Customer Reviews

Doo Wop Christmas

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4 star:		(5)
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If you love Doo-Wop this is a must-have addition to your collection. It contains a nice balance of the familiar and the obscure and while you will certainly have your favorites, each, in its way, is a little gem.

What is most pleasing about this collection is the span of time represented. On a project such as this, duds are bound to be found on the track list, but the gems--paricularly the tracks by The Five Keys, The Cadillacs, and The Orioles--more than make up for any lapses. An "A" for Rhino. Don't be without this.

Ever since this first came out about 9 years ago it gets plenty of playing time in my house. I have it on cassette & it's soon due to wear itself out & I will have to purchase it on cd. Anyway, for those that are major doo wop fans, you can't go wrong with this. The fun starts with Jingle Jangle by The Penguins as well as White Christmas by The Drifters. While I agree with my friend merc49 from Seattle that there are some obscure songs here, my only real complaint is that they should have included Dodie Stevens' version of Merry Merry Christmas, Baby rather than the one done by Margo Sylvia & The Tune Weavers. Dodie's was recorded back in 1960, I believe (or sometime in the early 60s), while Margo's was in 1988. All in all, a fun holiday collection. Now if only RHINO would consider compiling a 2nd volume to go along with this. Highly recommended.

I picked up this CD sometime in the 90s. It has some good and hard to find holiday tracks. My favorite songs are:

Jingle Jangle - The Penguins
White Christmas - The Drifters
Rudolph the Reindeer - The Cadillacs
Merry Merry Christmas Baby - The Tune Weavers
Christmas Long Ago - The Echelons
Happy Holiday - The Shells
It's Xmas Once Again - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers

This CD is out of print, but if you like the doo wop sound at Christmas time, find this CD and add it to your collection.

Obviously, this CD features doo wop Christmas songs. There are a number of absolute classics here, by the likes of the Penguins, the Drifters, the Cadillacs and the Orioles. And there are also several obscurities that are of somewhat lesser quality, but they are still good. Fans of vocal harmony will enjoy this CD.

This album has been in my house since I was, oh, maybe three years old. My greatest christmas memories involve standing in my kitchen learning to dance the twist from my mother to the tune of "Merry Twist-mas," by the Marcels, while our shortbread cookies baked; playing "White Christmas" every time it snowed; or cuddling up in front of the tree listening to "It's Christmas Once Again," by Frankie Lymon, on christmas morning.
My mother loves this album, but over the years I have played it so many times (and attempted to play it in june, when I was a bit younger) that everyone else in the family has gotten tired of it.
Every song on this album is completely singable, cozy, heart-warming. My only complaint is that some of the songs on the album are not of the greatest sound quality, especially "(It's Gonna Be a) Lonely Christmas," by the Orioles, which has far too much fuzz in the background to be completely enjoyable. But there is naught to be done about that, and the song is completely indespensible.
Whether listening to it in anticipation of Christmas (which I am doing at this very moment - the rule in our house is no christmas music until November, and I have been waiting for far too long), on Christmas, or in reminiscense of it, this is the quintessential christmas album. Just don't play it it to your kids before they hear any other doo-wop music, or they will forever be getting christmas songs in their head every time they hear back-up vocal tracks.