Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris – All The Roadrunning (2006)

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All the Roadrunning is a collaboration between British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler and American singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris, released on 24 April 2006.

This lush and earthy collaboration between Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris may sound like it rose from an amiable weeklong studio session, but the 12 tracks that make up All the Roadrunning were actually recorded over the span of seven years.
The boot-stomping “Red Staggerwing” and the gentle “Donkey Town,” both of which were bumped from Knopfler’s Sailing to Philadelphia record, give the ex-Dire Straits leader a chance to flex his country muscle, while the wistful title track spotlights the lovely Harris, whose playful demeanor and guarded confidence helps keep Knopfler in check during his sometimes excessive soloing.
The two couldn’t be more at odds vocally, but Knopfler’s laconic drawl is like an easy chair for Harris’ fluid pipes, and standout tracks like the 9/11-inspired “This Is Goodbye,” the wistful “Beachcombing,” and the infectious single “This Is Us” come off as effortless statements of vitality from both camps.

All the Roadrunning was recorded sporadically over a seven-year period.
Two of its tracks, the Cajun-style “Red Staggerwing” and the acoustic ballad “Donkey Town”, were originally planned to be included in Knopfler’s 2000 solo album Sailing to Philadelphia.
On Thanksgiving evening in 1998, at a recording session in Nashville, Knopfler and Harris ran through the two songs with Harris adding her vocals.
The session sparked the idea for a collaborative album of duets. Harris later recalled, “When you combine two unique voices it creates a third, phantom voice…. I love the third voice that Mark and I create.
We noticed right away that our voices blended pretty effortlessly.” Further recording sessions took place in 2002 and 2004, with the pair recording songs from the ground up, supported by some of the best Nashville session players.
Their duets album was interrupted by their individual solo projects—Harris’s Stumble into Grace in 2003 and Knopfler’s Shangri-La in 2004—and their supporting tours and promotional activities.

 

Track listing

  1. Beachcombing – 4:14
  2. I Dug Up a Diamond – 3:38
  3. This Is Us – 4:39
  4. Red Staggerwing – 3:03
  5. Rollin’ On – 4:14
  6. Love and Happiness [Emmylou Harris, Kimmie Rhodes] – 4:22
  7. Right Now – 3:33
  8. Donkey Town – 5:42
  9. Belle Starr [Emmylou Harris] – 3:06
  10. Beyond My Wildest Dreams – 4:25
  11. All the Roadrunning – 4:49
  12. If This Is Goodbye – 4:44

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler, except where indicated.

 

Personnel

Production

  • Mark Knopfler – producer
  • Chuck Ainlay – producer, recording engineer, mixing
  • Guy Fletcher – recording engineer
  • Mark Kapps – recording engineer (horns)
  • John Saylor – assistant recording engineer
  • Mark Ralston – assistant recording engineer
  • Rupert Coulson – mixing assistant
  • Graham Meek – technical support
  • Maria Verel – hair and makeup for Ms. Harris
  • Fabio Iovino – photography

Notes
Released: 24 April 2006
Recorded: 1998, 2002, 2004
Genre: Country rock, Americana, country folk
Length: 50:29
Producer(s): Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay

Label – Mercury, Universal, Warner Bros.

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