Given how long and fruitful her career has been, and the scope of this collection -- an overview of her 1970s offerings --
Profile should no longer be subtitled
Best of Emmylou Harris. That said, this is a weighty compilation of very important material that provides a solid introduction to the beginnings of one of America's most important and consistent recordings artists, a woman who has stretched not only
country music -- whether Nash Vegas admits it or not -- but
pop and
rock as well. This material was recorded while
Harris was still a "
country" artist proper. Her readings of
Don Gibson's
"Sweet Dreams" (a gutsy tune to take on with your first record),
the Louvins'
"If I Could Win Your Love," Dolly Parton's
"To Daddy," Buck Owens'
"Together Again," A.P. Carter's
"Hello Stranger," and
Billy Sherrill's
"Too Far Gone" established her in the genre as a traditionalist who understood
countrypolitan as well. However, this collection also reveals her mastery of the different periods and regions of the music. More interesting and compelling is her version of
Delbert McClinton's
"Two More Bottles of Wine," which made an
R&B tune into a
country song, and
"Boulder to Birmingham," a song she co-wrote with
Bill Danoff that straddles
Woody Guthrie's American
folk music and a newly emerging
country music. The only shortcoming of this collection is that it fails to showcase the newer material she had been working on during these years. For instance, there are no
Rodney Crowell tunes present. ~ Thom Jurek
![Dumplin' [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0190758990828_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Dumplin' [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]")
