Disco de Emmylou Harris: “Last Date”

Emmylou Harris' dynamic live album Last Date was compiled from tapes of gigs in various Californian honkytonks in the early 1980's with her legendary Hot Band. Emmylou put together a diverse list of cover tunes to express her vision of what country music could and should be - a combination of both new and old influences.

The program:

Hank Snow's - 'I'm Movin' On'

Merle Haggard's - 'It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)'

The Everly Brothers' - 'So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)'

Gram Parson's - 'Return Of The Greivous Angel'

Carl Perkin's - 'Restless'

Bruce Springsteen's - 'Racing In The Street'

Neil Young's - 'Long May You Run'

Gram Parson's - 'We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning'

The Flying Burrito Brothers' - 'Juanita'

Gram Parson's - 'Devil In Disguise'

Conway Twitty's - '(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date'

A Buck Owens Medley - 'Buckaroo' & 'Love's Gonna Live Here'

Two bonus tracks close the album perfectly - 'Another Pot Of Tea' & 'Maybe Tonight'.

Twenty years on, the remastered re-issue of Last Date is a classic in the Harris catalogue and a reminder of just how innovative and important west coast honkytonk is in country music.

Very happy to finally own this cd. It was only available on vinyl, until a few years ago, when Eminent Records re-released this album and CIMARRON. Lets hope they remaster other vinyl only Emmylou Harris albums such as EVANGELINE and THIRTEEN. LAST DATE is an excellent live album with her band at that time, The Hot Band. This is honestly one of her best albums, showing her vision of country music, and just giving it her own style and putting her mark on it. She never conformed to what Nashville was doing, and she ended up making brilliant music (even to this day with newer releases). She pays homage to Gram Parsons on a number of tracks including "Return of the Grievious Angel", "Devil In Disguise", "We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning", and "Juanita". She makes these songs sound like they were written just for her. There was a few hits from the album, cindluing "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)" (#28), "I'm Movin On" (#5), and "(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date" (#1). The bonus tracks are "Another Pot of Tea" and "Maybe Tonight" were b-sides to the singles released from the album. She does a great job of Bruce Springsteen's "Racing In The Street", and Carl Perkins' "Restless" (one of my favorites). Another highlight is the wonderful "Long May You Run". This is a great album from one of the best singers in the world, in my opinion. Check it out!

Wow, how could it get any better than this? Emmylou's great, great voice, terrific selection of both old rock n' roll and contemporary pop songs and the absolute red-hot, Hot Band. I'd give it eight stars if I could. This is one you won't grow tired of. Just put it on the disc player, hit the repeat button and enjoy.

I originally bought this as an LP record so that tells you something. I put it on tape but am thrilled to have it on CD. My favorite is So Sad (to watch good love go bad). I have introduced Emmylou to my younger friends, recently at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. I have seen her many times over the years but in larger venues and was completely blown away by this performance - I think the best show I have ever seen (and I've seen a bunch)

What is arguably her finest album finally makes it to CD. Not a bad track on the disk and two bonus tracks are alao excellent. The remastering is excellent (in my opinion). Heres hoping we won't have to wait as long for "Thirteen" and "Evangeline".