CHRISTMAS 2020: Santa's Pandemic.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by cgoodwin22, Nov 4, 2020.

  1. Scourge

    Scourge The Contagion in Nine Steps

    Location:
    US
  2. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    Don’t like the Duophonic stuff from the 1st LP.
     
    ModernBingFan0377 likes this.
  3. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Agreed, but you gotta love that album cover, Paul!
     
    J_D__, juanmanuel, vinnie and 2 others like this.
  4. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    That great Jackie Gleason cover made me instantly think of Kellie Pickler's great version of Santa Baby. Here is Kellie's live performance of her great cover from about ten years or so ago.

     
    vinnie and ModernBingFan0377 like this.
  5. freddog

    freddog Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    [QUOTE="
    Ringo's Christmas album is a blast as well. So are all the others' songs, like Merry X-Mas (War Is Over) and Wonderful Christmastime. I'm sure everyone already knows them, but HEY what's the harm. It's Christmas.[/QUOTE]

    The Ringo album is really great and "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" is a classic...but Paul's recording of "Wonderful Christmastime" has a really annoying arrangement.

    The Shins cover version years later took more of a Brian Wilson approach, and revealed how good a song it actually was:

     
  6. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    I would argue the third record, Christmas In The Aire, is solid too.
    [​IMG]

    Los Peces En El Rio is a particular standout, particularly as an uncommonly heard (at least in the USA) Christmas piece:


    It's the fourth album where you can kinda hear Chip Davis running out of...

    ...steam? :D Although the Mannheim version of Hallelujah is a delightful throwback to the style of the first record. The fifth album also, uh, exists.

    Poor little synthesizer, nobody likes him!
     
    dualstacker likes this.
  7. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Alright, we're rampin' up. I guess it's time. I've got this playlist, y'see... :D

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwQ6y9BmcSWuayqw-IMWqJrPGaFE6AT5i

    Selections:
    184 selections, 5+ hours; everything from the Hallelujah Chorus to Elvis to the Flecktones to all four versions of NKC's The Christmas Song, to a compilation of Christmas PSAs and other messages from celebrities. Even Grinchydipper might find something a little different in this list.

    edit: 185. I hadn't added Paul's The Christmas Song to the list.
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
  8. Scourge

    Scourge The Contagion in Nine Steps

    Location:
    US
    Lol, I just looked to see how long my Christmas playlist is on Spotify. It's 109 hours and 42 minutes.
     
    noirbar, RSteven and BeatleJWOL like this.
  9. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    How many selections? I made one for party shuffle play, just throwing every Christmas album I could think of into a pile. Turned out to have "1,585 songs" or so sez Youtube Music.

    not that we're comparing or anything :D
     
    RSteven and Scourge like this.
  10. Scourge

    Scourge The Contagion in Nine Steps

    Location:
    US
    Here's another of my faves, Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite (1960):
    [​IMG]
     
  11. WHMusical

    WHMusical Chameleon Comedian Corinthian & Caricature

    Let's not forget: John Fahey's excellent Christmas Guitar album (s).

    Likewise, Leona Boyd as a beautiful Christmas Acoustic Guitar album.


    And then there is the Divine: Light of the Stable, by Emmylou Harris
     
    RSteven likes this.
  12. Scourge

    Scourge The Contagion in Nine Steps

    Location:
    US
    Somewhere around 2400 songs (Spotify no longer gives me the exact number).
     
    BeatleJWOL and RSteven like this.
  13. ModernBingFan0377

    ModernBingFan0377 Crosby ‘Connoisseur’

    My usual playlist of shuffled albums on iTunes or YouTube is basically all of Bing Crosby’s Christmas output, most of Frank Sinatra’s Christmas output, Dean Martin’s A Winter Romance album, Andy Williams’ 60s and 70s Christmas albums, all of Perry Como’s Christmas output, Nat King Cole’s Christmas output, Gene Autry’s 1957 Christmas (re)recordings, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Johnny Mathis’ Christmas albums, Michael Bublé’s Christmas album, and one or two of the NOW Christmas compilations to add in a bit of variety. I’m probably forgetting a couple instrumental albums like some Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops or Percy Faith, but I usually just will add in a couple choral/instrumental Christmas albums.
     
  14. A Local Bloke

    A Local Bloke Forum President

    Location:
    canada-na-na-na-na
    Billy Joel has two late-career christmas duets:

    - The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) with Johnny Mathis
    - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas with Rosie O'Donnell

    And also Jimi Hendrix has a christmas EP, though one song isn't christmasy and the other two are just different edits/mixes of the same one.

    Add them to that playlist BeatleJWOL!
     
  15. freddog

    freddog Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    I've got three Christmas albums by Lou Rawls. All are great. Really soulful, and when he swings, it's a party. In previous years when having a holiday get-together, Lou was the go-to.

    I want to second the previous endorsement for Ben Keith's Seven Gates album. It's beautiful--just a real stunner. (Maybe made even better because it's obscure?)

