All I Intended to Be (CD - 2008)

Personnel: Emmylou Harris (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, bouzouki); John Starling, Pamela Rose (vocals, acoustic guitar); Kate McGarrigle (vocals, gut-string guitar, banjo); Mike Auldridge (vocals, dobro); Mary Ann Kennedy (vocals, mandolin); Buddy Miller (vocals, background vocals); Anna McGarrigle (vocals); Tim Goodman, Richard Rodney Bennett (acoustic guitar); Kenny Vaughn, John McPhee (electric guitar); Brian Ahern (12-string guitar, banjo, acoustic bass); Greg Leisz (slide guitar, electric slide guitar, mandocello); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Fats Kaplan (mandolin); Phil Madeira (accordion); Jim Horn (recorder); Glen D. Hardin, Patrick Warren, Bill Payne (keyboards); Glenn Worf (bass guitar); Harry Stinson, Keith Knudsen (drums).

Recording information: Easter Island Surround, Nashville, TN (10/16/2005-03/17/2008); Mayk Music Studios, St. Sauveur, Quebec, Canada (10/16/2005-03/17/2008); Sound Emporium Studio, Nashville, TN (10/16/2005-03/17/2008).

Photographers: Rocky Schenck; Noland O'Boyle; Richard Dennison; Brian Ahern.

In 2008, Emmylou Harris was inducted into the Country Music Association Hall of Fame, the sort of honor that is usually bestowed on artists in or past the twilight of their careers. ALL I INTENDED TO BE, her second album for Nonesuch Records, proves that this is far from the case. But overall her latest has a strong feel of summation, too. From the title on down, ALL I INTENDED TO BE reveals the total Emmylou Harris, its 13 songs examining every aspect of her long, varied, and storied career. Split, as her albums often are, between sensitive originals and exquisite covers of little-known songs, the album most of all demonstrates that Harris is country music's consummate team player. Guest vocal spots by Dolly Parton, Pam Rose and, most affectingly, Kate & Anna McGarrigle only emphasize this aspect of the album. The two songs sung with the McGarrigles, both of which the three singer-songwriters co-wrote, are actually its high spots. One, "How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower," a tender and beautiful tribute to the late June Carter Cash, immediately leaps onto the list of the finest songs Emmylou Harris has ever recorded. minimize