Emmylou Harris' Light of the Stable is still my favorite Christmas album. It was originally released in 1979, still the pre-CD era.The cover art on the current CD edition (see above) was previously only available on a single version of the title song. I like the way the artist mixed elements of the story around. Instead of three wise men, three angels. Instead of angels in the field, the angels are in the stable.
A couple of the tunes are country-gospel favorites that you don't here very much, "Christmas Time's A-Coming" and "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem". The title song "Light of the Stable", I've only heard on this album, but it's a lovely song, and Emmy shows her ability to render it reverent but not stuffy.
Emmy is my favorite singer, so I can't claim to be very objective. But her versions of the well-known traditional hymns "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "The First Noel" and "Silent Night" are just outstanding. Her versions of "Little Drummer Boy" and "Away in a Manger" are also excellent. She gives "Away in a Manger" a poignant sound that fits well with the lyrics but gives lost in most versions because it's treated more like a lullaby.
Two less-familiar songs were included on the original album, "Golden Cradle" and "Angel Eyes". Both are good, but I was first familiar with "Angel Eyes" in the duet version she did with Willie Nelson, who sings harmony on this version. But I always thought it was more of a tribute to Emmy herself, although the "You can move the hearts of men" line could fit the Christ-child, too, though in a different way. I also like the lines in that song: "The ways of the world are feeble/Don't give up on simple people".
The current CD version includes three additional songs that presumably were recorded about the same time but never released before: "There's a Light", "Cherry Tree Carol" and "Man is An Island". As a hardcore Emmy fan, I'm glad to have the extra tracks. But in this case, as in others where "bonus" tracks are added, they don't necessarily add to the overall effect of the album.
Especially since I was used to the way it originally was. Christmas makes me nostaglic for the good ole days. When football was still the roughest thing on campus, and kids all still respected the college dean.
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