25 Holiday Records: 8: Light of the Stable by Emmylou Harris

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our next record is a gentle country classic!

#8

Light of the Stable
by Emmylou Harris
Warner Brothers Canada
XBS 3484
1980

This is a 1980 Canadian pressing of the 1979 classic by country superstar Emmylou Harris. Emmylou was famously the muse, musical collaborator and romantic ladyfriend of Gram Parson --their romance is legendary and second only to Johnny and June Carter Cash in the annals of western/americana lore. Everybody, especially country stars, does a Christmas record and Emmylou is no exception. She acquits herself well here, with several great performances.

This is a record with a lot of expensive guitars and other stringed instruments on it. Ricky Skaggs plays on several tracks. Lots of strings, pickin' and strummin'. Lots of mandolin. Most of the songs  are fairly conventional country interpretations of the seasonal subject matter. We don't think Emmylou wrote any of these herself, but she puts her own wonderful distinct warbling vocal spin on them. Several are very pretty. The best track is the title track that rounds out the record, with vocal assists from the amazing trio of Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Willie Nelson; three of the greatest voices in the genre. This is a quiet record, like it's buried under a blanket of snow.

Tracklist:

A1 Christmas Time's A-Coming
Autoharp – Brian Bowers (2)
Banjo, Mandolin – Ricky Skaggs
Bass – Emory Gordy, Jr.
Guitar [Arch-top] – Brian Ahern
Harmony Vocals – Cheryl Warren, Sharon Hicks
Written-By – Tex Logan
2:45

A2 O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Bass – Emory Gordy, Jr.
Guitar [Gut String] – Brian Ahern
Harmony Vocals – Cheryl Warren, Sharon Hicks
Mandolin, Violin – Ricky Skaggs
Written-By – Lewis H. Redner*, Phillips Brooks
3:39

A3 Away In A Manger
Arranged By – Jonathan E. Spillman*
Bass – Emory Gordy, Jr.
Guitar [Gut String] – Brian Ahern
Mandolin – Albert Lee
Vocals – Nancy Ahern
Written-By – Martin Luther (3)
2:35

A4 Angel Eyes (Angel Eyes)
Acoustic Guitar – Brian Ahern, Rodney Crowell
Bass – Mike Bowden
Clavinet – Tony Brown (4)
Drums – Mike Ware
Electric Guitar – Frank Reckard
Harmony Vocals – Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nelson
Mandolin – Ricky Skaggs
Pedal Steel Guitar – Hank Devito
Percussion – Brian Ahern
Written-By – Rodney Crowell
3:16

A5 The First Noel
Arranged By – B. Ahern*
Harmony Vocals – Cheryl Warren, Sharon Hicks
2:36
B1 Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem
Autoharp – Brian Bowers (2)
Bass – Emory Gordy, Jr.
Fiddle, Acoustic Guitar, Harmony Vocals – Ricky Skaggs
Guitar [Arch-top] – Brian Ahern
Harmony Vocals – Cheryl Warren, Sharon Hicks
Written-By – A. L. Phipps*
3:02

B2 Little Drummer Boy
Acoustic Guitar – Emmylou Harris
Bass – Emory Gordy, Jr.
Bass [Six String] – Brian Ahern
Clavinet – Tony Brown (4)
Drums – John Ware
Electric Guitar – Frank Reckard
Guitar [High Strung] – Rodney Crowell
Harmony Vocals – Cheryl Warren, Sharon Hicks
Mandolin – Ricky Skaggs
Pedal Steel Guitar – Hank Devito
Percussion – Brian Ahern
Written-By – Harry Simeone, Henry Onorati, Katherine Davis*
4:00

B3 Golden Cradle
Arranged By – N. Ahern*
Guitar [Gut String] – Brian Ahern
Vocals – Nancy Ahern
Written-By – Traditional
2:04
B4 Silent Night
Acoustic Bass, Bass [Six String] – Brian Ahern
Acoustic Guitar – Emmylou Harris
Arranged By – Brian Ahern
Autoharp – Brian Bowers (2)
Harmony Vocals – Cheryl Warren, Sharon Hicks
Pedal Steel Guitar – Hank Devito
Violin, Guitar [Acoustic] – Ricky Skaggs
Written-By – Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr
3:32

B5 Light Of The Stable
Acoustic Guitar – Brian Ahern, Emmylou Harris
Bass – Emory Gordy, Jr.
Drums – John Ware
Electric Guitar – James Burton
Guitar [High Strung] – Rodney Crowell
Harmony Vocals – Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson
Pedal Steel Guitar – Hank Devito
Piano – Glen D. Hardin*
Written-By – Elizabeth Rhymer, Steven Rhymer
2:25

Check it out:

25 Holiday Records: 16: Christmas Wishes by Anne Murray

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our next record is a by the Queen of Canada! No debates!!!!

#16

Christmas Wishes
by Anne Murray
Capitol
1981

You have probably heard this record. We got it!

Anne Murray was on top of the world when she made this. You will be too when you listen to it.

