Christmas Album Review: Come On, Ring Those Bells by Evie (1977)

Book coverIt has been eight years since I did a Christmas album review (Christmas Album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in 2016(!)). Which is odd, as I have accumulated many more Christmas albums in the interim–so much so that I will probably not listen to all of them before they get put back up the day after Christmas and I start listening to new acquisitions. So I have had blog fodder for the nigh-past decade, and the Christmas album posts drive some search engine traffic, so one would think I would have posted between then and now. Oh, but no.

On to Evie: I have seen a lot of Evie records available for a buck or so, including this one which I picked up at Vintage Stock in 2020. She was a folk-sounding Gospel singer from the 1970s (Wikipedia says she married a pastor in 1979 and retired to focus on other ministries, but her Web site has more recent work and her Facebook page indicates she has a more recent Christmas album out, but probably not on vinyl and not for a dollar. The prevalence of her inexpensive albums stems from the fact that a lot of a certain generation had a lot of Gospel albums, but the modern record collectors pass them over–as I generally do. But this is a Christmas album.

Come On, Ring Those Bells definitely is a product of its time. The sound matches the 70s folk sound you get from the Olivia Newton-John or Lynda Carter records of the era, but with religious themes. Christmas themes, as it were. The album includes a couple of carols you recognize and some different songs that you have not:

  • “Come On, Ring Those Bells”
  • “Away in a Manger”
  • “Medley: No Room / Have You Any Room For Jesus”
  • “Mary’s Boy Child”
  • “Silent Night”
  • “O Holy Night”
  • “What Child Is This?”
  • “Some Children See Him”
  • “One Small Child”
  • “A Thousand Candles”

I don’t know why you don’t hear Evie in rotation on the Christmas stations. Perhaps it’s because she’s primarily a Gospel singer, perhaps it a question of the rights packages the radio syndicates can buy, or maybe she falls in that gap between the great orchestrations of Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and the other records from the forties and fifties and the contemporary renditions from the artists from the 80s, 90s, and now that afflicts anyone not named Carpenter. Maybe all of the above.

But it’s a pleasant record to listen to, and better yet if you can find a copy of it for a buck like I did.

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Losing the Mannheiming of Christmas

One of the radio presets in our vehicles switches to Christmas music in mid-November, so we get our share of Christmas music that does not come from our growing collection of LPs.

And you know what I haven’t heard on this station in the last couple of years or, to my recollection, on KEZK in St. Louis when I lived there and on recent trips back?

Mannheim Steamroller.

This band really broke through after a number of albums with its 1984 Christmas album. I remember seeing this video on MTV with my brother; we were lying on my grandmother’s floor, and when it finished, we both said, Whoa.

But you don’t hear it in the mix much these days. Of course, the radio Christmas playlists have suddenly (maybe not suddenly?) tilted to modern artists doing secular winter songs, so you get a lot of Taylor Swift and Michael Buble, but not a lot of Steve and Eydie and whatnot.

So I guess that’s where Mannheim Steamroller went. Into the past.

I have this album, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas, and a later Christmas album, Christmas in the Aire on audio cassette. I should see about getting them on CD. Mannheim Steamroller Christmas was the first Christmas album I bought, werd.

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Scoring Low On A Rolling Stone Quiz Is No Shame

Some twenty-year-old has compiled a list called The 25 Greatest Christmas Albums of All Time.

How many do I own? Answers in bold:

  • Weezer, A Weezer Christmas
  • Christmas Joy in Latvia – Latvian Christmas Cantatas
  • Jacob Miller, Natty Christmas
  • Sufjan Stevens, Songs for Christmas
  • Bob Dylan, Christmas in the Heart
  • New Wave Xmas: Just Can
  • t Get Enough
  • Cee Lo, Cee Lo’s Magic Moment
  • She & Him, A She & Him Christmas
  • Christmas on Death Row
  • Carpenters, Christmas Collection
  • Johnny Cash, Christmas With Johnny Cash
  • A Very Special Christmas
  • Frank Sinatra, A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra
  • The Ventures, The Ventures
  • Christmas Album
  • Willie Nelson, Pretty Paper
  • Ella Fitzgerald, Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas
  • Soul Christmas
  • Bing Crosby, White Christmas
  • Beach Boys, Beach Boys
  • Christmas Album
  • Louis Armstrong and Friends, The Best of Christmas Songs
  • A Motown Christmas
  • A Charlie Brown Christmas
  • James Brown, James Brown
  • s Funky Christmas
  • Elvis Presley, Elvis’ Christmas Album
  • A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Of the ones I’m missing, I might only want a couple. Ella, Louis Armstrong, maybe the Charlie Brown Christmas, the Sinatra, maybe the Phil Spector one. Am I allowed to want the last? He went to jail for murdering his wife. I mean, it’s not the same as touching a woman on the bum who later decided she didn’t want to be touched on the bum.

