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The Wonderful Sounds Of Christmas - Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, … (2LP)
COMPILATION
2 LPs, Gatefold tip-on jacket from Stoughton Printing
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33RPM
Size : 12”
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings
Label : Analogue Productions
Original Label : Analogue Productions
Mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound
Produced by Chad Kassem
Released in 2015
Tracks :
Side A:
- The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) - Nat King Cole [click here to see more vinyl featuring Nat King Cole]
- Baby, It's Cold Outside - Ray Charles and Betty Carter
- Christmas Time is Hear (vocal) - Vince Guaraldi Trio
- Please Come Home For Christmas - Charles Brown
- Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
- Sleigh Ride - Ella Fitzgerald [click here to see more vinyl featuring Ella Fitzgerald]
Side B:
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
- The Little Drummer Boy - Harry Simeone Chorale
- Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
- Ave Maria - Aaron Neville
- Christmas Time Is Here (instrumental) - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Side C:
- Merry Christmas, Baby - Charles Brown
- Winter Wonderland - Ray Charles [click here to see more vinyl featuring Ray Charles]
- Please Come Home For Christmas - Aaron Neville
- Jingle Bell Rock - Chet Atkins [click here to see more vinyl featuring Chet Atkins]
- Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
- Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson
Side D:
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Ella Fitzgerald [click here to see more vinyl featuring Ella Fitzgerald]
- Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
- Merry Christmas, Baby - Kenny Burrell
- Stille Nacht (Silent Night) - Oscar's Motet Choir
- White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Reviews :
There's something comforting about a Christmas fireplace (though on the east coast it looks to be a ridiculously balmy and snow-free Christmas) and there's also something equally comforting about Christmas music played back on a turntable— regardless of your religion, though it would have been excellent had Kassem included Robert Smigel's brilliant "Christmastime For the Jews" sung by Ronnie Spector.
Speaking of which, there's also nothing here from Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift For You, but never mind, this is a swell set of well-chosen Christmas tunes smartly sequenced.
The set opens with Nat Cole's classic "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)" ("Chestnuts roasting on an open fire"), co-written by Mel Torme, followed by Ray Charles and Betty Carter's frisky, more seasonal than Christmas-themed, "Baby It's Cold Outside", then "Christmas Time Is Here" by Vince Guaraldi Trio from the Charlie Brown Christmas special. The sequencing goes from cute to funky with Charles (not Charlie) Brown's "Please Come Home For Christmas", then Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and the first side ender, Ella Fitzgerald's take on "Sleigh Ride".
Now that's what I call smart sequencing! The other sides are equally well sequenced and packed with great selections you'd want to have collected in one place including Gene Autry's "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", "The Little Drummer Boy", Aaron Neville's pleasingly warbly "Ave Maria", Leroy Anderson's classic "Sleigh Ride", Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad", Eartha Kitt's suggestive "Santa Baby", Kenny Burrell's foot tapping "Merry Christmas, Baby", Chet Atkins' version of Bobby Helms' classic "Jingle Bell Rock" (a Bill Porter engineered "Living Stereo" sonic gem), as well as Helms' original, and of course the double LP set ends with Bing Crosby's "White Christmas".
Would I have liked for the set to have included "Bing and Bowie's now classic "Little Drummer Boy" duet? Sure. And Adam Sandler's "Chanukah Song" for some balance and levity? Sure! And maybe "Here Comes Susie Snowflake"? Yes. But that's just because I actually once dated Susie Snowflake, who was song writer Sid Tepper's daughter, (who was hardly light as a snowflake). That is true.
The double LP gatefold package is festively presented with inside liner notes by Robert Hull that provide an excellent backgrounder on each of the tunes, written from a music lover's and a record collector's perspective.” Michael Fremer, Analog Planet, 15th Dec 2015
"The Wonderful Sounds of Christmas, Acoustic Sounds fabulous new Christmas music double LP set — pressed on 180-gram black vinyl — (is) such a pleasure to listen to. I have never heard Nat King Cole's 'The Christmas Song' sound better than it does as the opening track of this 22 track set. Even Bobby Helms essential chestnut sounds much improved here. Chad Kassem who assembled this collection got almost all the hits: Leroy Anderson's version of his 'Sleigh Ride,' Eartha, of course, singing 'Santa Baby,' and Hey, what Christmas music collection would be worth it's weight in tinsel and empty toddy glasses without Der Bingel's 'White Christmas.' There's even a reputable version, in what's become a very long and distinguished Christmas music tradition of duets on 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' ...between a typically low key Betty Carter and a unusually subdued Ray Charles. ... Two super essential classics (Kassem) did rope in however are the pair of Christmas numbers recorded by the great Charles Brown, both of which are among his biggest hits: 'Please Come Home For Christmas' and 'Merry Christmas Baby.'" Robert Baird, Stereophile, Dec. 18, 2015
Ratings:
Discogs 4.81 / 5 , Michael Fremer : 8/11 Music, 8/11 Sound