5 comments about Really Swell Christmas.

1. The subtitle of this compilation is "100% pure Christmas Cheese", and boy, does it ever live up to the billing. These are some of the lamest Christmas recordings ever. The only song here that is actually good is "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", which actually manages to swing with a latin flavor. The rest of the album is just plain bad. Since the album description here doesn't list who performs the songs, I'll tell you who does, and also give my thoughts on each track.

   1. "Deck the Halls" by the Glad Singers. Boy, they really do sound glad. A little TOO glad, if you know what I mean.
   2. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" by the Joe Loco Quintet. Like I said, this one is actually pretty good.
   3. "Happy Holidays" by Percy Faith. Strings and a female chorus. Boring!
   4. "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Liberace. The gayest version of this poem ever.
   5. "Jingle Bells" by the Ray Ellis Orchestra. Crummy instrumental version done as a march.
   6. "Blue Christmas" by Frankie Yakovic. Polka time!
   7. "Winter Wonderland" by the Harmonicats. Played entirely on harmonicas. Excruciating.
   8. "Santa and the Doodle-Li-Boop" by Art Carney. Probably the dumbest Christmas novelty song ever. R.I.P., Art.
   9. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by John Davidson. This guy makes Pat Boone sound soulful.
   10. "Santa's Laughing Song" by Santa Claus and his Helpers. Oh wait, THIS is the dumbest Christmas novelty song ever.
   11. "Christmas" by Rod McKuen. Rod recites a brief poem that I didn't understand at all. I guess that means it's "deep".
   12. "The Christmas Song" by George Maharis. A lame supper club version, recorded live.

   Well, there you have it. Buy it if you want to, but don't say I didn't warn you.




2. The songs on this very short CD are cheesy. This doesn't mean they're gonna be filled with deep Lou Rawls-styled soul grooves or swing like Ellington or Kenton, so don't expect that. The tracks were selected for their cheesiness and they rise to the occasion. But just because they're cheesy doesn't mean they're not fun. The tracks by The Glad Singers, Art Carney and John Davidson are all worth the price of this CD!
   The Percy Faith track is from his CHRISTMAS IS album (which is one of THE all time great Christmas albums) and is mastered better here than on the Columbia CD.
   The Rod McKuen track is the most bizarre. It comes from an album of romantic poetry called IN SEARCH OF EROS. In this one minute epic, Rod briefly expouses on why holidays meant little to him when he was young and then thanks his love for, among other things, "jam from the delicatessen".
   The tracks on this disc are the kind that inspire people to make goofy audio Christmas cards for friends. You should only buy this disc if you are willing to listen to it in the spirit in which it was compiled.



3. This is a must have CD for serious cheese collectors. And by the way, it is alot of fun. This is a feel good, very light hearted, blast from the past type of CD. I like nostaglia. I like Lawrence Welkesque music. I like Christmas poetry. I like the unusual. I like Liberace. It's all hear. That's how good it is. And the track that is not to be missed is Art Carney's "Doodle-Li-Boop". You haven't heard anything until you hear this spirited song about a child's desire to acquire the one most precious gift and Santa's dilema in fulfilling his request. Pure Joy!!! Buy this CD you shouldn't be disappointed.



4. Really Swell Christmas
   
   I purchased this product because it includes "Santa and the Doodle-li-boop" by Art Carney, a record I had as a kid. It's fun; it consists of Carney's vocals backed only by drums. Carney is having fun. At one point he seems on the verge of breaking out in laughter. Kids might like it, little ones, especially if there names is Tommy. The rest of the collection is bland and harmless. I wish I could say it was so bad it was good, but the singers and musicians are better than that. If you're looking for something to put on the box to nod off to mid-Christmas day, this might work.



5. OK, so this won't go down as one of the all-time classic Christmas compilations. But then again, I would not go so far as to say (as some have) that most of the tracks are "bad." In fact, it's a happy little, inoffensive offering that just also happens to contain one of the most difficult charted Christmas hits to find in CD format (and the only such hit in this collection) - that being Santa And The Doodle-Li-Boop by Art Carney, the beloved Ed Norton of The Honeymooners. Released in 1954 on Columbia 4-40400, it made it to # 24 that Christmas. That alone earns this 3 stars in my mind.
   
   As for the other 11 tracks, I don't see how anyone can call Percy Faith's Happy Holidays, from his 1966 # 23 Columbia LP, Christmas Is, "bad." This has become almost a standard each season on most Easy Listening radio stations, as is Jingle Bells by the Ray Ellis orchestra which came out in 1957 on the single Columbia 41056.
   