At any rate, one wonders how many Christmas records a modern journalist has or plays at all.

You know I do.

(Link via Ace of Spades HQ.)

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Christmas Album Review: Christmas Album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1968)

Book coverThis album fits in with the mellow 1960s sound found on the other Christmas albums I’ve reviewed so far this year (you can find them here). As you might know, gentle reader, it was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass that initially led me into collecting albums from the 1960s in the easy listening genre, and when I saw this album at an antique mall, I bought it. You can tell I’m serious because I paid $5.00 for it. You can really tell I’m serious about it because I paid $5 for the LP when I’d already received the CD as a Christmas gift. Or perhaps you know that I like to spin records at Christmas.

At any rate, the album features mostly secular winter-time songs associated with Christmas, but has “The Christmas Song” and a bit of a religous Bach piece called “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”.

The track list includes:

  • Winter Wonderland
  • Jingle Bells
  • My Favorite Things
  • The Christmas Song
  • Las Mananitas
  • Sleigh Ride
  • The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle
  • Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
  • Jingle Bell Rock
  • Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring

You don’t tend to see “Las Mañanitas” on a Christmas record as it’s a traditional Mexican birthday song, but it could fit the Christ birth theme. “The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle” is a particularly nice bit with Herb Alpert on the vocals. Did you know Herb Alpert is the only artist to win a Grammy for an instrumental and a vocal performance? True fact. Not this song, though, although his gentle tones offer a mellow bit of encouragement.

I like this album plenty and play it a bunch, both on the turntable and on the CD when I’m not in my parlor. Let that be a ringing endorsement.

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Christmas Album Review: Merry Music Christmas by Dean Martin/Jackie Gleason (1973)

Book coverThis album represents the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of albums. As you might know, I have two Dean Martin Christmas albums (The Dean Martin Christmas Album and Winter Romance) as well as White Christmas by Jackie Gleason. So when I cannot decide which to listen to, I can drop this platter on the turntable and enjoy the best of both.

This album collects some of the Capitol songs of both from the aforementioned albums and mixes them together. So you have songs with Martin’s warm flair followed by instrumental big band numbers by Gleason’s orchestra.

The track list includes:

  • Baby It’s Cold Outside (Dean Martin)
  • Winter Wonderland (Dean Martin)
  • You’re All I Want For Christmas (Jackie Gleason)
  • I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (Dean Martin)
  • It’s Christmas Time All Over The World (Jackie Gleason)
  • Blue Christmas (Jackie Gleason)
  • The Christmas Song (Jackie Gleason)
  • Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Dean Martin)
  • Snowbound For Christmas (Jackie Gleason)
  • White Christmas (Dean Martin)

Of the selections, most are standards, but “Snowbound for Christmas” is the new song, and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” might be from the original Winter Romance; it is not on either the reissue of Winter Romance I have nor The Dean Martin Christmas Album.

So it lies in the sweet spot between a compilation album of many different voices and a record with a single singer or group. It’s two acts I enjoy greatly, and I’m happy to have picked this disc up this year. I’d recommend it if you can find it for a couple of bucks out in the wild. Or, like I did, for a buck at a book sale.

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Christmas Album Review: Winter Romance by Dean Martin (1964)

Book coverThis album comes in two flavors: The original version, depicted below in the Amazon link, and the 1964 reissue depicted to the right, which is the edition I have. The two differ by a couple of tracks: The original includes “White Christmas” and “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer” which makes it a more straight-ahead Christmas album. The reissue, on the other hand, has no explicit Christmas songs at all.

Instead, the songs are all about cold and the winter, but some are standard songs on Christmas albums and radio stations, including “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, “Winter Wonderland”, and “Let It Snow”. Some are jazz standards that you hear all year round, like “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” and “The Things We Did Last Summer” (although I hear them all year round because I listen to jazz standards throughout the year–if you don’t, you probably won’t).

In that regard, I can play the album well into January, although it’s not particularly cold here in southwest Missouri (especially for a Wisconsin native).

