At the Ryman

 (32 customer reviews)

I've been listening to and enjoying Emmylou Harris's live album "At the Ryman" for a number of years.It had been a good while since I last heard it and the thought occurred to me too put it on tape for the car (yes, I know, I'm way behind in the technology department..). Relistening to it made me once again appreciate what a wonderful live album it really is.The CD is culled from some 1991 performances at the historic, world famous, Ryman Auditorium, which is basically considered "the Mother church" of country music.On this CD Emmy and her band, The Nash Ramblers, concentrate their efforts on interpretations of cover tunes from song writers/performers that have influenced her career. This includes everyone from rocker, Bruce Springsteen to folkie/country artist, Nanci Griffith to the father of Bluegrass music, Bill Monroe.The CD opens with a rousing version of Steve Earle's "Guitar Town". The music is high spirited and lively. Emmylou and the band really...Read more

On this magical live album, Emmylou and the Nash Ramblers pay tribute to the very old (Stephen Foster), the new (Steve Earle, John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen) and bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, with covers of three of his songs. Of course, the album is a seamless blend of the old and the new.

The music goes from uptempo country rock like Earle's Guitar Town, to lovely yodelling as on Cattle Call, the Tex Owens song. There is also the lovely lilting country pop of Guess Things Happen That Way, the sensitive treatment of Springsteen's Mansion On The Hill and the thrilling instrumental Scotland, the first of the Monroe numbers.

Emmylou talks a bit more between songs here than on her other brilliant live album, the great Spyboy. The playing is superb throughout, as in the buoyant Montana Cowgirl, the slow and melancholy ballad like Strangers (first recorded by the Everly Brothers), and the propulsive Lodi, the old Creedence hit.

A highlight of At The...Read more

I would *LOVE* to get this entire concert on audio and video. I have a ticket to see Emmylou in concert this month, but I already know it won't be anything like this. This performance is pure country soul, and the band is just incredible. I love not only Emmylou's "Wrecking Ball" sound, but I love even more her more traditional country side. This album and "Roses in the Snow" are the two best examples of Emmylou as a venerable country artiste. Her vocals here are even better than studio recordings, and this band brings it all together so impeccably. I have so much fun with this album, yet I take a break near the end and cry with Nanci Griffith's beautiful "It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go" (which segues into a beautiful rendition of "Abraham, Martin, and John"). I could say more and more about this, but some of the previous reviews capture it. If you're on the fence about buying this album, just buy it and love it; you wouldn't be...Read more