''Light of the Stable'' is a
Christmas album by
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...
. It was originally released in 1979 by
Warner Bros. Records but has since gone through several intervening releases. The 1992 Warner release was a remastered version of the original with a different album cover. The latest edition was released in 2004 by
Rhino Records. It contains three newly recorded tracks in addition to remastered versions of the ten original tracks. Its cover came from the
record sleeve of the original
45-rpm single version of "Light of the Stable" that was released in 1975. The title song featured harmony vocals from
Neil Young,
Dolly Parton and
Linda Ronstadt.
Critical reception
Mark Deming of ''
AllMusic'' gives the album 4 out of a possible 5 stars and writes, "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''"
[
Gavin Edwards lists this album at No, 19 in Rolling Stone's 40 Essential Christmas Albums list. He writes, "Harris has always sung like an angel, and on this 1979 album she played the part, a living herald of joyful Nativity tidings. Some of the other golden-throated seraphim providing backing vocals: Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and, er, Neil Young."][
]
Track listing
Original release
2004 expanded version
Personnel
* Brian Ahern – acoustic guitar, percussion, 6-string bass
* Nancy Ahern – backing vocals
* Mike Bowden – bass
* Brian Bowers – autoharp
* Tony Brown – clavinet
* James Burton – electric guitar
* Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...
– acoustic guitar
* Hank DeVito
Henry M. "Hank" DeVito is an American musician and photographer known primarily for his pedal steel guitar work and songwriting.
Biography
After high school, DeVito attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He studied graphic arts and ...
– pedal steel guitar
* Emory Gordy Jr.
Emory Lee Gordy Jr. (born December 25, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter and music producer. A former member of Emmylou Harris' backing band The Hot Band, he is best known for his association with country singer Patty Loveless, to whom ...
– bass
* Glen Hardin
Glen Dee Hardin (born April 18, 1939) is an American piano player and arranger. He has performed and recorded with such artists as Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, and Ricky Nelson.
Career
Hardin was born in Wellington, ...
– piano
* Sharon Hicks – backing vocals
* Albert Lee – mandolin
* Willie Nelson – backing vocals
* Dolly Parton – backing vocals
* Frank Reckard
Francis Laing "Frank" Reckard (born July 1, 1952) is an American guitarist. He was part of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band from 1978 to 1989, and supported many other musical acts as a studio musician. After the Hot Band disbanded in the 1990s, he had ...
– electric guitar
* Linda Ronstadt – backing vocals
* Ricky Skaggs – banjo, mandolin, violin, acoustic guitar
* John Ware – drums
* Cheryl Warren – backing vocals
* Neil Young – backing vocals
* Emmylou Harris – vocals, acoustic guitar
Charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Light Of The Stable (Album)
Christmas albums by American artists
Emmylou Harris albums
Albums produced by Brian Ahern (producer)
Warner Records albums
Rhino Records albums
1979 Christmas albums
Country Christmas albums