The track list includes:

  • I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
  • June In January
  • Canadian Sunset
  • A Winter Romance
  • Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
  • Baby, It’s Cold Outside
  • The Things We Did Last Summer
  • It Won’t Cool Off
  • Out In The Cold Again
  • Winter Wonderland

As it is Dean Martin, it’s in pretty heavy rotation at Nogglestead as is Martin’s The Dean Martin Christmas Album.

And I’ll be honest, I’ll never be brave enough to try the sweater over a turtleneck look, but I’m not living in the past, just listening to the past.

Also note that now that I know it exists, I’ll be on the lookout for the original release with the more Christmas flavor. If nothing else, it will make yet another Christmas album review someday.

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Christmas Album Review: White Christmas by Jackie Gleason (1970)

Book coverIf you like the mellow orchestral mood music sound of Jackie Gleason presents albums, you will love this album. It’s a welcome departure from the normal Christmas record orchestration, with the reliance on traditional choir, organ, and bells/chimes. These are swanky orchestrations for a holiday get-together or a nice bit of background music for baking. No snow required!

The track list includes:

  • White Christmas
  • Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
  • Jingle Bells
  • Blue Christmas
  • The Christmas Song
  • Winter Wonderland
  • Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
  • I’ll Be Home For Christmas
  • Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

It’s not my favorite Christmas album, and it’s not my favorite Jackie Gleason presents disc (that would be Music, Martini, and Memories or The Torch with the Blue Flame), but it’s an excellent addition to the rotation at Nogglestead. I’m glad I picked it up this year.

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Christmas Album Review: A Christmas Sing with Bing by Bing Crosby and the Norman Luboff Orchestra (1958, 1973)

Book coverIt’s not really the Christmas season when it comes to record albums, ainna? It’s Bing Crosby season. So let’s get this year’s Christmas album reviews off to a proper start, with this album. It was recorded in 1955 and released as a record in 1956. It’s from a radio broadcast that Bing did on Christmas Eve, so it’s chock full of not only songs that he performs, but also bits recorded by others. Like many albums I’m planning to review this year, it features the spoken word–in this case, Bing’s introductions to the songs and the cutaways.

The album dates from 1956? 1958? But the pressing I got dates from 1973 or so. Reissued 25 years later. So you know there was a market for it. Whether there still is, I don’t know.

The track list includes:

  • Happy Holiday
  • Joy To The World
  • Hark The Herald Angels Sing
  • White Christmas
  • Adeste Fideles (Oh, Come All Ye Faithful)
  • We Three Kings Of Orient Are
  • The First Noel
  • Carol Of The Bells
  • What Christmas Means To Me
  • Good King Wenseslas
  • Jesus, Sweet Savior (Jesus Sauveur Adorable)
  • Angels We Have Heard On High (Gloria In Excelsis)
  • Away In A Manger
  • Thou Decendeth From The Stars (Tucendi De La Stelli)
  • Deck The Halls
  • God Rest Ye Merrie Gentlemen
  • Oh, Little Town Of Bethlehem
  • Silent Night
  • Happy Holiday (Finale)

Pretty stock stuff, but with some different bits in there (“Thou Descendeth from the Stars”, “What Christmas Means To Me”, “Jesus, Sweet Savior”).

The most interesting part, of course, is the recreation of an old time radio broadcast.

I like it a bunch, and I’ve got it on steady rotation this year so far.

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Christmas Album Review: Merry Christmas by Bing Crosby (ca 1955)

Book coverThis album differs from some of the other Bing Crosby compilations (such as Christmas with Bing) because it’s a Christmas album as a Christmas album, not a collection of other songs from other records. This one features more swing to it, as it was recorded in the 1950s while Bing was relatively young and not later as he grew to be an elder statesman of music and television host. Several tracks feature the Andrews Sisters as well to give you an idea.

The track list includes>

  • Silent Night
  • Adeste Fideles (Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful)
  • White Christmas
  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  • Faith Of Our Fathers
  • I’ll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams)
  • Jingle Bells
  • Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
  • Silver Bells
  • It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas
  • Christmas In Killarney
  • Mele Kalikimaka

The song “Faith of our Fathers” is new; the others, although standards, have a little zip on them and are festive. Overall, it’s a good listen for the holidays and breaks out of the normal Bing Crosby ouevre. Which, I suspect, many Bing Crosby albums do once you move beyond the often-anthologized.

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Christmas Album Review: The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole (1962)

Book coverGentler reader, I know I’m not saving the best for last in presenting this album on December 12, but this is the best Christmas album of all time. This album makes me wish Nat King Cole were my dad, okay? His warm, smooth voice infuses all of these tracks with a hominess that makes all of them mood music. Or better yet, primary music: you want to put the record on, stop what you’re doing, and just listen to it.