   And anyone who knew and loved Liberace will enjoy his rendition of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, first released in 1954 on the Columbia LP Christmas At Liberace's and with the backing of brother George Liberace & His Orchestra, just as they will Winter Wonderland by Jerry Murad's Harmonicats, which first appeared in the 1961 Columbia LP An All-Star Christmas.
   
   I agree that one of the best selections here is Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by The Joe Loco Quintet. Born Jose Esteves in New York City in 1921 (and also known as "Crazy Joe"), Joe Loco is a pianist/dancer/trombone player who, before forming his own group, had played with Ciro Rimac's Brazilian Band and the Original Afro-Cuban Band in the 1940s. In the early 1950s, adapting straight Pop music to the Latin beat, he is credited with introducing both the mambo and the cha-cha to North American audiences, especially in his release of Tenderly, but for some reason Columbia decided not to release his 1955 interpretation of the Gene Autry classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. So, you're hearing it here for the first time.
   
   The sound quality is excellent (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 are in stereo), although the liner notes are skimpy, offering just three brief paragraphs by producer Al Quaglieri. However, they do provide recording dates for each track and the label details of their initial appearance on record. All in all, not a bad buy at all.

No comments about 100 Best Christmas.

5 comments about The Sweetest Gift.

1. I was very satisfied with the CD I ordered. I had this CD before and lost it and I liked it so much, I had to have another one. I would recommend this to anyone, especially someone who enjoys her music. I think the CD is an older CD, but it is really good.



2. I had to respond, have had this CD for several years. I have at least 100 Christmas CDs of all genre and this is without doubt our favorite. All of Amy Grant's are also wonderful but this is the best



3. i have had this cd for several years now and it still remains my favorite. There are great songs here and a mix of the more popular to the lesser known but just as good. this is not a cd just for the country fan, this is a cd for fans of good chistmas music by a great singer. period. My favorite happens to be "It wasn't his child". it is a beautiful song. Favorite more upbeat song is "Reindeer boogie".



4. I chose this CD while hunting a version of "It Wasn't His Child," a new song for me that I recently heard a young man sing. It's my first intro. to Trisha Yearwood. I will look for more.



5. Bought it for only one song, The Sweetest Gift and that is the only one that appeals to me.

1 comments about The Ultimate Christmas Album, Vol. 4.

1. I'm grateful to WCBS-FM program director Joe McCoy for 4 terrific volumes of Christmas music, and I wish there'd be a volume 5 but unfortunately there won't be(at least not this year). These volumes offer many big holiday hits, all original versions by the original artists, culled from rock,pop,r&b & easy listening. Something for everyone. Highly recommended for collectors of Christmas music.

2 comments about Celtic Christmas.

1. First brought to the public's attention as a vocal soloist for Riverdance, the former Anuna singer (now touring with Secret Garden) uses her perfect soprano voice to great effect and celebrates the holidays in style. "Celtic Christmas" can't help but put you into a festive, yet contemplative, frame of mind.
   
   The 15-track CD is a joyous occasion all by itself. And Irish singing sensation Katie McMahon provides a varied playlist for the party, with songs that range from sacred to secular, somber to sprightly.
   
   The recording benefits from the work of several fine musicians, including Katie on harp. The green-on-green liner notes are excellent, providing the lyrics as well as brief notes from Katie explaining the history of the music or some personal significance to her. All in all, this is a package Christmas enthusiasts will love to find under their trees.



2. OK, so my title is misleading since this disc came out in 2003, but I have put this disc in the player more than any other Christmas CD so far this year.
   Katie McMahon's soprano voice is beautiful - not irritating like so many other sopranos - and has a happy feel to it. The instrumentation is excellent, very light and fits her vocals perfectly. And best of all, it's done in a traditional style!
   Highlights on this disc include The Boar's Head Carol (which goes through several rhythm changes in its course), My Dancing Day (first time I have ever heard vocals to this carol), Good King Wenceslaus (known but not over-played), and In The Bleak Midwinter (simply beautiful!). She also sings Silent Night partially in German.
   As you can see there is quite a mix of carols on this disc - a few well-known, but many (if not most) not quite as familiar, and it's these not so popular tunes that I bought this CD for.
   With the sizable Christmas music collection I have obtained over the years, it's always exciting to find a CD that not only am I unfamiliar with, but one that I like so much I listen to it over and over. Katie McMahon's Celtic Christmas is that disc for me for this year.

2 comments about Karita's Christmas.

1. I buy this cd this week and i can't stop to listening it!!! Her voice is amazing. I recommend this cd to anyone who love Karita Mattila. She is at her best!!! Miss Mattila is one of the best soprano in the world!!!



2. This album is lovely.Karita's singing is beautiful.The only thing that kept this cd from being a 5 star classic is the weakness of many of the arrangements.If you love Karita i'm sure you will enjoy this album,but it's not a christmas classic.It could have been better produced.Yet,I will listen to it atleast once every christmas season.Karita is a gifted soprano with a golden tone.This album was certainly not bad just not a ageless classic that I wanted it to be.

