Customer Reviews

Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1935-1954

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one a series of "budget" releases covering various aspects of Christmas to be released over the years by Rhino/Wea in conjunction with Billboard, all with 10-tracks each and liner notes in the form of track-by-track comments. Sound quality is generally good to excellent. All have "Billboard" as part of the title.

Some others are: Family Christmas Classics; Top Christmas Hymns; R&B Christmas Hits; Rock & Roll Christmas; Greatest Country Christmas Hits; and Greatest Christmas Hits (1955-Present). Some of the foregoing are also offered in 4-pack and 5-pack editions. In essence, these are the one you have to have if you want to recapture the delightful seasonal sounds of your childhood (assuming you're old enough to recall the periods covered).

This one gives you the original Silent Night by Bing Crosby way back in 1935 with The Guardsmen Quartette and the Victor Young Orchestra. It charted at # 7 and began a long association between Bing and Christmas music including, of course, the immortal White Christmas. a # 1 for ELEVEN weeks the first year it charted (1942), and a perennial hit thereafter.

Three more 1940's classics are Vaughn Monroe's Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! which, with The Norton Sisters on backing vocals, went to # 1 in 1945 and stayed there for five weeks (many years later it would be revived through use in one of the Die Hard films starring Bruce Willis), Nat "King" Cole's The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You), a # 3 in 1946 and a repeat hit for years and years, and Christmas Island by The Andrews Sisters & Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians, # 7 in 1946 and a hit again the next two years.

Gene Autry kicks in with Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane) which he wrote and took to # 9 in 1947 and saw it repeat many times after over the years, as did his Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, billed to Gene Autry & The Pinafores, a # 1 for EIGHT weeks in 1949 and a hit again over and over. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus is a repeat from the Country edition, while Spike Jones & His City Slickers bring you All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) which, with George Rock doing the vocal, was also a # 1 (for 3 weeks) in 1948, and would be an annual entry for several years. And you won't want to miss the sultry Eartha Kitt cooing to Santa Baby, a # 4 in 1953 with Henri Rene's orchestra.

Loads and loads of fun and memories.

I grew up listening to these songs on records my parents owned. They really were the soundtrack for Christmas to me. They're classics, to be sure. One of my very favorite songs from this album is Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt. Madonna redid this song a few years back on one of the Very Special Christmas albums, and she just didn't do the song justice. This album is full of memorable tunes done by wonderful recording artists. It's a perfect addition to any Christmas collection. And if you DON'T have a Christmas collection, start with this. You won't be disappointed.

I am so happy to have FINALLY found a CD with all the Christmas songs I remember as a child. EVERY song is a classic! These to me are the true christmas songs of the season.

Kitt and Cole are standouts on this CD and prove timeless. Autry, Cosby, et al, are great but the arrangements prove more nostalgia than timeless hits. Brass section orchestrations are a bit tinny. However it is a CD you can put on and enjoy beginning to end in the Christmas season.

My kids and I loved this. They are the songs my parents and I grew up with. My kids really liked All I Want for Christmas, and Santa Baby is one I'm especially fond of.

I like Christmas songs and I recommend this CD. BY the way if you like Eartha Kitt's excellent version of Santa Baby then I also recommend Madonna's version which is also very good! She did a great imitation of Eartha while adding her own style to it!

I love Christmas. It is so cool. This CD is a perfect Christmas present, and a must-have for any collection. The only reason that I got it was to listen to Eartha Kitt's 'Santa Baby'.If you like Christmas, you will not regret getting this CD.

Great Album! Most of these Christmas songs bring back fond memories of a "few" years ago and I am sure anyone age 55+ years old will enjoy it. Shipping was really fast too! Hope to buy from Seller again! Thanks Seller!

Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1935-1954 is twenty-nine minutes and forty-seconds and was released on August 4, 1989. You get a nice variety of Christmas songs on this cassette that range from White Christmas to Santa Baby. Four of the songs even reached number one. Bing Crosby and Gene Autry have two Christmas songs each while the remaining four have only one song. The only down side it the cassette is too short and barely missing the half hour mark by twenty seconds. I just wish is could have been longer with more songs to it. Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1935-1954 gets a B+.

Side 1
Fifteen minutes and fifty-one seconds

White Christmas-Bing Crosby
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles (eleven weeks at #1)
#1 U.S. Billboard Harlem Hit Parade (three weeks at #1)
#7 U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs
#3 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot Holiday Songs
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!-Vaughn Monroe
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles (five weeks at #1)
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer-Gene Autry
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#1 U.S. Billboard Country Singles
#24 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
#3 U.S. Billboard Hot Holiday Songs
The Christmas Song-Nat King Cole
#65 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#32 U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot Holiday Songs
All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)-Spike Jones & His City Slickers
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles

Side 2
Thirteen minutes and forty-nine seconds

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus-Jimmy Boyd
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles (two weeks at #1)
#1 U.S. Cash Box Magazine Top Singles
Christmas Island-Andrews Sisters & Guy Lombardo
#7 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
Silent Night-Bing Crosby
#7 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane)-Gene Autry
#8 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#4 U.S. Billboard Country Singles
Santa Baby-Eartha Kitt
#4 U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs
#8 U.S. Cash Box Magazine Top Singles

There's a part of me that loves to hear a Christmas tune nearly any old time of the year. There's no wonder--Christmas music is some of the best written, upbeat and catchiest music we hear all year long. The CD runs a bit short but on the other hand it is budget priced as of the time that I'm writing this; and that's a plus. The quality of the sound is terrific and the artwork is good even if it is standard for this CD series.

The CD starts with Bing Crosby's masterpiece, "White Christmas." Together with The Ken Darby Singers, Bing does this to perfection--and beyond! The melancholy ache of the song brings up a nostalgic feeling for a simpler time, perhaps when we were kids and our parents were always there to protect us and help us with life's ups and downs. The music fits in perfectly with their vocals and this is easily a major highlight of the album. "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" gets the royal treatment from Vaughn Monroe and The Norton Sisters; they make this memorable and Vaughn never sounded better! The brass is used well in the musical arrangement, too.

Gene Autry's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is another major highlight of this CD; Gene sings this very well and his excellent diction enhances his performance all the more. The percussion sounds great and the strings also make this number special. "The Christmas Song" by Nat "King " Cole is heavenly; I could never tire of hearing Nat sing this so very well. The piano arrangement is very elegant. In addition, just for a twist we get Spike Jones and George Rock doing their tune entitled "All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth);" this is a cute and amusing number even after all these years.

Jimmy Boyd's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is charming; the choir provides some mighty fine backup vocals as Jimmy sings this faultlessly. "Christmas Island" by those Andrews Sisters just plain sounds good--and that musical interlude couldn't be better! Bing Crosby returns for a splendid rendition of "Silent Night;" and Max Terr's Mixed Chorus works well for this song.

Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus" is yet another classic upbeat Christmas song that I adore; Gene sings this without ever letting go of a superfluous note and that's grand. The CD ends very nicely with the great Eartha Kitt performing "Santa Baby" along with Henri René & His Orchestra; what a great finish for this album!

Overall, this is one CD of Christmas tunes you shouldn't pass up. There's one classic song after another and you'll find yourself pushing the "play" button on your CD player quite frequently once you pop this in! I highly recommend this album.