A Masterpiece

Emmylou Harris came to prominence with a string of exceptional albums recorded during the late seventies. Although she would make other recordings later in her career that are just as outstanding, her initial string of albums Pieces of the Sky (1975), Elite Hotel (1975), Luxury Liner (1977), Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (1978), Blue Kentucky Girl (1979), and Roses in the Snow (1980) are amazing for their consistency and diversity, and they all showcase Emmylou's voice before it became a bit frayed from wear (although that fraying actually seemed to add more than it took away: witness the incredible beauty of her voice on Wrecking Ball).

Some critics had complained that Emmylou's albums weren't "country" enough, even after the more-or-less traditional sound of Blue Kentucky Girl. Roses in the Snow resulted. It's an ultra-traditional country album, without drums, and with very few electric instruments. Bluegrass predominates: banjos and fiddles; country gospel standards predominate: "Green Pastures", "Wayfaring Stranger", "Darkest Hour is Just Before Dawn": "The darkest hour is just before dawn / The narrow way leads home / Lay down your soul / Let Jesus in / The darkest hour is just before dawn."

This music is worlds away from Wrecking Ball and Spyboy, but (if you give it a chance) you may be captivated by it just as I was. I'd never dreamed I'd come to like bluegrass, but I loved Wrecking Ball and decided to investigate Emmylou's back catalog. That was a happy thing for me because I discovered that Emmylou had been making amazing music for years before I discovered it; Roses in the Snow is as good as Wrecking Ball, and in its own way just as adventurous.

By that I mean that, in 1980 when it was released, strictly traditional bluegrass-styled country music was not the best way to further commercially a career based on the rock, pop, and folk-flavored country music of Emmylou's earlier recordings. She didn't let that stop her, of course. She felt the need to make a basically bluegrass album, and nothing stood in her way.

There's not a weak track on the album. If your basically a rocker, intrigued by Wrecking Ball, turn the volume up a bit and listen to the amazing musicianship evinced on such songs as Roses in the Snow and Gold Watch and Chain. I'm convinced that bluegrass music, as played here, is more demanding than the rock and roll you and I grew up on. These are incredibly talented musicians playing inspired music. And Emmylou's voice is there, blending perfectly with the music.

I guarantee that, if you have open ears and are ready to let the music startle you, and if Wrecking Ball or Spyboy or Red Dirt Girl captivated you, Roses in the Snow will do the same; maybe it will snag a different corner of your heart, but it will indeed snag something inside.

High lonesome Emmylou

I think you'd have to do a very nitty-gritty search to find many other recording artists who have been as true to country traditions as Emmylou Harris. That she doesn't get the heavy rotation other country artists do these days is a sad commentary on the tastemongers in Nashville, Branson, TNN and other country venues, not on her. ROSES IN THE SNOW just may be Harris' finest album in a string of fine albums, completely bluegrass and done up right. On it, Harris runs the gamut from fast (the title song), to slow ("Wayfaring Stranger"), to sacred ("Green Pastures," "The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn"), to lovelorn ("You're Learning") and hits the mark every time. She's helped by a lot of folks here, including Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Tony Rice and especially Ricky Skaggs, whose considerable talents are the linchpin to everthing working as well as it does. She even tries a rather audacious move and covers the Paul Simon evergreen "The Boxer" in full bluegrass mode. Some efforts at doing non-bluegrass songs in bluegrass style fail utterly, but Harris and company give an understated grace to this song that is wonderful to hear.

You may or may not be an avid bluegrass fan---I can take it in small doses myself---but I'm willing to bet that if you get this CD, it won't leave your player for quite some time.

Will you marry me? (5 stars)

This album was played to me as a kid (born in 74) and I still love it today. My three year old love the duets and fiddle playin. One of the most beautiful and best loved voices ever to hit a stage, Emmylou has always had a ear for great songs. Put that together with Ricky and you got a winning combo. My mother used to sing these songs to me as the record played and they still sound as good and fresh today as they did when she put it out. I also admit I was a little in love with the beutiful Emmylou way back when! Buy it now and songs like the title track and green pastures will make you fall in love to.