Customer Reviews

Christmas With Rosemary Clooney

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

 

 

I was able to listen and compare the three Rosemary Clooney Christmas albums today. This inexpensive gem won. It's a cd of essential songs by an essential voice for the season. Beautiful and simple arrangements make it appealing to listeners who may not know a lot about her outside of "White Christmas". It's perfect for anyone who's looking for a truly classic sound to add his or her Christmas music collection. It's a bargain for $6.98.

This is a fabulous album of super holiday songs. One that can be appreciated and enjoyed by all age groups. No child should ever miss out on, "Suzy Snowflake".

I love this album. I especially like the song "Count your blessings instead of sheep" that came from the movie with Bing Crosby. She does it better than Crosby.

I ordered this for my mom for Christmas, & it came in great shape. My mom loved it, and I was happy to get a gift she liked.

Like Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney was a good sport about recording novelty numbers back in the day (the "day" being the '50's and THE era of the novelty song). In the long run, it didn't really hurt her reputation as a serious singer to have numbers like "C'Mon A My House" or such Christmas novelties as "Suzy Snowflake," which appears on this collection. As long as the silly stuff is balanced with weightier fare, I can deal with it. And Rosie's take on such numbers as "White Christmas," and "Counting My Blessings" (not really a holiday tune, but not out of place here either) counter the fluff and demonstrate that she was a singer of some depth and lots of style. One of the most perceptive commentaries I ever read about Rosemary Clooney was that she had just a hit of hesitancy in her singing, which has a certain unique charm. And it's true she sometimes seems to just sneak up on a note, where other singers might throttle it. She had a languid style which made the transition from pop star to jazz singer possible, and kind of inevitable.

And of course, by dint of having co-starred with Bing and Danny (and Vera-Ellen) in WHITE CHRISTMAS, she would be forever associated with that holiday, and a Christmas album or two would have been a virtual must. "White Christmas" was, of course, Der Bingle's song in the movie, but he didn't OWN it. It's nice to hear the distaff take on same that Rosie offers up here. My only real complaint (and it's a relatively minor one) is that some of the arrangements leave something to be desired (i.e. they provide the Christmas cheese). But if you're in high nostalgia mode, that scarcely matters.