1 comments about Jussi Bjoerling: Rarities.

1. I often go into a record store and see a `new' recording of Jussi Bjorling material, usually on a very small and not terribly reputable label, that proclaims `The Greatest Rarities of Jussi Bjorling!', or something like that, and I grab the CD with great eagerness only to find that this is yet another transfer of the same Bjorling recordings from the late 1930s which have been put on CD hundreds of times already. No doubt the people putting out these records think that everything Jussi did before the LP era began is `rare'. While Bjorling fanatics like me may be perfectly happy to own 20 DIFFERENT versions of this great tenor singing, for example, `Che gelida manina' , we don't want 20 of the exact same recording! So I am delighted to report that this isn't yet another collection of the same old stuff, and indeed contains several songs and sacred arias he never recorded anywhere else.

   This collection was put together by Cantor Don Goldberg, probably the foremost Bjorling authority in the United States - and I say `probably' only because Jussi's son Anders lives in Minnesota. In addition to presumably providing the original recordings, he has also written some excellent and perceptive notes on Bjorling's career as a recitalist and radio artist, which actually took up much more of Bjorling's time than his work on the opera stage.

   Of the 21 selections on this CD, 5 have never been released in any form, an additional 9 have never been released on CD to the best of my knowledge, and all but one of the rest of the offerings are on CDs that are now out of print. This `not really rare' selection is a `Flower Song' that also appears on the Bluebell CD `Jussi Bjorling Live in Holland and Norway'. All these tracks are originally from radio broadcasts, mostly from the Bell Telephone Hour and the Voice of Firestone. The operatic selections are familiar (i.e `Nessun Dorma', and arias from Manon, Carmen, etc), although occasionally in unfamiliar form, such as a Swedish language `Salut, demeure', and the songs tend to be those `chestnuts' well liked by American radio audiences of the time, such as `A Dream' by James Caroll Bartlett, and `The Rose of Tralee'. He throws in a few Italian songs as well, such as `Funiculi Funicula' and `La Danza', although the last is sung in Swedish as well.

   Of course, the singing is uniformly marvelous. Few would deny that Bjorling was, if not the greatest tenor of the twentieth century, at least in the top 5, and I, of course, would put him at number 1. Some highlights are `Nessun Dorma' sung by someone who actually understands that it's not a soccer anthem but the dreamy rapture of a man in love, a gorgeous rendition of `The Rose of Tralee' with superb feeling and legato, his marvelous English diction and facility with runs in `Clorinda', a superb `La Reve' from Manon, and, no great surprise from this master of Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and Faust, a deeply moving `O Divine Redeemer' by the same composer. There is a marvelous moment in the aforementioned `Funiculi Funicula' while the chorus is singing the words where he sings 4 notes ascending the scale of such beauty and power it makes one shiver. He also has marvelous soprano partners Grace Moore and Eleanor Steber in scenes from `Faust' and `Il Trovatore', and a very decent baritone partner, Donald Dickson, in a scene from `La Forza Del Destino', a pre-echo of the same duet recorded 12 years later with Robert Merrill.

   Why, then, only 4 stars, or more accurately, 3 1/2? Either I have better sounding LP originals than Cantor Goldberg does, which I think is highly unlikely, or the remastering had some problems. Some of the selections, notably `Funiculi Funicula' and `O Divine Redeemer', simply do not sound as good as they do on my LPs. It is possible this is due to my hearing the LPs and this CD on different systems, and also I have not listened to the LPs in some time and may be remembering incorrectly. In general, I get the impression that the process used was something similar to the Ambisonic Process used by Nimbus Records - both give Bjorling a faraway sound, sometimes almost like he is underwater. One thing I think was a very bad idea was that in virtually every case applause was cut off, making the ends of songs seem very abrupt and in some cases taking away from the impact of Bjorling's final (occasionally high) notes. To be even more picky, I think I would have also preferred the French language Gounod `Sanctus' he sang on the same broadcast as `O divine redeemer', because I don't think it's a terribly good English translation and it sounds better in Latin anyway. Still, I understand that Cantor Goldberg wanted to give us the rarest items possible.

   Though Jussi Bjorling impresses under almost any circumstances, I think this is a CD less for people who are comparatively new to his voice than for committed collectors, for whom this disc will be essential. And of course, I hope for Volume II and III and IV, or even more, even if they might need to change engineers. There's still quite a few more Bjorling rarities out there...

4 comments about Tchaikovsky's Greatest Hit: The Ultimate Nutcracker.

