Personnel includes: Emmylou Harris (vocals, acoustic guitar); Ricky Skaggs (banjo, mandolin); Albert Lee (mandolin); Emory Gordy, Jr. (bass); Willie Nelson (background vocals).
Personnel: Emmylou Harris (vocals, acoustic guitar); Nancy Ahern (vocals); Brian Ahern (guitar, acoustic guitar, gut-string guitar, acoustic bass, 6-string bass, percussion); Ricky Skaggs (acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin, fiddle); Rodney Crowell (acoustic guitar); James Burton, Frank Reckard (electric guitar); Brian Bowers (autoharp); Albert Lee (mandolin); Glen D. Hardin (piano); Tony Brown (Clavinet); John Ware (drums).
Recording information: Enactron Studio Two; The Enactron Track.
Photographer: Peter Nash.
Arrangers: Jonathan E. Spillman; Nancy Ahern; Brian Ahern.
Emmylou Harris is an artist with the rare sort of voice that communicates an honest and firmly grounded humanity while possessing a crystalline purity that verges on the angelic. In short, she was a singer born to make a great Christmas album, and in 1979 she did just that with Light of the Stable, in which she fused the high-lonesome traditional sound she'd been exploring on Roses in the Snow and Blue Kentucky Girl with songs that honored the spiritual and emotional roots of the holiday season. The album's gestation began with a 1975 single of "Light of the Stable," with most of the material recorded years later, but Harris and producer Brian Ahern gave the project an admirably unified sound, which speaks of Christmas with a quiet dignity that's celebratory but reverent -- this is one of the few Christmas albums from a secular artist that scarcely mentions Santa Claus while focusing clearly on the birth of Christ. Harris and Ahern assembled a stellar cast for these sessions -- the pickers include Ricky Skaggs, James Burton, and Rodney Crowell, while Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Neil Young pitch in backing vocals -- but the results are a marvel of restraint, with precious little showboating and a handful of performances that rank with the performers' best work. If you're looking for a disc that will kick up your Christmas party a few notches, Light of the Stable isn't it, but if you want to hear music of quiet but compelling beauty which warmly resonates with the true meaning of the holidays, then you'll find this album is an experience to treasure. ~ Mark Deming
One of country music's classic Christmas albums, LIGHT OF THE STABLE offers a satisfying mix of seasonal favorites and new compositions, all served up by the most compelling guardian of country music tradition, Emmylou Harris. On this 1979 release, Harris is joined by Ricky Skaggs, Albert Lee, Rodney Crowell, James Burton, and Willie Nelson. Needless to say, they provide the stellar support typical of all of Harris' efforts.
On LIGHT OF THE STABLE, Harris somehow manages to put a new twist on Christmas standards like "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Away in a Manger," and "The First Noel," imbuing them with the sweet sadness of her quavering vocals and spare acoustic settings. Among newer material, Rodney Crowell's "Angel Eyes" stands out, as does the title track (which features backing vocals by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Neil Young). Best of all, however, is the opener, a faithful cover of Tex Logan's bluegrass classic "Christmas Time's A-Coming." Because the record fits so seamlessly into the rest of Harris' recorded work of the era, LIGHT is one of those rare Christmas albums that sounds great all year round. minimize