Emmylou Harris - Cimarron

By the time Emmylou Harris released Cimarron in 1981, she'd established herself as one of country music's most dependable performers. Dependable is also the word that applies to this 11-song collection. Lacking the musical cohesiveness of its immediate predecessor, the bluegrass-flavored Roses in the Snow, as well as the thematic thrust of her next ambitious outing, 1985's The Ballad of Sally Rose, Cimarron feels like a bookmark in the singer's extensive catalog. Which isn't to say that it isn't studded with some stunners, including a resolute cover of Poco's "Rose of Cimarron" and a hushed duet with Don Williams on Townes Van Zandt's "If I Needed You." Still, one is tempted to dismiss Cimarron as a mere collection of well played, beautifully sung songs with little rhyme or reason. But with rhymes like those in tunes by Bruce Springsteen and Paul Kennerley sung by a singer with impeccable taste and grace... well, that's reason enough to give this one a shot. --Steven Stolder