I have been trying to pick out some different music lately and decided to dust off the old Holiday Albums and it got me to thinking. Just what are the best Holiday albums out there? So I decided to compile a list of my five favorites.
Number 5: Most Wonderful Time
Released in 2005, I purchased this album as a Christmas gift for my wife. It was a follow up gift as she and I both enjoyed the group's 2002 "When It Snows" album.
The album is made up almost entirely of Christmas standards. For the most part, The Blenders don't stray too much from the traditional arrangements, but their smooth a cappella harmonies make these some of your favorite versions of the classics.
The groups gets away from their traditional all a cappella album. It makes some of the songs a little weaker in my opinion in such songs like the melody of "Frosty the Snow Man" and "Here Comes Santa Claus" and their original composition "All Wrapped Up". The album has 12 tracks with 10 absolutely fantastic songs to keep you in the festive spirits.
The Blenders make it all work though, with their renditions of "Go Tell It on the Mountain", "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear", "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Away in a Manger". I can remember getting the chills the very first time I heard "Away in the Manger".
Number 4: My Kind of Christmas
I just picked up this album this year. Dean Martin was one of the coolest men of his generation. He was funny, had the looks and the voice that the women loved, the swagger of an alpha male and the ability to drink most Irish and Germans under the table.
This album has some great Christmas standards such as "Silver Bells, "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow", "Silent Night" and the great melody of "Peace On Earth" with "Silent Night". The most memorable track on the album for me though has to be Dean's version of the duet "Baby, It's Cold Outside". It might not be the best version of that song (Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting version in 1949 is probably the best), but it is still a solid performance for Dean.
Number 3: The Sinatra Christmas Album
Frank Sinatra was lost on me until I hit my late twenties. I was curious about the 60's "Summit" otherwise known as the "Rat Pack" and Frank Sinatra was by far the biggest name in the group. When I started to listen to Sinatra, I quickly noticed that he could sing about some of the craziest and most naughty things and make them sound cool.
When I saw the Christmas album, I just had to buy it. "Jingle Bells" is the first track on the album and it is SWINGING. The song has some great backing vocals from vocalists known as the Ralph Brewster Singers. Sinatra has vocals have their own rhythm and the orchestra is just there to accompany him.
"I'll Be Home for Christmas" is another track on the album that is Bing Crosby, but with Sinatra's swagger. The backing vocals blend with the orchestra to provide an ethereal listening experience.
Sinatra adds his touch to the traditional Christmas standards such as "The First Noel", "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Adeste Fideles", "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" and "Silent Night".
Number 2: When It Snows
Yes folks, they are that good. The Blenders make the list twice. The Blenders have several Christmas albums and this one is an older one being it was released in 2002. The music is still fresh nine years later as this is still one of my favorites. I had a hard time not choosing it as my number one.
Between this album and "Most Wonderful Time" I have not purchased any recent Blender Albums. I think I might have to check out the most recent 2011 release.
The group does a great job of updating some traditional Christmas standards on this album. If you like traditional Christmas standards then you will enjoy "Hark The Herald Angels Sing", melody of "One Small Child" and "We Three Kings" and "O Come All Ye Faithfull".
The group chooses to give some other standards a new vibe with their renditions of "Walkin' In a Winter Wonderland" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town".
The Blenders throw on a few originals on the album as well with "T'Was the Night", "When it Snows" and one of my favorites "Tiny Little Christmas" with a classic 50's Doo Wop harmony.
They group has some fun with "Sleigh Ride" which is done to the melody of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side". It is a fun song that was produced a cappella with the exception of the bells jingling away in the background. The highlight on the album for me was the melody of Willie Wonka's "Pure Imagination" mixed with "White Christmas" which on paper might sound odd, but the combination of the two melodies has become one of my favorite Christmas songs.
Number 1: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Vince Guaraldi was an extremely talented Italian-American jazz musician. I am sure the first time I heard him was while watching one of the many "Peanuts" holiday specials that CBS played every year. As I got older and more into jazz, I came across and older song "Cast Your Fate Into the Wind" and thought it sounded a lot like something from a "Peanuts" special, but with a Latin twist. Turns out I was right in a round about way. "Cast Your Fate Into the Wind" was a Vince Guaraldi piece.
You don't have to be fond of Jazz to enjoy this Christmas special, but I am sure anyone more then ten years younger won't have the same appreciation for this album.
Anyone old enough will get a smile as soon as they here "Linus and Lucy", "Skating", "Christmas Is Coming" or my favorite Christmas song "Christmas Time Is Here". The album offers both the instrumental and vocal and both versions are powerful. Guaraldi is able to lull one into serenity as the piece starts. It is like he has written and instrumental intermezzo into the piece as there is no real bridge. It is during this time that the trio is free to improvise each with their own run.
Guaraldi does an excellent job arranging the classics in this album as well. His jazzy renditions of "O Tannenbaum", "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing", "Greensleeves" and Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song". The album also includes "Fur Elise" which will always be attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven and ascribed to Linus.
When it comes right down to it, my favorite album was chosen more for it's sentimental value. There may be no denying this fact, but the album is a classic that won't ever get old.