The track list includes:

  • The Christmas Song
  • Deck The Halls
  • Adeste Fideles
  • O Tannenbaum
  • O, Little Town Of Bethlehem
  • I Saw Three Ships
  • O Holy Night
  • Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
  • A Cradle In Bethlehem
  • Away In A Manger
  • Joy To The World
  • The First Noel
  • Caroling, Caroling
  • Silent Night

If I had to gripe, I’d say the version of “Deck the Halls” is a bit manic, but, hey, who hasn’t been a touch manic getting ready for a big party.

The modern CD rendition of the album features five extra songs and opens with a spoken Christmas greeting. Yes, I have both. Let that be your guide as to whether I recommend it or not.

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Christmas Album Review: The Little Drummer Boy by the Abbey Choir (?)

Book coverThis album includes the definitive version of “The Little Drummer Boy” in my mind. When I was a little boy, I had a book with the lyrics to the song along with some pictures of what’s depicted in the lyrics, and when my mother played this album, the song came to life. Or so I thought at the time.

The truth of the matter is that this disk is a collection of choir renditions of some common Christmas carols and some uncommon ones.

The track list includes:

  • The Little Drummer Boy
  • Silent Night
  • O Come All Ye Faithful
  • The Twelve Days Of Christmas
  • As With Gladness Men Of Old
  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  • Christians Awake
  • The Wassail Song
  • While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
  • Once In Royal David’s City
  • The Holly And The Ivy
  • Angels From The Realms Of Glory
  • Ave Maria

For the most part, I’ve reviewed individual artists’ albums and collections of individual artists’ songs, but the choral album is integral to the whole Christmas experience, and you can’t hardly go wrong with them as background music. This album gets plenty of play in the household. And, apparently, it’s available on MP3s for you 21st century types.

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Christmas Album Review: Christmas with Bing by Bing Crosby (1980)

Book coverThis album is a Reader’s Digest compilation that collects a number of popular tracks from Bing Crosby. Jeez, I feel a little weird here, wondering if I have to explain who Bing Crosby is to you damn kids. You know him for his rendition of “White Christmas”, which he originated in the film Holiday Inn and then again in the film White Christmas. But, for Pete’s sake, you know he was a big time recording artist, the father of all pop music and music recording, and a hip enough fellow that he poked fun at his hipness and its own aging in the film High Time when the man was older than my father ever was. He’s Bing Crosby, &%^$&*!

Where was I?

Oh, yes. The album was released after his death, and collects a number of his songs, including:

  • Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
  • O Holy Night
  • What Child Is This?/The Holly And The Ivy
  • The Little Drummer Boy
  • I Wish You A Merry Christmas
  • Frosty The Snow Man
  • Winter Wonderland
  • Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
  • Christmas Dinner, Country Style
  • Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

What’s missing? The aforementioned “White Christmas”. Instead, we get a treat that doesn’t appear often elsewhere, “Christmas Dinner, Country Style” about a large family gathering for a meal. The song is a treat; the others, standards. You’ll find them elsewhere, on compilation collections, but it’s fine to have them on a single platter to have as either background or mood music.

I mentioned that you don’t find Perry Como albums outside the Christmas work in book fairs, garage sales, or antique malls in southwest Missouri often. You do, and by “you do” I mean “You might if you get there before me,” find the occasional Bing Crosby album in the wild. I suppose that’s because he sold more albums than Perry Como did. Or maybe it’s just because that’s what I’ve found.

Regardless, this album should be pretty widely available since it’s a Reader’s Digest pressing. You could do worse, and probably will with anything you buy with a copyright date after 1980.

(See also Famous Today, Forgotten Tomorrow: If we don’t remember Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, will tomorrow’s generation remember the Beatles and Bob Dylan? from today’s Wall Street Journal.)

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Christmas Album Review: Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music by Perry Como (1956)

Book coverIt’s strange; Perry Como was pretty popular in the early part of the 20th century, as he released records and starred on television, but you rarely see his albums in the wild. My mother owned a copy of this album, and I guess it must have sold for a buck at one of her garage sales as I had to buy my own copy. At an antique mall. For $3. That’s how fondly I remember the album from my youth. I spent three dollars on it.

Como has a baritone voice and inhabits the songs much in the way his early influence Bing Crosby does. As such, he does a great job with the Christmas music.

