Emmylou Harris - The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches & Highways

Emmylou Harris is an artist whose body of work is so consistently strong one could almost pull 20 songs at random from her catalog, string them together, and end up with a pretty listenable disc -- which suggests that the real choices in putting together a "best of Emmylou" album has as much to do with what not to include as what should be on hand. Harris herself helped compile The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches & Highways, and while the album certainly doesn't avoid Harris' chart successes, she seems less interested in creating a definitive hits collection than in tracing her journey from the sweet, sad-voiced girl who sang with Gram Parsons to the gifted and thoughtful artist who has lately crafted such mid-career masterpieces as Wrecking Ball and Red Dirt Girl. While the album isn't sequenced in a strictly chronological fashion, the results faithfully trace Harris' subtle but clear stylistic evolution while also offering plenty of evidence that she's perhaps the most naturally gifted song stylist to emerge in country music since the 1970s, able to swing from the honky tonk spirit of "Two More Bottles of Wine" to the rueful losers tale of "Pancho and Lefty" to the gospel passion of "Calling My Children Home" without missing a step. Her superb taste in collaborative musicians, songwriters, and duet partners is also clearly evident throughout, and while the surfaces of later tracks such as "Orphan Girl" and "Michelangelo" may have a different feel, the depth and clarity of Harris' voice and the singular beauty of her creative vision lend this material all the commonality one could need. (And the album's one new track, "The Connection," suggests there's plenty more where all this came from.) If you're looking for an introduction to Emmylou Harris' broad and remarkable body of work, The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches & Highways is a strong starting point, and if you simply want to hear 75 minutes of superb music, this fills the bill on that score as well. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

Name Credits Al Perkins Pedal Steel, Vocal Harmony, Group Member, Guitar (Acoustic), Banjo, Dobro Alan Fletcher Associate Producer Albert Lee Mandolin, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Piano Allen Reynolds Producer Annie Leibovitz Photography Barry Tashian Guitar (Rhythm), Duet, Vocals Ben Keith Pedal Steel Bill Payne Piano Brian Ahern Audio Production, Mastering Buddy Miller Vocals, Mando-Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric), Producer Byron Berline Mandolin Craig Safan String Arrangements, Conductor Daniel Lanois Producer, Audio Production, Dulcimer, Mandolin Darryl Johnson Guitar (Bass), Vocals, Bass Pedals, Djembe, Vocal Harmony, Percussion David Gahr Photography David Lindley Mandolin, Kona Guitar Dianne Brooks Vocals (Background) Dolly Parton Vocals Donald Johnson Piano (Electric) Donivan Cowart Vocal Harmony, Mastering Ed Greene Drums Emily Deaderick Project Coordinator Emmylou Harris Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals, Producer, Compilation Producer, Audio Production Emory Gordy Bass Ethan Johns Guitar (Electric), Drums Fayssoux Starling McLean Vocal Harmony, Vocals (Background) Frank Reckard Guitar Gary Peterson Discographical Annotation George Massenburg Audio Production, Producer Gerry McGee Guitar (Electric) Gina R. Binkley Design, Art Direction Ginger Dettman Project Assistant Glen D. Hardin Piano, String Arrangements, Piano (Electric) Gram Parsons Audio Production, Producer, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals Hank DeVito Pedal Steel Henry Diltz Photography, Cover Photo Herb Pedersen Guitar (12 String), Vocals (Background), Guitar (Acoustic), Vocal Harmony, Banjo, Guitar (Rhythm) Jai Winding Piano James Austin Compilation Producer James Burton Guitar (Electric) Jerry Douglas Dobro Jim Hoke Harmonica Joel Hoffner Project Assistant John Baldwin Beatbox John Pierce Bass John Ware Drums Jon Randall Stewart Vocal Harmony, Mandolin, Group Member, Guitar (Acoustic) Julie Miller Vocals (Background) Ken Levitan Project Coordinator Kenny Edwards Bass (Acoustic) Larry Atamanuik Drums, Percussion, Group Member, Vocal Harmony Larry Mullen, Jr. Hand Drums Linda Ronstadt Vocals Malcolm Burn Bass, Tambourine, Producer Malia Doss Project Assistant Michael "Mick" Wilson Photography Michael Putland Photography Mickey Raphael Harmonica Mike Auldridge Dobro Mike Bowden Bass Mimi Miraflor Project Assistant Nick DeCaro String Arrangements Randy Sharp Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background) Ray Pohlman Bass Rev. Brady Blade Vocals, Percussion, Drums Richard Bennett Producer Richard McCaffrey Photography Rick Cuhna Guitar (Acoustic) Rick Cunha Guitar (Acoustic) Ricky Skaggs Fiddle, Vocals (Background), Mandolin, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocal Harmony Robert K. Oermann Liner Notes Robin Hurley Project Assistant Rodney Crowell Guitar, Hi String Guitar, Vocals (Background) Ronnie Tutt Drums Roy Huskey Jr. Group Member, Bass (Upright), Double Bass, Vocals (Background), Vocal Harmony Roy Orbison Vocals, Duet Russ Kunkel Drums Ry Cooder Guitar (Tremolo) Sam Bush Group Member, Vocal Harmony, Mandolin, Fiddle Scott Webber Project Assistant Sheryl Farber Project Assistant Steve Fishell Hawaiian Guitar, Percussion, Pedal Steel Steve Woolard Discographical Annotation Tony Hall Guitar, Bass, Drums Tony Rice Guitar (Acoustic) Trevor Veitch Guitar (Acoustic) Wayne Goodwin Sax (Tenor)