As an avid music collector and as a lover of Christmas music…I collect a lot of Christmas music. Throughout the year, I’ll be scanning the shelves at thrift stores and I am always happy when I find Christmas CDs to add to my collection. I will grab almost anything, the thinking being that I need not love or keep the compact disc but maybe just listen to it, enjoy it (or not) and then pass it on to my local thrift store for someone else to discover. Or I may just “rip” the contents of the CD onto my computer. The CD has to be good or the contents of the disc must have some rarity for me to keep it; the Christmas season is fleeting and I don’t want to own more music than I can listen to in 5 or 6 weeks so I have to be choosy. Having too much is already a problem with my Christmas vinyl collection, records it takes me two seasons to get through.
The most intriguing part often comes when I get my haul of CDs home and check them out, asking “what have I got here?”. Instead of leaving it behind in the store, I will err on the side of take it home and look it up. In this way, I have scored some real gems through the years, Christmas CDs I cherish and still play every year. CDs that may have gone out of print or have been replaced with releases with inferior packaging and diminished content. I have bought so many compact discs of Christmas music that I thought I would highlight some here for your edification. Some I may have a lower opinion of but make no mistake; Christmas music, by definition, is good, generally speaking. Most of it contains the element of sincerity and something pleasant can be gained from it. And remember that cornball is acceptable at Christmas. Also keep in mind that we are looking at compact discs here as opposed to albums. The CD may be a compilation, made up of public domain or ownership-lapsed material or it may be an issue or a re-issue of an actual album from the past. For the first installment of We Three CDs, we will be looking at a mix of original albums and compilations.
Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis (1986)
Why’d I Buy This? Because Johnny and because of his first Christmas album. 1958’s Merry Christmas is a seminal Christmas record with a great cover and it helped establish John as a premiere Christmas crooner. I knew, though, by Johnny’s haircut and by the track listing and by the year of release that this was not going to be a great album. But Johnny. Ideally, I will someday own all six of Johnny’s Christmas records. And you know what’s funny? I look forward to owning them all but I know I won’t like them all. Through the Eighties and beyond, Johnny Mathis has had a penchant for taking the easy way and embracing the sounds, instrumentation and production techniques of the times and the results lack a certain substance.
What’s On This? Johnny adds “Jingle Bells” and “The Christmas Waltz” to his canon. This is where his oft-heard “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” originates (hear it in Jingle All the Way) and the opener, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”, was included in the film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Mathis takes a chance and offers “Where Can I Find Christmas?” from the animated film The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas from 1973 and presents a medley from 1985’s Santa Claus: The Movie. This medley of songs and the score from this movie were composed by Henry Mancini. At this point in time, Mathis and Mancini were working together – John’s next album, The Hollywood Musicals, was a collab with Hank (I owned it on cassette for a time) and Monica Mancini served as vocal contractor for Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis.
What Is This? This is Johnny’s fourth of six – to date – Christmas records. It’s a classy album that boasts serious arrangements for full orchestra and choir. It is elegant in the trademark Mathis style and it sounds just like the cover looks. There is, however, that ubiquitous synthesizer to contend with.
And In the End… The album is sonically perfect – it just lacks a little character and the lesser-known songs really didn’t pop for me. Sorry, Hank. In the end, this was a “rip ‘n’ pitch”; I ripped the CD onto my computer because I want the music but I pitched the disc because I don’t need the hard copy.
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Forever (1982)
Why’d I Buy This? Again, like the Johnny, I bought this simply because of Perry Como. I was excited when I saw this in a thrift store because I felt like – with this CD – I now owned all of Perry’s Christmas music. See, in the same year I found this I also found Perry’s album from ’68 and – to boot – Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music (1956) also on CD. So, I was right to buy this album but not in the way I thought.
