Wonderful post, Mark!
It was only when Emmylou found her current "imperfect" voice that I
became a fan. I couldn't tolerate her earlier voice because it sounded so
precise and emotionally cold. A while ago I heard Michelangelo on a
compilation cd and was instantly captured, not only by the song's lyrics,
but by the sound of her voice too. It now has an emotional warmth that I
love, and the scratchiness and breathiness make her seem very real.
There's a genuineness to her singing that I didn't hear before. Red Dirt
Girl is the first Emmylou cd I've bought, and it's great! Wrecking Ball
next I think.
Debra Shea
P.S. Do Emmylou fans know about the PBS show she did recently about
Edinburgh? It's called "Great Streets: Edinburgh's Royal Mile" and she's
the narrator and does some singing too I think (haven't seen it yet
myself). It was shown last Wednesday night here in NYC and is sure to be
shown again sometime if you missed it. Richard Thompson does some of the
background music, which is an added bonus from my POV.
Mark or Travis wrote:
> I've finally come around to acknowledging that Emmylou's voice is not
> the pristine instrument it once was. But the beauty of that voice is
> by no means lost or diminished.
> Whatever she may or may not have
> lost in vocal agility is more than made up for in the depth of emotion
> that she puts into everything she sings.
