releases. However, this may be the best of Emmylou's later albums - it certainly deserves to be considered alongside the early albums.This album relies heavily on covers - nothing new there - but there are some great originals too. Heaven only knows (written by Paul Kennerley), A river for him (written by Emmylou) and Heartbreak hill (written by Paul and Emmylou) are all excellent songs.The covers include You've been on my mind (Rodney Crowell), Icy blue heart (John Hiatt), Love is (McGarrigle sisters), No regrets (written by Tom Rush, a cover by the Walker brothers made the UK top ten in 1976), Lonely street (originally a country hit for Kitty Wells and an American pop hit for Andy Williams), I still miss someone (Johnny Cash) and If you were a bluebird (Butch Hancock).This album contains a great mix of up-tempo songs and ballads. Because it was released along after her classic early period but before her change of direction that began with Wrecking ball, this album often gets forgotten, but if you enjoy Emmylou's early albums, you should also enjoy this one."

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