    The Chet Atkins album is such a smooth, pleasant pick-me-up anytime, you just glide along with him and his guitar into the holiday spirit. And yes, the Charlie Brown Christmas is wonderful because it's so relaxing at the end of a hectic day.

    Stan Kenton put out a fine Christmas album with some arrangements that are dynamic but not hard to listen to.

    Really good Christmas albums by Rock artists are rare. Cheap Trick and The Smithereens made some which included some fine covers of Rock Christmas classics, and the all-original song albums from a few years ago by The Mavericks and The Ol' 97's are brilliant.

    I'm one of those Not Until After Thanksgiving guys, so the album in my collection that I'm just champing at the bit to hear (in addition to new stuff I've just bought) is the Robert Goulet collection on Real Gone. It's a lot of fun because his singing can be so...overwrought. I'd play it for my wife, and her reaction was priceless...making me laugh so hard my sides would ache. Now that is what I call feel-good music!
     
  16. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    That Kenton album was a surprise for me as well. His stuff would normally not be my cup of tea necessarily, but when I saw that Ralph Carmichael (Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald) was the arranger on all of the tracks but one, I had to buy the CD.

    The cheese factor can be a big part of the joy in some of these albums from the Golden Age of Christmas as well as some of the more modern ones. No disrespect to Bob Dylan or his fans, but that holiday album of his is quite the listen. I know what you mean about playing songs for your wife as well in order to get a funny reaction. When I'm feeling the need for some humor, I actually read her some of the Amazon reviews for Dylan's Christmas album. They are some of the funniest and most creative I have ever read and a lot of them are from some of his biggest fans. Again no disrespect, and I cannot decide for myself whether I really do like the album in some weird way. There is something strangely authentic about it.

    I did play a cut from William Shatner's new holiday album for my gal last year, hoping to get a funny reaction, but actually she looked at me and said something like, "Its really not that bad, Honey!"

     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2020
  17. noirbar

    noirbar Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Antone
    I really had no idea there were all these releases. Plus the Capitol Records Club, and not to forget:

    [​IMG]
     
  18. ModernBingFan0377

    ModernBingFan0377 Crosby ‘Connoisseur’

    I just got this CD in with the best masterings (along with the Capitol 1988 CD release of "Bing Crosby's Christmas Classics") of Bing's 1962 and '63 Christmas material. There is little to no no noise used, and sounds very good. If you are a Sinatra fan you will probably be able to tell this is very much like a Larry Walsh remastering from the 80s-90s, although there are no credits on the CD. Bob Norberg would remaster the Christmas songs from 1962 and '63 later on much to the same "success" as he gave to Sinatra's albums.
    [​IMG]
     
    noirbar, czeskleba, J_D__ and 2 others like this.
  19. J_D__

    J_D__ Senior Member

    Location:
    Huntersville, NC
    I like what I hear. Have you heard his Beatles album?
     
    BeatleJWOL and RSteven like this.
  20. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    I have not but it's something I may check out. I feel like Laurence Juber may have beat him to the punch on that one but maybe not :D
     
    ModernBingFan0377, J_D__ and RSteven like this.
  21. Brian Mc

    Brian Mc Member

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Sierra Ferrell released a couple of surprise Christmas songs today.
    And that's Chris Scruggs on steel

     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2020
    RSteven and ModernBingFan0377 like this.
  22. cgoodwin22

    cgoodwin22 Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Severna Park, MD
    Found this old gem for a buck at the thrift store today. Perfect shape.
    [​IMG]
     
  23. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I just want to back up everything ModernBingFan said in his post above. I received my Christmas With Bing Crosby CD (ten bucks) today and the sound is superior to my ears than the Bing Crosby Christmas Classics CD. There are better dynamics and the sound is warmer and fuller. I quickly compared several songs from both albums, especially my very favorite track (Do You Hear What I Hear), and the BCCC's CD almost sounds muffled compared to the very economical, but shorter compilation, CWBC CD. I have to give a shout out to @czeskleba once again, who has a fantastic set of ears and has helped me more than once track down the best sounding version of an Elvis CD.
     
  24. ModernBingFan0377

    ModernBingFan0377 Crosby ‘Connoisseur’

    And do not forget that the 1988 Bing Crosby's Christmas Classics has good masterings for the other songs from Bing's 1962 Christmas album not included here. On top of what you said comparing CWBC and the 2006 BCCC sound quality is that there's some weird no noise drop ins and outs I noticed on the iTunes version, I know that's not the best way to listen to a master but I don't have the 2006 release physically, along with the less dynamics specifically on the 1962 tracks. On Do You Hear What I Hear it basically got the standard Norberg treatment.
     
    czeskleba, paulmock and RSteven like this.
  25. Scourge

    Scourge The Contagion in Nine Steps

    Location:
    US
    Ball & Boe Together at Christmas (2020) is really good, confirmed.

     
    RSteven and ModernBingFan0377 like this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine