“We don’t all die young to save our spark from the ravages of time,” Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell sing on the title cut of their second Nonesuch collaboration. “But the first and last to leave their mark someday become the traveling kind.” And so it is they establish the setting for this collection of 11 tunes that contemplate a lifetime of emotions, from the heartache of the Emmylou spotlight, “No Memories Hanging Round,” to the twist-and-shout shuffle of the Rodney rocker, “Bring It on Home to Memphis.” The great ballads of the Gram and Emmylou years come to mind with the deceptively simple “You Can’t Say We Didn’t Try” and “Just Pleasing You.” The hunger that drives indiscretion in the name of love propels “I Just Wanted to See You So Bad” as well as the hoedown friendly “If You
Lived Here You’d Be Home Now.” When all is said and done, Emmylou and Rodney offer a nice variety of tunes, time in the solo spotlight for each of them, first-rate jukebox ballads, tunes for dancing and romancing. And they sound like it all comes fun and easy, the true mark of legends at work.