Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It doesn't get any better than this., November 23, 1999
BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL was not only my introduction to Emmylou Harris, it was the first tape I ever bought. It's hard to imagine a better album in existence. The excellent uptempo country songs, "Sister's Coming Home", a duet with Tanya Tucker, a terrific version of Flatt & Scruggs "Rough And Rocky", or the masterful "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues", can transport you to the West. Her talents as an arranger shine through in all the songs, but her version of "Save The Last Dance For Me" is the BEST version I've heard of the song. "They'll Never Take His Love From Me" isn't any less spectacular. The #1 hit "Beneath Still Waters", is gorgeous with the excellent arrangements perfectly suiting Emmylou's beautiful voice. On "Hickory Wind" she improves upon the original arrnagements, and increases the emotion of the song. "Sorrow In The Wind" is a display of Emmylou's ability with harmony, and she sings it beautifully. "Everytime You Leave" is an excellent duet with Don Everly, the defination of a classic country love song. The musical master does it again on "Blue Kentucky Girl", as Emmylou Harris makes a classic. No collection should be without BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL. Once her sensational music comes into your life it doesn't leave. BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL is one of many crowning acheivements, by one of the most talented, intellegent, and creative performers of this century.
|
|
|
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My first taste of Emmylou, February 18, 2002
Her voice is so beautiful. This CD is worth getting for "Hickory Wind" alone. I am not a big country music fan, but I like music that is well written and well thought out. This CD is a keeper for me, and the start of my exploration of Emmylou's music.
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Emmylou at her absolute best, December 18, 2003
By A Customer
If Emmylou had a single best recording, this might be it. Ostensibly a departure from her first four country-rock albums and a move into pure country, that description is an oversimplification. The sound here is much like that on Emmylou's preceding four recordings, and there are moments of guitar, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle that have a bluegrass flavor you might expect to hear only on her "Roses in the Snow" album if you believed everything you read in music guides. What is distinctive about this recording is more the pure country song selection than any difference in instrumental style between this and her other albums. What makes it special to me is not that it is consistently excellent, which is the case for most of Emmylou's early albums, but that the level of excellence rises beyond that of most of those amazing recordings, partly due to the particularly well-chosen material and partly due to absolutely breathtaking performances of that material. She was in her best voice, and by now knew how to use it to milk every bit of emotion from each song.As one reviewer noted below, this CD is worth the purchase price just for "Hickory Wind". This is the quintessential Gram Parsons song, and the most moving rendition of it imaginable. From earlier covers of his material to her country-rock opera based loosely on their relationship, "The Ballad of Sally Rose", Emmylou has paid tribute to her mentor. But here she does so eloquently not only with her remarkable version of this one great song, but in the way the entire album captures the sweet aching feel of country music that Parsons tried to bring to the Woodstock generation, young people much more interested in rock music but open to new ideas. Nowhere else in her discography does Emmylou perform this particular feat so very well. This is where she conveys Parsons' message with all her heart and soul. Beyond "Hickory Wind", there are absolutely gorgeous versions of "Beneath Still Waters", "Sorrow In The Wind", "Everytime You Leave", and the title track. As others have written, of the many other recordings of the song, none stands up to Emmylou's version of "Save The Last Dance For Me". I'm not quite as fond of "Sister's Coming Home", "Rough and Rocky", or "They'll Never Take His Love From Me" as songs, but the performances are superb, and on any other early Emmylou album they'd have been among the best compositions - she just raised the bar so very high on this recording. At her finest here, she takes a mediocre Rodney Crowell song, loosely inspired by the then-trendy Tom Robbins book, and makes "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" a rousing finale to a near-perfect album. For anyone who is at all a fan of Emmylou's early years, this is bound to be a favorite. Many prefer "Roses In The Snow", and I have a soft spot for "Last Date", which perfectly captures the magic of her live shows of the early 80's. But even if you don't agree this is her absolute best, it's unlikely you'll think it's less than magnificent.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
is Emmylou Harris' 
