Stumble into Grace

Emmylou Harris

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2003)
• Original Release Date: September 23, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B0000AKNEN
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,607 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Twenty-eight years after her major label debut, Emmylou Harris remains as vital, electric, and bold an artist as the young woman who moved to Nashville in the early ‘70s. But where she once carried on Gram Parsons’ vision of wedding hardcore country to contemporary rhythms, for the past decade Harris has explored an acoustic sonic landscape rooted in folk, yet set apart by driving percussion, world-music elements, and gauzy and ethereal vocals. Stumble Into Grace follows the Grammy-winning Red Dirt Girl with an even bleaker and beautiful collection of songs, almost all of which she wrote or co-wrote. Two songs concern themselves with social commentary, the slant-eyed "Time In Babylon" (co-written with Jill Cuniff of Luscious Jackson), poking a stick in the eye of designer fashions and TV culture, and the affecting "Lost Unto This World" framing scenes of female genocide throughout the ages. Yet much of the program has an Emily Dickinson quality about it, as if told from the point of view of a woman looking back on her past life, realizing it is almost over, and finding herself nearly crazed from lost opportunity, lost loves, and loneliness. Even her elegy to June Carter Cash, "Strong Hand," where Linda Ronstadt guests, centers on the "miracle of how one soul finds another." A poetic spirituality lifts up even the most hopeless lyric, as do the otherworldly background vocals (Julie Miller, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and Jane Siberry) and producer Malcolm Burn’s haunting instrumental touches (a Cuban churanga and a deftly-placed accordion, which offers a sympathetic wheeze). At 57, Harris may be square in the middle stages of chronological life, but as a performer, she is still in the forefront of genre-transcending artistry. --Alanna Nash

Product Description
Stumble Into Grace, like its predecessor, is a self-composed opus - only the third of her career. It is also produced by Malcolm Burn, and features guitarist Buddy Miller and drummer Brady Blade, core members of her band Spyboy, featured on Red Dirt Girl. Slipcase. Nonesuch. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the future of folk music, October 9, 2003

By	J. Sotelo "http://rollholer.blogspot.com/" (Sacramento CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The fascinating thing about the recent spate of Emmylou Harris recordings is the way in which she pushes at the boundaries of traditional music while still staying true to it's emotional core. For all it's subtle world-music touches, the music on this albums remains as raw-boned and rural as a smoked Virginia ham. Each of Emmylou's recent albums has explored different facets of the Folk music Canon, and to my ears, this is her Spirituals album. Rather than simply regurgitating a bunch of hoary old mountain hymns, she has blessed us with a clutch of original songs, meditations on love and loss and letting go.

If you live any kind of examined life, there comes a point where you do seek a certain grace in going forward, especially as you grow older and realise there is suddenly less time than there is more. There is nothing depressing about this. It's just part of living, and this album captures the emotional core of these feelings perfectly. Bottom line, this is a tremendous album by an artist at the top of her game and is more than worthy of your attention.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An artist of integrity, December 29, 2003

By	klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Whatever one may think of her recent work, Emmylou Harris has always been true to her artistic self. When mainstream country turned away from her (much to country's loss, in my opinion), she gracefully let it go in favor of making her own unique kind of music.

It can't be said that Harris has gotten stuck in a rut, either. This latest album is different in sound from her last, "Red Dirt Girl," and in some ways more appealing. There is more variety to the productions of the songs (most authored or co-authored by Harris), with an effort to include a greater range of sounds and timbres in the instrumental backgrounds. Not surprisingly, some of the most appealing tracks are those where this variety comes to the fore, such as the somewhat Celtic sounds of "Little Bird" or the accordion/fiddle combination that lends an agreeably Cajun cast to her rendition of the traditional "Plaisir d'amour," throwing unexpected light on the French words.

The core of Harris' voice has darkened in timbre and shortened in range over the years, and one or two of the songs display a tendency to hang out in the lowest octave, muttering gloomy thoughts, that made "Red Dirt Girl" a somewhat depressing listening experience overall. Happily, the artist seems determined not to let the same pall fall over this outing, though there is now a noticeable break between her low and high registers. She turns even this to her advantage, though, in passages of ethereally lovely harmonizations with her sympathetic assisting artists.

On the evidence of this CD, music fans should stick with Emmylou Harris for the duration. There's a lot of good music in her yet.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impossibly Beautiful!, September 30, 2003

By	D. Spina (NY, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My guess is that if you are reading this review, you are already a fan. You already know that Emmylou is in a class by herself and is impossible to classify. Labels like country, rock, bluegrass or folk simply don't apply. Her music is all of that but also goes way beyond any of those definitions. This new CD is exquisitely beautiful and a must buy. These songs are almost like prayers. They are filled with grace, love and passion. They bring tears to your eyes and put a smile in your heart.

This is the 4th Emmylou CD since she broke all conventions and found her own voice. What started with Wrecking Ball, Spyboy and Red Dirt Girl is now fully realized. If you loved her because of her links to Gram Parsons, you will love her even more now that she has emerged from his shadow. This is the music she was destined to make and somewhere in heaven Gram Parsons is smiling.