Tribute To Emmylou

There are too many artists here who are matched up with songs beyond their ability or apparent understanding. Certainly the most glaring example of this is Mary Chapin Carpenter's version of Don Gibson's classic hit "Oh Lonesome Me." Another glaring mismatch is the Collin Raye/Joe Diffie cover of the Billy Joe Shaver rebel rouser "Honky Tonk Heroes (Like Me)," the rallying cry of the outlaw country movement during the '70s…

"An interesting collection of some of the best people in our business paying tribute to me.
Boy, does this make me feel good!"

Johnny Cash

Ringo Starr, Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard are also included on the wide-ranging two-disc collection, out August 31st.

Tribute albums frequently betray their subject, but not this homage to Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears, the country giant’s 1964 salute to Native Americans. A concept album about a discomfiting cause – the US’s treatment of its indigenous people – Tears was a radical statement resisted, to Cash’s fury, by the Nashville establishment. For its 50th anniversary, producer Joe Henry gathers a stellar house band that takes turns to lead. Gillian Welch delivers an entrancing As Long As the Grass Shall Grow; Emmylou does likewise with Apache Tears. Steve Earle drawls: “I ain’t no fan of Custer” and instrumentals evoke North America’s haunted plains. Very fine.