Ms. Harris' band has been called "The Hot Band", and dozens of talented musicians have been members. The Hot Band was never hotter than on this beautiful album. Albert Lee is one of the hottest country guitar players ever - a sort of country Eddie Van Halen. Tony Rice on the acoustic guitar is every bit the equivalent of Albert Lee's electric. Ricky Skaggs adds his fine mandolin and fiddle work. Dobro King Jerry Douglas adds his stamp.

Then the vocals! Emmylou's angelic voice is harmonized with Rice and Skaggs. Linda Ronstadt. Dolly Parton. Johnny Cash. The Whites.

This recording is every bit as good as ANY of the "Will the Circle be Unbroken" albums, but it is WAY more consistant. AT the same time it's way hotter than the wonderful "Trio" albums with Ronstadt and Parton. There's not a weak track on here. Ralph Stanley, the Louvin Brothers and Simon and Garfunkle's songs never sounded so good.

Get it.

In 1980 "country" music was going the way of "Lookin' for Love in All the Wrong Places" and "9 to 5". The old "country" sound of the 1960s and 1970s was giving way to a new "country" sound that would eventually produce Garth Brooks and ultimately make "country" the dominant music genre in the United States.

Emmylou Harris did not follow this trend, in fact she seems to have fled from it. In 1980 she and the band left the electric guitars at home and recorded an absolutely gorgeous acoustic country/bluegrass album. The road less travelled bore far more fruit than expected in this case. From the first ripping fiddle notes that open the title track the album takes you in with its sound, atmosphere and beauty. I first heard this album in headphones (I was at work and needed to filter out the usual nonsense going on around me), and was simply dumbstruck. Being relatively new to "country music" (I hate categorizing music) I wondered what I had been missing all these years. Now I know.

This album owes as much to folk and bluegrass as it does to country. Its sound is significantly different from Harris' previous album "Blue Kentucky Girl" which tends toward electrified country. The themes are sometimes heartbreakingly sorrowful ("Wayfaring Stranger", "You're Learning", "Miss the Mississippi and You"), sometimes religious ("Green Pastures", "Jordan"), sometimes hopeful ("The Darkest Hour is Just Before Dawn"). It is also easy to be skeptical about "country" covers of "rock" songs, so I was pleasantly surprised at the version of "The Boxer" which complements the other songs incredibly well. There are no duds on this album, only great and greater songs.

The CD booklet contains in-depth information on the making of the album, and it's place in the "country" genre of the time. We can all be happy that Emmylou Harris is not a follower.

Brave Emmylou made this album at a time when bluegrass was not fashionable at all. Roses in the Snow has remained a firm favorite down the years; her interpretations are just so sublime, the song selection is spot-on, the playing superb and the arrangements exquisite. Several country legends lend their talents to add magic to the sound. The album has now been enhanced by the addition of two previously unreleased tracks that do not reflect the bluegrass style of the other tracks but resemble her traditional country work of the 1970s from albums like Luxury Liner.

It kicks off with the up-tempo title track, an elegy with rich allusive imagery which is followed by the urgent Green Pastures, a stirring devotional duet with Ricky Skaggs. The traditional Wayfaring Stranger comes across with great power in her mid-tempo treatment and yearning vocals. The folk/pop Paul Simon composition The Boxer gets a graceful treatment, light and lilting, while hope triumphs over despair in the slow & melancholy The Darkest Hour is just before Dawn with its beautiful male vocals.

The picking on the fast-paced I'll Go Stepping Too is breathtaking as is the overall instrumental virtuosity. It contrasts markedly with the slow, aching ballad You're Learning, a moving description of love gone wrong. Next come the joyful gospel song Jordan where male vocals make a prominent contribution, followed by the gentle ballad Miss the Mississippi. The original album concluded with the sublime Gold Watch & Chain, another up-tempo duet.