What’s On This? On this compact disc, you will get classics like “The Christmas Song”, “Silver Bells” and “White Christmas” together with Perry’s own “Christ is Born”, “Ave Maria” and the not-Christmas-specific “Bless This House”. Mainly, though, what you get are two “new” songs. The title track, “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Forever”, was written by Nick Perito, long-time compadre of Como’s who worked with Pierino for the last 30 years of the singer’s life. Perito’s lyricist for the track was Richard Matheson; as far as I can tell, this is same Richard Matheson who wrote the novel I Am Legend and 16 episodes of The Twilight Zone. Perry recorded “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Forever” for his 1981 TV special Perry Como’s French-Canadian Christmas. Also on the disc is “Christmas Dream”, a song that was a 1974 single for Perry from an intriguing source. The tune was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (with André Heller) for their score for the film The Odessa File starring Jon Voight.
What Is This? This is a compilation and not the final Christmas album from Perry Como. The classics I mentioned above are from previous Christmas releases of Como’s so you likely already own them. Or should. That was a bit disappointing but what this is is a CD home for the two new tracks I referenced – they are not available elsewhere. Not really. Not on hard copy though they likely can be streamed.
And In the End… This is a keeper. While it is frustrating that 8 of the ten tracks are duplicates, I’m happy – as a completist – to be able to hold in my hands these two “final” Perry Como Christmas songs. So, out of respect for Mr. C, in gratitude for all he has given me, I will keep this compact disc for all of two tracks.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas (1989)
Why’d I Buy This? I was fascinated when I found this on the shelf at a Sally Ann. We all know pianist Floyd Cramer – session man in Nashville who played on seminal Presley tracks and a prolific easy listening keyboardist through the 1960s. I think more than anything else it was the seeming rarity of this album sitting there waiting for me that prompted me to buy it. I couldn’t leave it behind.
What’s On This? Medleys. Some tracks are listed as “Intro”‘s and then two or three tunes will be threaded together. Just about all the Christmas classics are represented here from “Jingle Bell Rock” to “O Holy Night”, from “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”. Medleys often will make sense and an arranger can do well weaving two or more songs together but an album full of medleys is in some ways undesirable. Sometimes I feel like an artist has taken the easy road – instead of seeing a song through to the finish, sometimes it can seem like a tune is given short-shrift. The melody quickly stated and then it’s on to the next tune. On this album, the carols and more traditional songs come off better than do the popular, more contemporary numbers.
What Is This? What this is is more work than I wanted to do but I’ve got it figured out. I was cruising along fine until I saw that Floyd released an album with the same title in 1967 on his main label, RCA. By 1989, Cramer was recording for Step One Records, an independent label among the big dogs in Nashville, one that was briefly home to Cramer and the likes of Charlie McCoy, Ray Price, Kitty Wells and Faron Young. It seems that when it came time to record a Christmas album for Step One, Floyd looked to his past. He has almost duplicated the RCA record here; the arrangements are the same though some songs have been added. Listening to the two albums side by side – particularly “Jingle Bell Rock” – you can hear the similarities and the glaring difference in Cramer’s tone. The ’67 recordings are robust, easily identifiable as the Floyd Cramer slip-note style and he plays in a lower key which adds substance. Here in ’89 – I’m sad to report – it sounds like Cramer is playing a toy piano. It’s a thin, brittle, almost unreal sound.
And in the End… This is why I’ll buy almost anything when I’m out on the hunt. I get a kick out of grabbing a snap shot of where a performer was at a certain point in their career; taking a chance on a CD, getting it home, looking it up and finding the answer to the question “what is the story behind this release”? In this case, I won’t keep the disc or rip the music but it was interesting to visit with Floyd Cramer at Christmas. Look at the cover of this compact disc; it’s almost as if he went back to Christmas music late in his career just as a gift for his family and his grandkids. I get that and I like that. This was a reminder of the artist that was Floyd Cramer, who sadly died young, only 64. Lung cancer claimed the keyboardist on New Year’s Eve, 1997.
Enjoy the 1967 version, offered at YouTube courtesy mrblindfreddy9999
Well, I hope you’ve learned something today, something about the fascinating history of Christmas music and what is out there – or might be out there – for you to buy and listen to around the tree. It never ceases to amaze me, what there is to be found in a thrift store. Next time you see a compact disc or a DVD for sale anywhere, pause before you tell yourself you can stream it somewhere. Can you? And even if you can are you OK with that? With someone else letting you listen to their music or watch their movie? Take the hard copy home! Physical media – it’s the only media you can trust. Merry Christmas!
SoulRide 