The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways

This is a great collection, although there are many "hits" or other type of collections out there for Emmylou, this is the first one that pulls at least one track from just about every one of her solo albums starting with her duet with Gram Parsons up thru her most recent album from 2003. She is also the one who picked the songs for this set. You do get the hits, but you also get songs that Emmylou says are just ones she likes. If you're new to the music of Emmylou Harris this album is a great place to start. You will probably find that you'll want to get all of her other albums as well. As great as these songs and this album is this is only the tip of the iceberg. Nonetheless, this is a great collection.

C. S. Lewis tells the story in his book "The Great Divorce" of a man who, as a ghost, takes a bus ride through both hell and heaven. One of things he discovers on his trip is that if your final destination is hell you will find that this present world was only a part of hell. However if your final destination was heaven, you will discover that this present world was a part of heaven the whole time.

I know that my destination is heaven. How do I know this? Two words: Emmylou Harris.

There are angels who sing to us in this present world - which is only a suburb of heaven. Linda Ronstadt, Charlotte Church, Loreena McKennitt, Natalie Merchant, and Emmylou Harris make up my angel band.

From beginning to end this album is great! There's not one song on it that won't have you singing along. From the truly haunting "Love Hurts" duet with Gram Parsons to the country tune "Making Believe" to Townes Van Zandt's classic "Pancho and Lefty," this album is...Read more

With her voluminous output, any Emmylou Harris compilation must of necessity be incomplete. There is rarely a dud on any of her many albums so the selection process can never be an easy one.

This album opens with her famous duet with the legendary Gram Parsons and is followed by her own composition and tribute to him, Boulder To Birmingham, a song with beautiful imagery. Then comes the lovely ballad Making Believe which was only of her early great hits.

Hits or not, every track is a gem, like Pancho And Lefty, Beneath Still Waters and the uptempo If I Could Only Win Your Love. Another great duet is the one with Roy Orbison, while To Know Him Is To Love Him is drawn from one of her collaborations with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt.

Her lovely gospel style is represented here by Green Pastures, Orphan Girl and the achingly beautiful Calling My Children Home. The change of direction away from country into atmospheric rock took place in the...Read more