The track list includes:

  • ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas
  • The Twelve Days Of Christmas
  • God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
  • C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s
  • Joy To The World
  • Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
  • Frosty The Snowman
  • The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
  • That Christmas Feeling
  • I’ll Be Home For Christmas
  • Silent Night
  • O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
  • Jingle Bells
  • White Christmas
  • Winter Wonderland

This is definitely a definitive Christmas album to own, as Como really was associated with Christmas television specials into the 1980s and beyond (apparently, his last was in 1994). Unfortunately, my copy sticks, so I’m in the market for a replacement for it. And I’m willing to pay $3 for it.

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Christmas Album Review: That Holiday Feeling! by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme (1964)

Book coverThis album is the Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme Christmas album. No, I’m not emphasizing it enough: this is the Steve Lawrence and EYDIE GORME Christmas album. Too subtle? It’s the Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme Christmas album. Listen, bub, they’ve taken the <blink> tag away, so I don’t know how much more clearly I can make it: I’m an Eydie Gorme fan, and I was very happy to find this album this year. Oh, her husband is okay, too. But he’s not Eydie Gorme.

The track list includes a number of common songs and a couple variations:

  • Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
  • What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve
  • Happy Holiday
  • Sleigh Ride
  • Winter Wonderland
  • White Christmas
  • Let Me Be The First To Wish You Merry Christmas
  • Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
  • The Christmas Song
  • Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
  • That Holiday Feeling
  • That Ol’ Christmas Spirit

“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” has become a jazz/songbook standard of sorts and makes its appearance mixed into Christmas carols on the radio, but I don’t have many renditions of it on LP. “Let Me Be The First To Wish You Merry Christmas” might be the only representation of that song I have available, and “That Ol’ Christmas Spirit” is infrequent enough to be a treat when it appears.

As you would expect, especially if you’re familiar with the LPs where Steve and Eydie appear together, the songs are duets in most cases and they switch off primary duties on the songs. Their version of “Sleigh Ride” is particularly fun, with Steve singing the lyrics and Eydie chanting “Sleigh Ride” at the end of lines. Sadly, their laughter at the end of the song is forced and a bit desperate and maniacal.

Gorme’s voice is expressive and fun, and Lawrence’s is warm and engaging as well. It’s definitely mood music; something worth listening to with a bit of focus.

As I mentioned, I only bought this album this year, but it’s already in the rotation here at Nogglestead as often as I can get away with without making my wife fear I have an unhealthy obsession with Eydie Gorme.

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Christmas Album Review: The Sinatra Christmas Album by Frank Sinatra (1957)

Book coverI got this album a couple of years ago, and I play it a couple of times a week throughout the season. It’s a serviceable collection of known favorites and a song that appears sparsely on Christmas albums (“Mistletoe and Holly”). It’s good background music, but it’s not ideal mood music because Sinatra’s more of a technical perfectionist of a singer rather than a warm singer who inhabits the songs. That is, when you hear these songs, you imagine being in a room where Sinatra is singing the songs on stage instead of someone who’s singing the songs with you.

The track list includes:

  • Jingle Bells
  • The Christmas Song
  • Mistletoe And Holly
  • I’ll Be Home For Christmas
  • The Christmas Waltz
  • Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
  • The First Noel
  • Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
  • O Little Town Of Bethlehem
  • Adeste Fideles
  • It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
  • Silent Night

According to Discogs, this is one of the more expensive Christmas albums I’ve reviewed so far. And I only spent a buck on it at a book sale if I remember correctly.

So it’s worth a couple of spins every year in fairly heavy rotation at Nogglestead, but mostly it’s because of the Sinatra cool factor than the music itself.

Speaking of the Rat Pack, I’ve already reviewed the The Dean Martin Christmas Album.

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Christmas Album Review: A Very Merry Christmas Volume Two by Various Artists (?)

Album coverThis album belonged to my mother from the time she served in the Marine Corps; the address label in the corner was for El Toro MCAS. The price tag in the corner means she tried to sell it at one or more yard sales after she moved on from LPs. Obviously, it didn’t sell, which is fortunate, since it is a relic from my youth I can hold onto.

It’s a compilation album, and the second of a series. It has Christmas carol standards by a number of the popular artists from the middle of the 20th century.

