Favorite Christmas Albums

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veg-o-matic

veg-o-matic

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Now that it's time to start listening to Christmas music, I thought we could share our favorite albums.

For me, it just wouldn't be Christmas without The Lennon Sisters. Bing Crosby's Merry Christmas album. Julia Child sings Holiday Favorites. Patti Page's Christmas Album. Sing Along with Mitch. Oh, and Andy Williams.

So what are your favorites? Johnny Mathis? The Muppets? Mahalia Jackson? Phil Spector? Nat King Cole? The Ray Coniff Singers?

veg
 
Connie Francis' "Christmas in my Heart" is my all time fave, but it just isn't Christmas without Mariah Carey's 'Merry Christmas' album!

TD
 
Hmmm.

Bing Crosby
Mitch Miller
Brenda Lee
A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack
Christmas Jollies with the Salsoul Orchestra
Christmas with the Boone Family (Pat Boone) - I grew up on this LP. I have some of it on mp3 but would like to find the LP.
 
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In no particular order:

"OY to the World: A Klezmer Christmas" The Klezmonauts

"We Wish You A Merry Christmas" Ray Conniff Singers

"Midnight Clear" Andreas Vollenweider with Carly Simon

"Chant Noel" Pierret Beauchamp

"A Music Box Christmas" Rita Ford Music Box Collection

"Carols for Christmas" Royal College of Music, David Willcocks

All but the last are available as either CDs or as MP3 downloads at iTunes or Amazon.com.
 
Veg, i love 'em all

And for the next month I'm in my glory. A big radio station, WJYE--they call themselves "Joy"-- plays Christmas songs of every type and era, 24/7, from the weekend before Thanksgiving till Christmas. I'm sure other cities do the same.

But if i could only take a few to that proverbial island with my Easy Spin and Multimatic, it would be "Drummer Boy" and "O Holy Night."
 
The Robert Shaw Chorale Christmas Album.
In the mid 1980s, PBS aired a Christmas special with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. His memories of the live Christmas Eve programming on the major radio networks in the 1940s, when they could afford to keep full orchestras, were almost as awe-inspiring as the music in the special. The selections and arrangements for the PBS special as well as the album were the ones used on the radio programs when his Chorale performed with the network orchestras.

The Virgil Fox Christmas Album originally released on the Command Label. This was one of the albums we played when the parents were gone because it is best when loud. It would really air out the Magnavox and those speakers were able to handle anything the record threw at them. The Variations on Adeste Fidelis is amazing. The ethereal effects of Louise Natali(sp?) singing the Virgin's Cradle Song and O Holy Night were achieved by Fox placing her inside a chamber of the instrument.
 
I miss having a

turntable that works...I loved the Firestone compilation albums!

If I have spare money (ha!), I am seriously thinking about that turntable that plugs into the USB port......

Another one is any of the Julie Andrews' Christmas albums. The Charlotte Church one, with "Just Wave Hello" is also good, as is the Judy Collins' "Wintry Night."

In a class of its own, the George Winston "December,"

I went out to lunch with a friend today...the restaurant we went to was a nice casual place..and they were only playing Christmas music. I would have been happier if they had blended some non-Christmas songs into their mix.

And then, we went to PetSuppliesPlus, and they were playing Christmas music, too. My friend said that if she heard "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" one more time today, she would not be entirely responsible for her actions (she was kidding).

Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas, and Christmas music, but I do have a limit, and I bet I am not the only one.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
White Christmas by Living Strings & Voices

recorded in Italy, sort of lounge Christmas Music.

Especially: Bossa Nova Noel

It also could not be Christmas without Mario Lanza!
Hymms & Carols!

Both recorded in "Living Stereo"

"A fine record deserves the finest phonograph;
an RCA Victor Stereo Victrola"

Christmas records always sound best on a console!
 
