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“Most of my career,” says Emmylou Harris,
“I’ve been a finder of songs, a gatherer of songs, so this
showcases, in part, that side of what I do.”
All I Intended To Be, its simple but evocative title borrowed
from the lyric of a Billy Joe Shaver song, does far more than
that. Her first solo album since 2003’s Stumble Into Grace, it
is indeed a catalogue of Harris’s many gifts—as an
interpreter, as an eloquent composer herself, as an inveterate
musical explorer who’s been able to discover, rescue, and/or
give new life to many a beautiful but overlooked country,
bluegrass or folk tune. But the album also offers a living
portrait of Harris, a recounting of her extraordinary history,
through the many musicians and fellow singers she has
collaborated with since the start of her solo career, so many of
whom make appearances on these tracks. The all-star cast
includes Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, the McGarrigle sisters, old
friends from the Seldom Scene, Glenn D. Hardin of her legendary
Hot Band, as well as some of the most versatile studio players
around. It’s produced by Brian Ahern and engineered by Donivan
Cowart, both of whom collaborated with Harris on such
groundbreaking albums as Elite Hotel, Luxury Liner, and Blue
Kentucky Girl.
Harris admits she had to grab studio time in between all of her
other projects and commitments—hitting the road with Neil
Young and Elvis Costello, cutting All the Roadrunning and
performing live with Mark Knopfler, assembling her Songbird
boxed set of rarities, and going out with Patty Griffin, Shawn
Colvin, and Buddy Miller for their Three Girls and a Buddy Tour.
Yet All I Intended To Be, recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles
between October 2005 and March 2008, manages to have a seamless
quality. Harris says, “I’d have to credit Brian and Donivan,
their sense of sound, their integrity and their ability to keep
all those pieces together—things that were recorded in Canada,
overdubbed in L.A., and brought back to Nashville, stuff done
one guitar and vocal at a time, all the different layers, all
the different charts. They know what they’re doing and know
how to make things sound good without smoke and mirrors.”
Perhaps it’s also because Harris has chosen songs that, no
matter how disparate their sources, illustrate similar themes of
perseverance, faith, and fortitude. They range in tone from the
intimate to the anthemic, united by Harris’s ability to
channel the emotions of so many compelling characters. There’s
grit, sadness, and just a touch of regret in tracks like Mark
Germino’s “Broken Man’s Lament” and Merle Haggard’s
“Kern River” that’s balanced by strength, wisdom and a
healthy amount of hindsight on Tracy Chapman’s “All That You
Have Is Your Soul” and Jude Johnson’s “Hold On.”
Harris’s own “Take That Ride” is a forthright conversation
with a God who may or may not be listening. By the time All I
Intended To Be reaches a wistful but uplifting conclusion with
“Beyond the Great Divide,” it’s tugging the soul as deeply
as the heart, and the title that Harris chose reveals an even
deeper, more personal, and spiritual meaning.
The album really began to take shape, Harris explains, with
“Shores of White Sands,” a Jack Wesley Routh song about
carrying on in the face of dashed romantic hopes. Harris had
admired it when Warner Bros. Nashville artist Karen Brooks first
cut the tune in 1982. How the song made it onto Harris’s album
today, employing the original instrumental track from Brooks’
version, illustrates the feeling of collegiality and the air of
serendipity that epitomize the entire process. Harris dedicates
it to the memory of Doobie Brothers/Southern Pacific drummer
Keith Knudsen, and that’s where the story begins.
As she explains, “Brian (Ahern) produced Karen’s record,
Walk On, in the early 80s, and I always loved that track. I
thought it was one of the most stunning things Brian ever did,
and that’s saying a lot. I loved the song and thought at some
point I might try my hand at it, and it just never came about. A
few years ago I was doing a benefit for [St. Louis Cardinals
manager] Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut
Creek, California. Keith was there with his band, and I hadn’t
seen him in years. He had toured with me and played on some of
my stuff. It wasn’t too long after that Keith died from cancer
and I started thinking about that song again. I approached Brian
and said, ‘Do you think that in honor of Keith we could use
his original drum track for “Shores of White Sand” and build
up a track of our own?’ We started asking around and with the
blessing of Warners and Karen, we got her entire original track.
We added a few things, but basically it’s that beautiful track
I’m singing on and I’m so grateful to have it.”
Brooks herself came on board to add harmony vocals. Says Harris,
“Karen has such a distinctive voice, a wonderful low sound,
it’s not like anyone else. It’s really effective on
‘Broken Man’s Lament, where she duets with me.” Harris
found the right pairings of friends and fellow artists
throughout: “That was what was great, to put together these
different pieces from different people who are so important to
me. Working with John Starling, Mike Auldrege and Tom Gray from
the original Seldom Scene—that goes all the way back to the
early 70s when I was living in DC. What I’ve discovered over
the years is all the different, incredible people I’ve gotten
to work with, and this showcases a little bit of them.” She
pauses, then, laughing, adds,” I’d have to do a whole boxed
set to showcase everyone—and I already did that, didn’t
I?” She knew Dolly Parton would be perfect for the harmony on
Harris’s self-penned “Gold”: “It’s got this little
trill thing in it on the melody and nobody can do that like
Dolly. I thought it would be wonderful to get her in. She had to
keep canceling for various reasons, she was out in L.A., but she
so wanted to do it, she actually got on a tour bus and drove all
the way out from L.A. She got into Nashville that night and the
next morning she came in and sang on the record. She was a real
champ.”
To work with the McGarrigles, Harris traveled north to Saint-Sauver
des Monts, near Montreal, where the sisters live and record.
Says Harris, “I was trying to keep up with my writing and I
always enjoy being around those girls, so it was a good excuse
to go try and write. We wrote ‘How She Could Sing the Wildwood
Flower’ and ‘Sailing Round the Room’ and went to a little
studio there in Saint Sauver and laid down a demo with a click
track and put their harmonies on it. So the heart of those two
songs is from those original demos. Of course we added a lot of
stuff but Kate’s guitar playing is still the centerpiece. And
getting their vocals, of course, was the real treasure.”
Each one of these tracks has a story behind it; just about every
credit reveals a fascinating connection. Harris has created a
touchstone to her fertile past to help define an even richer
present. While she may be taking stock of where she’s been,
she’s by no means summing up. As Harris, who’s been a
recording artist for nearly 40 years, says, “I’m still
trying to expand my listening horizons, to find the kind of
music that resonates for what we know to be true at this point
in our lives. When you get to be 60, it’s not like you stop
living. In fact, I think you live more and do have something to
say.”
-Michael Hill |
