Emmylou Harris Roses in the Snow

Usually viewed in a country context, Emmylou Harris is in fact one of the most distinctive and visionary voices in all of popular music to emerge over the last four decades. Mentored by ex-Burrito Brother Gram Parsons, she rose to stardom as his transcendent vocal partner on the "Cosmic American Music" gracing his landmark solo albums GP ('72) and Grievous Angel ('73). Harris' own ever-adventurous solo career launched shortly after Parsons' untimely death with 1975's Pieces of Sky. Following a succession of definitive albums to close out the decade she kicked off the '80s with Roses in the Snow (1980), a Brian Ahern-produced back to her roots blue-grass and traditional-country flavored affair featuring Ricky Skaggs, Albert Lee, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Linda Ronstadt. Moving takes on the beloved traditional, "Wayfaring Stranger" and the lone contemporary number, Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer," where issued as singles.