Emmylou

October 17, 9:04 PMPortland Pop Culture ExaminerPatrick Robbins

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Emmylou Harris is playing in at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland tonight. Not only is she the most beautiful woman in the history of country music (fact, not opinion - just like at this face for a minute, or this face, for that matter), she's also, as Pitchfork called her, "the queen of the midtempo lament." Nobody can do sad and stately better than she can.

Harris first rippled into the public consciousness in her work with Gram Parsons on his first two solo albums. He impacted her work deeply; she still covers his "Hickory Wind" in concert and wrote one of her most achingly personal songs about him, "From Boulder to Birmingham."

She first transfixed me in the documentary The Last Waltz, when she performed "Evangeline" with the Band.

She's accumulated a tremendous body of work since then, becoming more adventurous as she passed the age when most musicians are playing (and plying) nothing but greatest hits. Here's her cover of Neil Young's "Wrecking Ball," from the 1995 masterpiece of the same name.

Speaking of covers, I couldn't resist putting up a few more of hers. Here's one you'll recognize from Pulp Fiction...

...one you'll recognize from a certain Fab Four...

...and finally, a fine version of a Simon and Garfunkel favorite.

For more info: allmusic.com's excellent summary on Harris's career