The track list includes:

  • Mitch Miller And The Gang, “Joy To The World”
  • Robert Goulet, “O Holy Night”
  • Anita Bryant, “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear”
  • Andre Kostelanetz, “Sleigh Ride”
  • Steve Lawrence, “The Christmas Song”
  • Mahalia Jackson, “O Little Town Of Bethlehem”
  • The New Christy Minstrels, “Here We Come A-Caroling”
  • Jim Nabors, “Jingle Bells”
  • Doris Day, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
  • Johnny Mathis, “Silver Bells”
  • Skitch Henderson And His Orchestra, “We Need A Little Christmas”
  • Johnny Cash, “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day”
  • Eydie Gorme, “White Christmas”
  • Bing Crosby, “What Child Is This? The Holly And The Ivy”
  • The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, “Silent Night, Holy Night”

It’s a fine mix, and I enjoy the compilation albums more than most Christmas albums by a single artist simply for the variety’s sake. Some songs on the compilations appear on some of the individual albums (cough, cough, Robert Goulet).

This album includes “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”, a song not found on many of my other compilation discs and a couple of artists I’ve not heard of or seen in record bins (Mahalia Jackson, Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra). Additionally, this album, played in my youth, would have been the first times I heard Eydie Gorme, and how could I tell thirty-five years ago how big of a fan of hers I would become?

At any rate, this album is aces and gets a lot of play during the Christmas season here.

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Christmas Album Review: Come All Ye Faithful by Kate Smith (?)

Book coverThis album features Kate Smith of “God Bless America” fame singing a selection of Christmas carols and other things. I know, a day after saying that Robert Goulet’s Christmas album was too big, I’m giving a favorable review to Kate Smith’s.

However, the different between the two is a big voice and a big delivery. Although Kate Smith has a big voice, she’s singing these songs instead of belting them out. Additionally, she’s balanced well with the other musicians on the album, including other vocalists who help out and the instrument arrangements. Besides, Kate Smith is like your grandmother singing these things if your grandmother could sing.

The track list includes:

  • Deck the Halls
  • White Christmas
  • Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
  • The First Noel
  • O Come All Ye Faithful
  • Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
  • He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands
  • Greensleeves
  • Joy To The World
  • O Little Town of Bethlehem
  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  • Moonlight In Vermont
  • It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
  • Silent Night
  • Jingle Bells

The set includes a couple of interesting, non-Christmas specific songs (“He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” and “Moonlight in Vermont”) which tangentally touch on the theme. They’re nice enough interludes in the Christmas music to be welcome.

You can get this album in vinyl or MP3 on Amazon, but it looks to be a collection that the studios overlooked when releasing material on CD. I, of course, recommend the vinyl.

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Christmas Album Review: This Christmas I Spend With You by Robert Goulet (1963)

Book coverThis album comes from early in Goulet’s career; in 1960, he got his big break in the musical Camelot, and three years later this album was out. You can tell that Goulet’s got a musical theatre background from this album, as he’s not so much singing these songs in a recording studio as he’s booming these songs out so you can hear them in the cheap seats.

The track list includes:

  • This Christmas I Spend With You
  • Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
  • December Time
  • Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
  • The Christmas Song (Chesnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
  • Silver Bells
  • Winter Wonderland
  • White Christmas
  • O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)
  • Panis Angelicus
  • Ave Maria
  • O Come, All Ye Faithful

Given the booming presentation of each, this record does not get a lot of play. I think I hit it once last year (the first year we owned it), and I played side one this year. And that might be enough. It’s not mood music, and it’s not background music. It’s like a recording of a concert, and I’m not into live albums.

But if you’re into musical theatre or to an over the top style, perhaps it would be to your liking.

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Christmas Album Review: Silent Night and 13 Other Best Loved Christmas Songs by Lawrence Welk (1961)

Book coverThis album is less of a big band sound than a modified bell and chimes choir sound. There are no singers vocalizing the words from the carols, but there are some choral voices singing notes to accompany the orchestra. And, as I said, bells and chimes (and harpsichord) are featured, but they’re backed with a depth of other instruments. So it falls somewhere in between a bells and chimes album and an instrumental bell album.

The track list includes:

  • Silent Night
  • Hark the Herald Angels Sing
  • I’ll Be Home for Christmas
  • White Christmas
  • Deck the Halls
  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
  • The First Noel
  • Adeste Fidelis
  • It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
  • O Little Town of Bethlehem
  • Joy to the World
  • Good King Wenceslas
  • Thanks for Christmas

I bought this album this year, so I don’t have a large sample size of its presence in the rotation, but it’s pleasant enough to have as background music while cooking or otherwise doing things in rooms adjacent to our parlor, where we have the record player and its records. But it’s not mood music, where you want to be in the same room while the record plays.

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