Though sparingly produced again by Allen Reynolds and Richard Bennett, with the same musicians on hand and additional backups by the likes of Trisha Yearwood, Ashley Cleveland and Alison Krauss, this… Read More
is an Emmylou Harris album first and foremost. While on
Ryman, Harris explored a cross section of styles, the strength of
Cowgirl's lies in a typically conscientious, thematic song selection marked by Harris' own return to songwriting.
Both "The Light," which Harris cowrote with Kieran Kane, and her own "Prayer in Open D" venture into the "valley of sorrow in my soul," a terrain that haunts the album.
Not that Cowgirl's Prayer is without solace. Lucinda Williams' "Crescent City," uplifted by a Cajun fiddle, delivers salvation "in the town where good times stay." Tony Joe White's "High Powered Love," meanwhile, promises liberation through the physical; Harris sings it with Wynonna-style earthiness – no mean feat for a luminous vocalist renowned for her bittersweet delicacy. Even in segueing from David Olney's spoken-word parable "Jerusalem Tomorrow" into Jesse Winchester's old-time gospel-flavored "Thanks to You," Harris refuses to be bound by genre convention, infusing each song with its own life as befits traditional music's unrivaled interpreter. (RS 669)
JIM BESSMAN
