My Christmas playlist on Spotify I made 2 or three years ago for the season runs from the 1940's through the 70's with a very few select 80's songs thrown in (U2, The Waitresses). It also includes classical Christmas stuff. If I want to listen to anything from the 90's forward, I'd listen to it by itself (I've recommended modern albums in this thread and others I believe). But basically, the playlist I mostly listen to is everything that existed when I was a child, because I want wherever I'm at to feel like I'm at Macy's department store during the Holidays.
Yes indeed, the feeling of nostalgia is definitely a big part of the experience for me as well, but a great deal of the music from the Golden Age of Christmas that I have fallen in love with in the last few years, I was never even exposed to as a child (Mantovani, Jack Jones, Doris Day, Ella, and Percy Faith on his own). So there is something quite unique about this era of music that seems to be missing quite often in the more modern era of holiday music. Sometimes it is the sheer placement of the microphones that captured the blended sound of the orchestra vs. the modern mike setups that seem to value the sonics of individual players over the sound of the group. I love finding a brand new holiday album that resonates with me, but quite often it seems that the new reissues are the ones that thrill me the most these days.
Here is a stone cold Classic holiday album from 1996. I think that Colin Raye's Christmas: The Gift might just be the greatest holiday album to ever come out of a Nashville recording studio. He is also one of the greatest and most unheralded singers to come out of country music as well. What John Gary was to popular music ( A singer possessed with a gorgeous and wide ranging vocal compass, who never seemed to quite get his due), Colin Raye is to country music. Producer and piano player John Hobbs rounded up sixty plus musicians and background singers for the session, all recorded at one time in glorious fashion. I will put his version of O Holy Night up against anyone's, but for the sake of diversity, let us try listening to his angelic and powerful version of Angels We Have Heard On High. How many solo male vocalists have you heard tackle that standard? Arranger Ron Huff deserves a shout out too for most of the heavenly orchestral scores. The album includes both an instrumental and vocalist version of The First Noel. Now without further ado, Mr. Colin Raye:
This record Werner Müller - O Tannenbaum (Christmas On The Rhine) is a German language album that my parents owned and was played a lot when I was growing up. When I hear it now it certainly moves me in a nostalgic way, however there are some tracks on this with beautiful choral singing that have their own spiritual quality that transcend any language barriers. I don't believe it's ever been reissued on cd, but maybe somebody out there might want to do that....
Holiday cheer from non-traditional selections : Ambush - Sailcat If I Were a Carpenter - Harry Belafonte Somewhere (L.Bernstein) - Dave Brubeck Quartet Cast Your Fate to the Wind - Vince Guaraldi Trio Peau d'âne s'enfuit - Michel Legrand Peau d'âne arrive à la ferme - Michel Legrand Le Temps arrêté - Michel Legrand Chanson du prince - Michel Legrand The Feast (from the original stage production of 'The Butterfly Ball & Grasshoppers Feast') - Roger Glover & Guests Glory's Theme (All Aboard) - (from 'A Teenage Opera' soundtrack) - Mark Wirtz On a Saturday - Keith West Retour au château rouge - (from the 'Peau D'Ane' soundtrack) - Michel Legrand Brian's Song - Michel Legrand Cresta's Theme - Roy Budd Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James - (Fontana mono single version) - Manfred Mann Fields of Green and Skies of Blue - (from the 'Soldier Blue' soundtrack) - Roy Budd Happiness Is - Vince Guaraldi Trio Great Pumpkin Waltz - Vince Guaraldi Trio Theme From Lord of the Flies - Sonny Stitt & Paul Gonsalves Cast Your Fate to the Wind - Johnny Rivers Medley : Tonight • One Heart • Somewhere (L.Bernstein) - Pacific Pops Orchestra Safe & Happy Holidays everyone !
Love this thread. Each year I spend time updating my massive Christmas mix with new selections and remove a few that didn’t work the year before. Selections from threads like these have been a huge source of new additions the past few years! Typically I wait until December but I put the lights up this weekend and have been playing Xmas music already. We need some joy! I finally picked up the Complete Chet Atkins 2CD that Real Gone put out last year now that it’s back in stock. May need to go back and get Slatkin and Klein now! I own the Klein on LP and love it but I’m interested in the remaster, liners, and the second album I don’t have. It would be nice to have in digital to add to my mix. Question for folks. What’s the preferred version of Chet Atkins Xmas, Stereo or Mono? It’s my favorite of all time. The sound on those tracks is unlike any other record I’ve heard. I’ve had a stereo LP for years and picked up a clean mono last year. I think I like the stereo more and it’s got clearer separation and sounds a bit more majestic. While not in hand I think the real gone comp didn’t included the mono mixes? Maybe the liners will provide some insight on why those were included and not the mono but thought I’d toss the question out to you all on what their preference was?
