Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell first met in the mid-‘70s just as Harris’ career was really taking off. After she began recording Crowell’s songs for her records, their friendship was solidified when Crowell joined Harris’ legendary road band The Hot Band, a move that instantly gave the band a grittier sound than they had had previously. Over the years, the pair has continued to collaborate on each other’s projects and many of Harris’ solo albums have included covers of Crowell’s songs.
For some reason, though, it took almost forty years for the pair to make good on their long-held plans to cut a full album together, which eventually came out early this year. I’m pleased to say they did a good job with it, but the record contains only a couple of gems and is a little too ballad-heavy for my liking. Old Yellow Moon was recorded entirely in Nashville and both Harris and Crowell played acoustic guitar across the record. Along with a plentiful group of session players under Brian Ahern’s sparse production, it all came together fairly well.
The record is entirely made up of cover versions of some of the pair’s favorite songs, a few of which were written by another of Harris’ old Hot Band members Hank DeVito. “Hanging Up My Heart” is one of those songs and has Emmylou on lead vocals with Vince Gill harmonizing as an added treat; it isn’t my favorite song here, but it’s a nice way to open the record. Two more DeVito penned songs are included, and the somber closer is also the title track, but it’s a little too dark for this particular record. But the third, “Black Caffeine,” is one of the strongest cuts here and really shakes things up a bit, giving the record some much needed grit.
“Chasing That Feeling” is another edgier track as the pair offer a fantastic take on Kris Kristofferson’s ode to addiction: “You got loaded again / Ain’t you handsome when you’re high / Nothing matters / Chase that feeling ‘til you die.” Emmylou’ finest moment on the record is her stunning rendition of Patti Scialfa’s “Spanish Dancer,” which is a beautiful story and Harris tells stories in song better than most; Gill also plays guitar on this one.
“Invitation To The Blues” is given a straightforward country arrangement that is really well played, but it isn’t as strong as some of the other tracks here. Crowell also contributes three of his own songs here, and the best of that bunch is by far “Bluebird Wine,” a song that happens to be the first of Crowell’s songs that Harris ever recorded (it opens her classic 1975 LP, Pieces Of The Sky). The other two Crowell tracks are straightforward country acoustic ballads (“Here We Are” and “Bull Rider”) that offer some nice moments for the two to harmonize on, but this record really works best when the tempo is upped and the shackles are off.
I may be biased here because I am a massive Emmylou Harris fan, but I truly believe that it is her voice and incredible ability as an interpretive singer that saves the day here. Crowell is at times a fantastic songwriter, but he isn’t a great singer as his voice is quite limited in what it can do, so it was really up to Emmylou to lift these songs up and make them special. For the most part, she did a great job, but as much fun as the pair clearly had making Old Yellow Moon, it really doesn’t represent the best of what Harris or Crowell for that matter have to offer.