1. With its whimsical artwork on the cover, and release date of October 2004, I was expecting a 21st century recording of the music of that perennial Christmas Favorite Ballet, The Nutcracker. Instead, some of the recordings date back to 1945 (according to the liner notes), and sound it.
   
   This CD can be viewed as four different versions of the SAME songs:
   
   Version 1 consists of songs Songs 1 - 8, by the Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy conducting, was essentially what I was expecting, even though it was recorded in 1972.
   
   Version 2 consists of Songs 9 - 16, by the Modern Mandolin Quartet, are Nutcracker songs played presumably on four Mandolins.
   
   Version 3 consists of songs 17 - 22, were recorded in 1945 and sound it. They contain words, and are by Spike Jones, who is known for his novelty song "Der Fuhrer's Face." These songs likewise essentially are novelty songs.
   
   Version 4 consists of songs 23 and 24. Their instrumentation is piano only. Unfortunately they were recorded in 1947 and sound it, which means that even on my $50 walkman they sound like a 78-RPM record. Version 4 was the most disappointing Version.
   
   Overall I give this two stars. Version 1 is four star, which may say more about my lack of knowledge of classical music and recordings than its true quality. Version 4 is zero stars. Version 2 depends on whether one likes the Mandolin Quartet interpretation, and Version 3 depends on how much you like a slapstick novelty interpretation.



2. From the clever series title (so-and-so's greatest hit) to the lighthearted artwork by "Mutts" creator Patrick McDonnell, this CD will delight everyone who has an ear for good music and well-recorded sound, and who appreciates musical humor.
   
   The disc leads off with a lush "straight" reading of the suite by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, recorded in 1972.
   
   Then the Modern Mandolin Quartet has a crack at it. You'll like the harmonious and percussive sounds of the plucked mandolins along with the creative orchestrations and ornamentations. Recorded in 1991.
   
   For the piece de resistance, we hear Spike Jones and his City Slickers (plus a supplementary chorus) perform their recited/sung/played version, recorded in 1945. The music is well performed (as are all of Jones recordings), with tasteful (?) and sparingly applied (for this group) sound effects. The rhythmically delivered lyrics are suggestive of Vachel Lindsay, or perhaps Gilbert and Sullivan. Be warned - the emotional impact is cumulative. If you try to resist, you may suddenly find yourself on the living room floor kicking and gasping for breath.
   
   Last we hear two movements by the First Piano Quartet (four pianos, that is) recorded in 1950. The mood here is redolent of the novelty piano genre -elaborate piano arrangements played with elegance, flair, and rich chordings.
   
   Do your music-loving friends a favor. Next Christmas, buy a copy of this modestly-priced CD for each of their stockings.



3. Was looking for Spike Jones' Nutcracker and ended up with alot more at one decent price.



4. This recording was just what I was looking for. I shall enjoy it for some time to come. Thanks for the timely delivery.

5 comments about Christmas Song: Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.

1. Christina shows off her beautiful voice so perfectly in this song, that even former president Clinton requested she sing it at the 1999 Christmas party. This being my favorite holiday tune by Christina, I don't see how any fan could do without. People who adore carols will fall in love with Christina and those of us who already know what her range is like will go ga-ga upon hearing her stunning rendition. A great gift and a must for anyone who considers themself a true fan.



2. Christina's version of the classic "The Christmas Song" is great. She has hyped it up to include many different levels. She has sung it beautifuly and it is a great song to get you on your feet. Any Christina fan should buy it and any fan of decent music should because this CD is absolutley GREAT!!
   p.s. the remix of Genie In A Bottle (Track 2) is also good.



3. very good song with a cool picture of christina on the cover in a fur coat. the cd has 2 tracks - the holiday remix of the christmas song and genie in a bottle remix......BUY IT!!



4. This track was the highlight of her dismal 2000 released Christmas album "My Kind of Christmas", and was released a year before hand with great production by Thunderpuss. A holiday classic that is definitely ready for the dance floor, it is accompanied by a sultry R&B coated remix of her smash debut single "Genie In A Bottle" by Eddie Arroyo.



5. A Great Single for Christina Fans!

   1.) Chesnuts Roasting On An Open Fire (thunderpuss 2000 Holiday Remix*) - This is a classic remix which is also feat. as a bonus track which you will find on her x-mas album. It is much like a radio mix, and if your not sure what a radio mix is it is a remix which is about the same length of time as the original yet has a fast dance beat, and usually some cool effects thrown in.

   2.) Genie in a Bottle (eddit arroyo's smooth mix) -
   This is very cool, ultra-calm watered down version of genie in a bottle.

   This Cd is a great buy and worth every penny!! $$$

1 comments about Beyond December.

1. First Call, two voices lifting the Lord's name, you can hear a fantastic reason for praise Him.