I admit I'm a little biased for obvious reasons, but I cannot say enough about the remastering on the John Klein and Felix Slatkin CD's. I grew up listening to the John Klein Living Stereo version of the album on vinyl as a kid in the 60's, but Mike Piacentini really did a gorgeous remaster from the original master tapes. The second Klein album had already been digitized to a file, but Mike got to take those original tapes from the Sony vault at Iron Mountain and start from scratch with the remaster for A Christmas Sound Spectacular, so to my ears, it sounds better than the old vinyl that my father worshipped. I spent weeks on those liner notes and there are some great quotes from Time Magazine and Billboard Magazine regarding the historic nature of the project. The Carillon Americana was so large that RCA Victor had to move their remote recording equipment from New York to Pennsylvania to accommodate the logistics of the session.
I concur that the Slatkin and Klein remasters are beautiful. Well done! I just put together a much smaller, much more specific playlist of Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians. The earliest albums could definitely use the Real Gone touch. Also, I'm kinda shocked a couple of the albums are very conceptual, with soundscapes/effects and themed spoken word intros...
Thanks for the shout out on the remastering, my friend. Have you checked out the RGM CD version below of Fred's most iconic albums below? It was originally a mono release only so the sound expectations have to be judged a little differently, but I love that album cover artwork based on Norman Rockwell's illustration.
That looks and sounds like a beautiful release from the Golden Age of Christmas. I love the cover artwork as well. O Tannenbaum is one of my favorite melodies of all time. I love the vocal version by Nat King Cole and hopefully everybody is aware of that one from his iconic The Christmas Song album, but perhaps some are not aware of the awesome Percy Faith instrumental version from his lesser known second holiday album, Hallelujah. It is also available on the terrific RGM release; Percy Faith, The Complete Music Of Christmas 2CD collection that combines his first holiday album in its original mono version and his second Christmas album in its stereo incarnation (thank goodness). Check out this majestic version of O Tannenbaum below:
This is another one I absolutely love! Big Daddy himself, with a great album of Christmas tunes! Have this one on CD, and is usually on rotation when I play music while working!
@RSteven Indeed, your liner notes are splendid! Wonderful job. NOT your fault, but it would have been nice to have the original liner notes reprinted so we could enjoy them easily these many decades later. Small potatoes complaint. Ya did good, kid!
Thanks Paul, I really appreciate the compliment. As I think you referenced in one of your previous posts, we actually did print the original liner notes on the back page of the booklet, which is in fact an exact image of the back cover on the original vinyl jacket. The problem is that when you print that original back cover on the size of a CD booklet, the words can get a little hard to read. I can read them, but some people might need a magnifying glass, as I think you mentioned in your first post. At least my liner notes are decent sized and easily readable as RGM is never skimpy on that issue (9 pages including some pictures). What I really wanted to do was reprint that awesome antique trifold insert that they included with the original vinyl album, and we did do a miniature replication of it behind the jewel spindle, but again, not exactly readable without a magnifying glass. It just gets to be a cost prohibitive thing. I am thankful that RGM's liner notes are always more comprehensive than the original releases in almost all cases. In fact, Gordon let me go over the usual word count limitations and did not edit it down at all.
Oh definitely! The ones on spotify for those two don't seem remastered, certainly not "Christmas Time" which might even be a needle drop.
I have expanded the above playlist with a few more selections, rounding out the number of tracks to 28 with the following: Seule (from "L'odeur des Fauves") - Nanette Workman Intrigue au soleil - Francis Lai Treize jours en France (Orchestre) - Francis Lai Dance of Love - Francis Lai The Legend of Frenchie King - Francis Lai Happy New Year - Francis Lai Cambridge (One Day Soon) opening theme (from " I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name ") -Francis Lai Cambridge (One Day Soon) ending theme (from " I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name ") -Francis Lai Total time (expanded edition) : 82:OO
I'll add a couple more to this growing list of classics! Mannheim Steamroller (Chip Davis & co) produced two solid holiday albums. If you can find them on vinyl, get it, and give it a spin! Some excellent arrangements and sounds stunning!
Sorry you're not capable of respecting another member's opinion, even when he spelled out reasonable perspective on why it's different from most of the others here. Yet, still has the bravado to give a passive-aggressive answer, while not brave enough to even give me the benefit of why my carefully-explained reasoning doesn't matter. Now who's the grinch...?
I know I post this every year, but I can't get enough of my Longines Symphonette at Christmas. "I'll be Home for Christmas" just sleighs me. (Sorry). +RSteven, I'm sure the tapes are long gone (query - who was this mysterious New York watch-maker related ensemble with some sort of Netherlands based petrochemical company - Shell Oil - connection?), but maybe we need to team up on an RGM edition. I'm up for the hunt...
What a beautiful sounding album. Is it true that the very talented Robert Farnon was the uncredited conductor/arranger for this release?