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All the Roadrunning (2006)

Where the lyrics of All the Roadrunning take you, and where it was really made.

The duet album grew out of a 1998 Thanksgiving-night session in Nashville, and it took seven years to finish.

Key places

Thanksgiving session in Nashville (2006)

Recording site Nashville — On Thanksgiving evening in 1998, Knopfler and Harris ran through two songs at a Nashville recording session, and the session sparked the idea for the duets album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Mixing at British Grove Studios (2006)

Recording site British Grove Studios — The album was mixed at British Grove Studios in London. The release credits this studio for mixing, not for recording. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• All the Roadrunning: collaboration album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler and American singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris
• Released 24 April 2006 by Mercury Records and Universal Music internationally
• Warner Bros. Records released it in the United States
• "This Is Us" was the first single, followed by "Beachcombing"
• The result of a longtime collaboration between the two artists
• Recorded over a seven-year period with minimal information released about the project
• A follow-up live album, Real Live Roadrunning, came after the All the Roadrunning Tour

Background

• Harris had 23 solo albums and two collaborative albums with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, and sang backing and duet vocals for many major artists
• Knopfler recorded duets with artists such as Van Morrison and James Taylor and contributed guitar to many other recordings
• Both shared a love of country music and an admiration for Chet Atkins
• Knopfler and Harris first met on a Chet Atkins television special in 1987
• About ten years later in Nashville, Knopfler played some of his songs for Harris, and the idea to record together emerged
• The All the Roadrunning Tour began on 26 May 2006 in Brussels, Belgium, with 23 concerts in 23 cities

Recording

• The session that sparked the project took place on Thanksgiving evening in 1998 in Nashville, where Knopfler and Harris ran through two songs and Harris added her vocals
• Further sessions followed in 2002 and 2004, with the pair recording songs from the ground up, supported by Nashville session players
• The duets project was interrupted by Harris's Stumble into Grace in 2003 and Knopfler's Shangri-La in 2004, along with their tours
• Knopfler produced the album, and Chuck Ainlay worked as producer, recording engineer and mixer
• The album was mixed at British Grove Studios in London

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born April 2, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama; American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader and activist.
• Regarded as a leading artist of the country rock genre in the 1970s and of Americana in the 1990s.
• Began in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the late 1960s; first album Gliding Bird (1970) under the name "Emmy Lou Harris".
• Discovered by Gram Parsons in 1971; sang harmony on his GP (1973) and worked with him on Grievous Angel before his death in 1973.
• Breakthrough with Pieces of the Sky (1975); five US country number-one singles by 1980.
• Trio (1987) with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt became her best-selling album; At the Ryman (1992) renewed interest in the Ryman Auditorium.
• Wrecking Ball (1995), produced by Daniel Lanois, is seen as a turning point toward Americana.
• Estimated over 15 million records sold; 13 Grammy Awards; inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
• Founded the dog rescue Bonaparte's Retreat in Nashville; organizes the Concerts for a Landmine-Free World benefit tour since 1999.

Reception

At release

• Winnipeg Sun (Darryl Sterdan): four out of five stars, calling the collaboration a "match made in heaven"
• Sterdan praised Knopfler's songwriting, especially "This is Us", "Right Now" and the "Celtic-tinged bluegrass" of "Red Staggerwing"
• Sterdan noted Knopfler's production took a lighter touch than on his past projects, reining in his guitar work to highlight Harris's singing
• The Telegraph (Neil McCormick): called it a "remarkable new album" and "one of the best albums of both their careers"
• Entertainment Weekly (Josh Tyrangiel): gave a B− score, writing that the two artists "seem oddly matched"
• Tyrangiel wrote that Knopfler's guitarwork tends to overwhelm Harris's vocals

Records

• Number one on album charts in Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland
• Peaked at number eight in the United Kingdom
• Peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States
• Title track released as a single and reached number 8 in the UK

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track was released the year before this album as a new track on the compilation Private Investigations
• "If This Is Goodbye" is based on the last telephone calls to loved ones from passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania on 11 September 2001 after being hijacked by terrorists
• "Red Staggerwing" and "Donkey Town" were originally planned for Knopfler's 2000 solo album Sailing to Philadelphia
• Harris later said the two voices created a third, phantom voice
• The duets project was interrupted by their solo albums Stumble into Grace (2003) and Shangri-La (2004)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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