No comments about Christmas Songbirds.

No comments about Little Drummer Boy.

No comments about I'll Be Home for Christmas.

No comments about Baby's First Christmas.

No comments about Handel's Messiah.

No comments about Christmas With Pavarotti & Carreras.

1 comments about Celtic Christmas.

1. I ordered this box set because I have been looking for a set of Celtic Christmas songs I heard a few years ago that I really loved. This box set seemed to contain a great choice of songs. So I eagerly awaited its arrival. But it was not the set I was hoping/thinking it would be...

   All four cd's have the same exact sound - synthesized organ music. A few times it sounds like there could be a flute in there too, but even that might very well be synthesized. A few songs of this style and sound would be okay, but to listen to one whole cd (let alone four!) was really boring and annoying. And even perky songs like Joy To the World and Feliz Navidad are slowed way down in tempo and sound just awful.

   There really doesn't seem to be any "celtic" sound to it at all. Just organ music, very synthesized. And most of the songs are long in length and seem to just drag on forever.

   If anything, if you want some calm, dull, background music, maybe you might enjoy this. But I'd prefer elevator Christmas tunes than these cd's myself. It's four cd's that all sound the same - with very slow, synthesized organ music. The sound quality is not great either. Sounds like a bootleg tape that someone made recording music at church. Save your money.

No comments about Great Holiday Classics.

No comments about Homemade Holiday: Home for Christmas / Var.

5 comments about Best of Christmas.

1. One of the great single-label Christmas compilations, Capitol's "The Best of Christmas" (originally issued on vinyl in 1968) does a superb job of spanning the breadth of the label's seasonal offerings, including major and lesser-known artists, vocal and instrumental tracks, sacred and secular tunes, and a variety of genres (jazz, country, R&B, easy listening, etc). While various-artists compilations often have a slapdash, thrown-together quality about them, this one is sequenced so beautifully that everything "flows" together for a nice, cohesive listening experience.
   
   It's a shame this one has fallen back out of print. If you can track down a used copy (either on CD or old vinyl for you codgers out there), I would highly recommend doing so.
   
   Incidentally, here are some corrections to the tracklist shown above: Track 7 ("The Christmas Waltz") is by Nancy Wilson; Track 8 ("I'll Be Home for Christmas") is by the Hollyridge Strings; Track 9 ("Silent Night") is by Wayne Newton; Track 20 ("Joy to the World") is by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.



2. Like some of the other reviewers here I too originally purchased this on a 2-Record vinyl set back in the late 70's when I was around 20 years old.
   I wanted something to help get me in the mood for Xmas and something that had a "traditional" Xmas vibe to it-as it has the same versions of songs that were played on radio allot in the 1960's when I was growing up-not something that was "modern" or new interpretations of old Xmas classics (there are plenty of those already and tons of more new ones come out every Xmas). I also wanted something I could play around the house that my Mom and Dad wouldn't mind hearing (and indeed they WERE surprised to hear my listening to this and not the latest heavy metal album at the time).
   As a result I ended up associating this LP with those times and my family, so much so that, with my Mom long gone, I have not really been able to listen to it since around 1983. But I still have the original album on vinyl. I honestly believe it is the single best Xmas compilation I have ever purchased or seen. I am glad that it did finally make it's way onto CD and hope that the record company sees fit to re-release it soon.
   As of this writing (December 2006) it is still available through the BMG record club (thanks to an earlier reviewer for the tip). Since I am already a member of that club, I went online-as sure enough, it's still available (who knows for how long though?). I quickly ordered the CD before it is gone forever.
   Now even when I bough the original vinyl version of this I could tell by the original cover (not reproduced for the CD it seems), that this was an older compilation. Originally this was probably compiled way back in either the very late 1950's or very early 1960's.
   The nice thing is that the original 2 -record sets sides were divided into 5 tracks per side but with a pretty short running time per side. This means that the total running time was short enough for all 4 sides to fit on a single CD without leaving out tracks, but with much more music than your standard re-issue of an single Xmas album (issued without additional tracks, that is). Those older single LP reissues often featured only 10 to 12 songs and would often barely run to about 30 minutes. I haven't clocked this one in ages, but it must run closer to an hour, so it's a good bargin if you can find it.
   The original LP had a wonderful essay inside that I doubt has been recreated for the CD reissue. It wrote about Xmas music and about how much it would cost (in the dollar amount of the time) if a person were to actually throw an Xmas party and have all of the artists on this recording show up and perform at the party. Nowadays that would not only probably cost 100 times or so more than originally quoted in the early 60's, but would also be impossible since most of the performers here are no longer even with us.
   For those in my age range (who grew up in the late 50's or 60's) looking to re-live those Xmas memories when these particular artists and tunes were all over the radio at Xmastime, You simply can do no better than this.
   Like I mentioned earlier, I am curious as to what from the original vinyl package has been reproduced for the CD (i'm guessing very little actually), and i'm probably going to give my sister the CD when it arrrives in hopes that it may enhance her Xmas and maybe even bring back memories for her (though she is far less nostalgic than I am).
   Now let's hope they will reissue this so many more can have the experince from our youth..



3. This is a note to Carolyn from Dillsburg, PA, the last person who reviewed... You can get this cd brand new from the BMG. You would have to become a member to buy it, but the membership is actually a great deal. You buy 1 cd at regular price and you get 11 more cds free (you just have to pay shipping). The website is...www.bmgmusic.com



4. I have the original lp version from the sixties. My parents played it when I was a little kid. Now I'm desperatly searching for the cd. I lost out on ebay in the last 20 seconds of bidding tonight. I agree with the ohio student( and have tried to find him) this IS Christmas especially for me. I could probably collect the singles somehow but I want this exact order of music. Listening to it takes me back 31 years to the house I grew up in. My father is gone now. Can anyone help me find this. I have even emailed Capitol records. I have searched Amazon and Ebay. This is the greatest collection. I cannot state it any better than Mr. Wiley does above.



5. Years ago when my family got our first CD player is was near Christmas time. I remember my dad going to the local pharmacy and getting a couple cheap Christmas CD's so that we'd have something to listen to while we put up decorations. Of the four he bought that day this became a favorite of my entire family. The CD starts out beautifully with Do You Hear What I Hear by Bing Crosby. When the very first note plays I am suddenly sitting by the fire place wrapping presents as a child again. The next song is the instrumental Late in December by Jackie Gleason - another wonderful song. However, it is song three that has made this my family's favorite. It's "I Like the SleighRide (Jingle Bells)" by Peggy Lee. It begins with a group of kids singing "I like the sleigh ride! I like the sleigh ride!" It sounded funny to us (and it is quite funny) and we all started to laugh. From that day on this CD was known as the I Like the Sleighride CD.

   All of the songs on this CD are Christmas classics. There aren't any Christmas songs by popstars (not that I have anything against them). No matter what the season or the weather outside this CD gets me in the Christmas spirit. It's so well done you can't help but to get in the spirit when you play this CD. I recomend it to everyone. This is probably the best Christmas CD I have ever heard.