Besides this bluegrass treasure, Emmylou's non-traditional country albums include 1987's Angel Band, a devotional album that is more folk than country, 1999's Western Wall which is folk-rock and the trilogy of Wrecking Ball, Red Dirt Girl and Stumble into Grace where she explored a haunting style of atmospheric rock music. They are all works of consummate artistry but Roses in the Snow has a visceral emotional appeal.

Every single song is a gem so it's not easy to pick favorites, but the title track, Green Pastures, Darkest Hour, The Boxer, Miss the Mississippi and Gold Watch & Chain are particularly outstanding. I also recommend Dolly Parton's bluegrass excursion Grass Is Blue although it does not leave quite as strong an impression as this masterpiece. I've discovered much beautiful new music since bluegrass made a comeback in the 1990s but I always return to Roses in the Snow as one collection embodying the absolute best of the genre.

This is the one album (CD - whatever!) that I can attribute to the beginnings of me loving traditional music of all genres. The time was around 1980 or so that I first purchased this album. Listening to it taught me that you didn't need electric instruments or drums to enjoy music. That lyrics did not necessarily have to deal with politics and sex to be relevant. That true undying love, morals, and Christianity still had a place in my Led Zeppelin world (and I'm still a Zep fan, too!). Roses In The Snow just grabbed me and shook me out of my closed minded senses, and I'm forever thankful for that!
The tune that begins the disc is what the CD is named for, Roses In The Snow. Although written in the 1970's, lyrically it could have been written in the 1870's. Follow that with a true 19th century folk song - Wayfaring Stranger - and you know you're in for a real treat! The high quality of the first two songs is maintained throughout the rest of the CD, with cuts including the Carter Family's Gold Watch and Chain, Flatt and Scruggs cheatin' I'll Go Steppin' Too, and a beautiful number called Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn.
Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, The Whites, and especially Ricky Skaggs help out on different cuts in this collection, with Ricky, of course, being a member of Emmylou's Hot Band at the time, and the main influence for Emmy's direction. This is pretty much an 'O Brother Where Art Thou' collection before 'O Brother' was even an inkling in anyone's eye. And if you're a fan of 'O Brother,' and especially a newcomer to this style of music, Emmylou's 'Roses' should be your next CD purchase. Her voice was in top form here, never better before or since. The instrumentation is top notch, with Willie Nelson, Tony Rice, Albert Lee, and Emory Gordy Jr., all giving Miss Harris the perfect backing for her wonderful voice.
The only disappointment on the reissue of this disc is the inclusion of the poor selections for the extra tracks. You can't tell me that there weren't any available tunes done in the same bluegrassy/traditional style available to keep the continuity of the original album! Who's choice was it to pick these two songs? Not that they are bad songs, they just do not fit the "Roses" concept. Oh well, just program them out when listening to the entire album, then program then back in when listening to Emmy's "Quarter Moon" or "Cimarron."
By the way, if you do like this disc, may I recommend Emmylou's Christmas CD, 'Light Of The Stable,' and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken' (the REAL beginning of the 'O Brother' marriage between youth and bluegrass/traditional).

I was 12 years of when the "Wayfaring Stranger" track of this album began to get a great deal of airplay. I loved it, and my parents bought me the LP of ROSES IN THE SNOW for my birthday. I practically wore the thing out, listening to my favorites "Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn" and "Gold Watch and Chain". Linda Ronstadt sings backup on GWandC, and I have always thought that Ronstadt and Harris produced some of the purest, most beautiful sounds when they sang together. I didn't know that the music was bluegrass, I just knew I loved it.

After the O Brother craze began, I watched a PBS special hosted by Ricky Skaggs, in which Harris sang "Darkest Hour". I pulled out my old LP for my husband and kids to hear and they loved it, too. I just couldn't resist the CD. The first extended track didn't do too much for me, but "Root like a Rose" is just gorgeous.

Thank you, Emmy, for a super album that I have enjoyed most of my life.