Maytagbear

I still have one of those Firestone albums! I didn't think anyone else gave them a second thought! I also have a way of getting vinyl to MP3 - if I ever get my new house unpacked, I could try and rip you a copy...
 
from childhood...

Lawrence Welk.
My parents had some Reader's Digest boxed set, 4 albums. Awesome music!
I did find a Lawerence Welk Christmas CD with alot of the album music on it on ebay last year, its on my IPOD, and I am waiting for December to listen to it.
 
Veg, this is so funny, I was just thinking about starting this very same thread today. My all time new favorite is called "Noel" by Josh Groban, his voice IMHO is just out of this world. At any rate he has this new CD out and every song on it is outstanding. Got a really good deal on it as well on Amazon.com Terry
 
Ella Fitzgerald . . .

and her album "Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas". It was recorded in '61 with Nelson Riddle and his band. Hearing Ella and Nelson romp through "Frosty the Snowman", among others, is magical.
 
One Christmas ....

...back in 1996, I had the old RCA Golden Voice 78 console put at the inside entry of the house. I kept it loaded with 78's! Bing Crosby, Earth Kitt - Santa Baby, Gene Autry.....etc.... and as friends came into the house they were greeted by these wonderful sounds. Perched atop the console was a bubble light tree, lighted santa, and lighted snowman surrounded by a feather tree c-6 fence. Every single person commented on how they missed the old sounds and decorations of Christmas past. Ahhhhhhh memories..... Mark
 
RAY CONNIFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like all of his Christmas songs and MANY of his "normal" songs! I especially like his 12 days of Christmas!
 
The Rosemary Clooney Christmas Album is pretty cool as is Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas. My fave is the Phil Spector Christmas Album. I recall that this was an album that almost never made it. It was introduced the week after President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, so the mood of the country was anything but celebratory. Also around the beginning of December of that year in a snowstorm, a passenger jet on approach to LaGuardia Airport crashed into several blocks of Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood, killing a number of people on the plane and on the ground and wiped out blocks of homes. It took a few years for that album to catch on, but it has that great "wall of sound" and all those great artists. It is bright and upbeat without being smarmy. I still have the LP in vinyl as well as the CD. Funny thing about the CD, it seems like you are not getting the "full sound" and some nuances are not there.

Two other faves are "Merry Christmas" by Johnny Mathis and "Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis". Somewhat more traditional and I don;t necessarily love every song, but solid overall.

And finally, the Carpenters' Christmas Album is enjoyable as well.
 
Goodness, how did I manage to forget the Carpenters? It's such a Christmasy Christmas album.

Terry, great minds think alike!

Mickey, I'm with you on the 24/7 Christmas music station. One of our local "elevator music" stations does that every year and it's a nice change from the usual broadcast stuff.

Only one problem, though: is anyone else as sick as I am of that damn song about the Christmas shoes?

veg
 
it's....

....a dreadful song about a boy that has to buy his dying mother a pair of shoes for Christmas. He get's them home just in time to put them on her and then she dies. Can't think of a more dreadful Christmas song. Comes complete with children's choir, etc.... The ENTIRE meaning of Christmas is lost in this song. UGH... Mark
 
One of the many problems with this song is that the melody is quite nice and therefore sticks in one's head. Of course, the lyrics go right along for the ride...

"Sir, I want to buy these shoes
for my Mama, please.
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size.
Could you hurry, Sir?
Daddy says there's not much time.
She's been sick for quite a while.
I know these shoes will make her smile.
Want her to look beautiful
If Mama meets Jesus tonight..."

Whoops! Just threw up a little.

Yes, dreadful. And it's been turned into a novel and a movie.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think it's a wee bit strange for a little boy to know his mother's shoe size?

veg
 
Celine Dion

'These are the Special Times'

Someone made a video of one of the songs on the ablum while they were decorating their Xmas tree.

'The Magic of Christmas Day' & 'Ave Maria' are nice on this CD.

 

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