Customer Reviews

Christmas Classics

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4 star:		(3)
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In 1992 I found this great Christmas album from Capitol called "Let It Snow!" Every time the holiday rolls around this CD finds it way out of the closet and friends ask "Where did you get this?" Sadly this CD went out of print along with its companions "Merry Christams, Baby" and "Christmas Kisses".

"Christmas Classics" contains some of the best tracks from "Let It Snow!" and eliminates some of the more charming yet annonying tracks. You just can't beat Leana Horne's version of the title track with the swingin' conducting by Jack Parnell. The album swings and bops its way all through the season. Nostalgic and fun.

Looking for a holiday album to recall the memories of Christmases past? Then CHRISTMAS CLASSICS is a near perfect collection. These are songs that will take you back to your childhood. The most recent song is 1968's "The Christmas Waltz" by Nancy Wilson, and the earliest song is 1947's "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" by Johnny Mercer. In addition, there are classics like Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song," Ella Fitzgerald's stately "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and Lena Horne's festive "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" So throw another log on the fire, pour yourself a cup of egg nog, and enjoy...Merry Christmas! [Running Time - 42:06] HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This 2004 remastering of the original recordings brings a pristine presence and freshness to these favorites. Bing's rendition of "Let it Snow," for instance, looses the crude, "sproingy" sounding reverb that has been applied to it by various sound engineers over the years. Instead, you hear Bing himself with a very natural sounding voice, as if he were standing in your living room, and not in a cave.

This CD is BY FAR the best collection I have found since I was a kid! I grew up listening to the classic, "Time, Life" collections and this compares to any of them! I bought it for "Man with the bag" and I was not disappointed in any of the songs. Two thumbs way up!

I'm very happy with this CD!! I always put Christmas music on while decorating the tree, and this really has a lot of my favorite songs!

This is a great album and I think everyone would enjoy it. The music is classic and the combination is delightful.

Love hearing the oldies versions of these classic Christmas songs. I wish I recognized all of the songs, but they are becoming part of our Christmas memories, too ;)

Christmas Classics, a partial re-release of an earlier holiday album entitled Let It Snow, is truly one of the nicest Christmas albums I've come upon so far. There are a number of wonderfully talented artists on this album and every song is a delight; there's not a dud in the bunch. Sure, some tracks were left out from the original release; yet what we do get is nothing but the very best in classic holiday music. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is very nice.

Nat "King" Cole's "The Christmas Song" begins the track set with one of the very best holiday numbers even performed; Nat truly owns this song and he never lets go of a single superfluous note. This number moves me, too; this music is all THAT good. Dean Martin's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is extremely well done; and that backup chorus enchants me as well--not that Dean really needed backup but they do sound very good anyway. Bing Crosby's "Winter Wonderland" is yet another charmer; Bing could really croon and he still sounds perfect even after all these years!

"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" gets the royal treatment from Les Brown & His Band of Renown; ooh, how they do this one up right! The jazzy arrangement works wonders for this melody. Lou Rawls also does a sublime job on the classic "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas;" this number was first sung by Judy Garland in the MGM movie "Meet Me in Saint Louis;" and I would like to think that Judy surely would have approved of Lou's rendition of this song! In addition, Kay Starr's treatment of "(Everybody's Waitin' for) The Man with the Bag" just couldn't have been any better; Kay's voice is as clear as a bell and when you hear this it becomes no secret why she was one of the best songbirds of the entire twentieth century.

Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers perform "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" with lots of positive energy and it's a great highlight of this album. How's about that brass? It all holds its own very well; I love this tune especially when these pros deliver it so very well! Peggy Lee's "Happy Holiday" was a number that had to grow on me somewhat; the arrangement is different than the one I'm used to but it's actually a pretty neat number with Peggy swinging brightly to make this tune shine bright! Listen also for the great Julie London to deliver "I'd Like You For Christmas;" oh, wow, how the guys loved to hear Julie sing and a number of hers on this album helps to make the CD special.

Ella Fitzgerald does great justice to `It Came Upon a Midnight Clear;" Ella never disappointed her fans and she sounds just great on this track. The King Cole Trio does the playful "All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth);" and the album ends with Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians performing "Auld Lang Syne." What a fine way to end this amazing album!

Christmas Classic is certainly a terrific addition to anyone's holiday music collection. I highly recommend it.