Music critic Kyle Fowle calls this the "Dark Side of the Moon" of Christmas albums:

Despite the album’s layered arrangements, Christmas Wishes succeeds through an almost overbearing simplicity. Murray’s voice is unobtrusive, just powerful enough to lend an emotional anchor to songs that completely rely on evoking feelings of nostalgia and good cheer. She’s perfectly unremarkable on “Joy To The World” and wonderfully undistinguished on “O Holy Night” while also adding a sense of sadness (but not too much; this is the holidays, after all) to the already melancholy “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

Christmas albums should be mediocre, they should be vanilla. They don’t need to comfort us, but they also don’t need to push the envelope. Christmas albums can be considered a success when they find that sweet spot between evoking feelings of holiday-themed goodwill while also remaining background noise. Christmas albums should be a soundtrack to the season; present, but never overbearing. Christmas Wishes is one of those albums.

track list:

Winter Wonderland 2:55

Silver Bells 2:55

The Little Drummer Boy 3:50

I'll Be Home For Christmas 3:35

Christmas Wishes 2:37

Joy To The World 2:07

Away In A Manger 2:56

O Holy Night 3:06

Go Tell It On The Mountain 2:48

Silent Night 4:07

25 Holiday Records: 18: Rocky Mountain Christmas by Bob Denver

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our next record is a soft-country megahit!

#18

Rocky Mountain Christmas

by Bob Denver

RCA Victor

1975

Bob Denver is one of those performers whose records seem to clutter-up cheapo bins and awful record collections everywhere. Everythime we buy a collection of old records, somehow one or two Bob Denver records sneak in to the shop. He was super popular nice, and even recorded some good songs. He was also in movies with The Muppets and George Burns!

In 1975 he made a TV special called Rocky Mountain Christmas, the title being a reference to his 1972 hit song, "Rocky Mountain High." The special was actually set inside a dome in the Rockies where Denver gave a typically low-key, heartwarming concert. It was even nominated for a trio of Emmys!

Watch the video or buy a copy of the record from us. We've always got a few around!

25 Holiday Records: 20: Country Christmas by Various Artists (Arc)

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our next record is kind of a rare gem from one of the most infamous Canadian labels!

#20

Country Christmas

by Various Artists

Arc Records/Arc Sound

AC-9

This is kind of a rare record. It's an early offering from a pure Canadian institution. 

We have a special place in our hearts set aside for ARC Records, the budget Toronto label famous for its country output and ripoff pop records made to cash-in on trends in the U.S. music industry. There were a surprising number of great records produced by this label, including some rock records, although the vast majority of their output is pretty lacklustre. But it is the album sleeve design that we have come to appreciate as an example of a “classic Canadian aesthetic.” Overall fairly generic, their covers are nontheless often bold and colourful with simple graphics and clear iconic layouts. Their basic, stylish lettering is usually a variation on 2 or three fonts and their liner notes are very bare bones, either non-existent or almost so. Usually penned by an ARC executive or a forgotten local dj and typeset using a typewriter, they are charming paeans to obscure Canadian country performers or long-gone lounge acts.

The album at hand is a perfect example, sporting a beautiful yellow cover with red and green highlights, and a black and white clip-art style 1950s cowboy couple in the bottom right corner. Canadian vernacular album design perfection!

The tracks are typical of an Arc offering as well. No songwriting credits are usually given on these records. Most of them are covers of Christmas standards but they show a professionalism and zippiness unique to this sort of low-budget production. The lead track, "New Baby For Christmas," is a peppy number with a good steel guitar solo and fun lyrics: “she’ll kiss me on a hayride and take me on a sleighride and turn my white christmas to blue.”  "Christmas Roses" is a slow waltz about a long-distance romance with some more nice steel. The only clunker here is "Jolly Old St. Nick" —it kind of has the structure of a love ballad/hurtin' song but it’s from the pov of a dumb little kid in the form of a half-talking letter to Santa about filling his stocking.

The highlight of the record are the numbers by June Pasher. Pasher, the pride of New Waterford, Nova Scotia, was a fixture on the Toronto country scene from the 1950s through the 80s, with long residences at The Horseshoe Tavern and other venues. She and her husband also had a couple solo LPs on Arc. "Silver Bells" is June's solo number here, a nice Patsy-Cline style version of one of our favourite Xmas tunes. She also teams up with her hubby George Pasher for a quality duet on "White Christmas." A fun little package that you never see in the wild!

• George Pasher - New Baby for ChristmasA2Bobby Rowan - Christmas RosesA3Neil Flanz & Mickey McGivern - Deck the HallsA4Dusty King - Rudolph the Red-Nosed ReindeerA5Paul Emms - Jolly Old St. NickA6June Pasher - Silver BellsB1Dusty King - Blue ChristmasB2Bobby Rowan - Jingle Bell RockB3Neil Flanz & Mickey McGivern - Jingle BellsB4George & June Pasher - White ChristmasB5Paul Emms - Santa Claus Is Coming to TownB6Artie MacLaren - Old Fashioned Christmas

June Pasher and the boys:

A non-Xmas song from June Pasher:

 

AC-9