When Emmylou Harris sang with Gram Parsons in the early 1970s, Mark Knopfler was a junior reporter on the Yorkshire Evening Post in Leeds.

In the circumstances, it seemed unlikely their paths would ever meet.

Even today they are an unusual couple - Knopfler with his obliquely confessional songs and Geordie growl, and Emmylou plucked straight from the front row of heaven's finest choir.

Together, however, they have made a beguiling record which, while never hitting the heights of Emmylou's legendary partnership with Parsons, or her duets with Bob Dylan and Neil Young, contains some memorable moments.

The highlights include the joyful, life-affirming Love And Happiness, the tragi-comic Donkey Town and If This Is Goodbye, when Emmylou wraps her celestial voice around Knopfler's mellifluous guitar in a marvellous finale.