Emmylou Harris: Elite Hotel : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Elite Hotel almost duplicates the formula established by Emmylou Harris and producer Brian Ahern on her successful Warner Bros. debut, Pieces of the Sky. Like Pieces, Elite contains three ballads with string orchestration, a Beatles song, an original tune and a mix of country standards and her broadly appealing country-rock material. Though the backup of fine country musicians has changed somewhat, key players James Burton (lead guitar) and Glen Hardin (piano) remain.

Harris sings like a more ethereal and fragile Linda Ronstadt, her voice perpetually on the edge of tears. It is a very affecting instrument, especially on ballads like Buck Owens's "Together Again," Rodney Crowell's "Till I Gain Control Again," Lennon and McCartney's "Here, There and Everywhere" and the traditional "Satan's Jewel Crown," where Harris's polished phrasing and impeccable intonation enhance the already melodious material.

Harris's control tends to work against her in the medium- and uptempo songs. Though her renditions of Hank Williams's "Jambalaya," Wayne Kemp's "Feelin' Single—Seein' Double" and her own well-made "Amarillo" (coauthored with guitarist/vocalist Crowell) are technically superb, they lack the edge a less mannered singer might have given them.

This distinction is particularly apparent in Harris's handling of material by the late Gram Parsons. Her reprise of "Ooh Las Vegas," which she sang with Parsons on Grievous Angel, though winningly exuberant, sounds glib compared to Parsons's idiosyncratic vocal. The same holds for her treatment of two excellent Parsons-Chris Hillman songs, "Wheels" and "Sin City," highlights of the Burrito Brothers' The Gilded Palace of Sin. Where the Burritos' versions projected an ongoing personal battle with the cosmos, Harris lends them only a honeyed sadness.

Brian Ahern's production is so knowledgeable that the several cuts recorded live are distinguishable from the studio tracks only by applause. With the exception of a Mystic Moods Orchestra-style interlude in "Here, There and Everywhere," the arrangements are scrupulously tasteful, and the playing by Burton, Hardin, Hank diVito, John Ware and others maintains the highest professional standards. If Elite Hotel comes close to musical perfection, it is because of the refinement of a listenable, occasionally compelling formula.