Joyful Season

Jo Stafford | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drg
• ASIN: B000AXWH9E
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,208 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Silky & Mellow, October 29, 2005

By 

Irving Parke-Rhode "Irv" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Joyful Season (Audio CD)

Stafford used a multi-track techique when recording this (hence the second part of the title: The Voices of Jo Stafford) and it's lovely. The CD doesn't have much info about the album so I'll fill in the blanks-recorded in 1964 with Jack Marshall leading the orchestra. Bonus tracks include "Gesu Bambino" (1949), "Ave Maria" previously unreleased (1948?), and two Christmas Medleys with Gordon MacRae (1949) originally released under the title "Songs of Christmas" in December 1949, all from original Capitol recordings. Stafford is in great voice (as usual) and this is a beautiful collection of songs. Stafford's "sound" is different here than on her earlier Christmas recordings but it's just as good. If you're a fan of Jo Stafford and only have her earlier holiday songs (collected on Winter Weather) don't hesitate to add this one to your collection.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Voices of Jo Stafford = Heavenly Music!, March 24, 2006

By 

Peter LoRicco "Twentysomething Retrophile" (NJ/NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joyful Season (Audio CD)

What can I say about this album that the previous reviewer hasn't? "The Joyful Season" is pure Heaven! Jo sings like a choir of angels and makes these traditional holiday favorites fresh and exciting again!

Surprisingly, this album conjures images of a simpler Christmas 30+ years ago (memories I'm too young to have!) along the lines of a holiday cocktail party or house warming where the entire extended family/block of families comes together to celebrate dressed in their Sunday best. That being said, there's a certain level of retro-kitsch found on "The Joyful Season" with its 1960's jazz guitar/Wurlitzer organ accompaniment, drastic/dramatic stereo separation, and dreamy reverb. Any fan of the Ultra-Lounge series, especially "Christmas Cocktails, Pts. 1 & 2," would simply adore this album and should definitely pick up a copy.

The bonus tracks with Gordon MacRae are also great inclusions. Doesn't he have a gorgeous voice?!

"The Joyful Season" is one of my absolute favorite Christmas albums of this past (2005) holiday season and it will continue to reign for many seasons to come!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful voices, beautiful songs, September 24, 2007

By 

MusicFilm Fan (Wash., DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joyful Season (Audio CD)

This is one of the two Jo Stafford Christmas collections that are available on CD, the other being "Happy Holidays - I Love The Winter Weather," which contains some very good earlier recordings. Both CDs are well worth purchasing. As on the earlier disc, the song selection and performances here are excellent all around.

Jo has a beautiful voice, and as the title of this album says, you get multiple, overdubbed voices from her, so it's more of a good thing. If I had to compare this album to someone else's music (not that Jo needs to be compared to anyone else for a recommendation), I'd say that this is what Les Paul and Mary Ford might have done if they had recorded an entire album of holiday favorites. (I wish they had -- their amazing "Christmas Song" single shows what they could have done with holiday standards.) There's a lot of well-played guitar here (albeit not quite as great as Les), and the multi-tracked voices are similar to what Les did with Mary's voice, although Jo and Mary obviously have different timbres.

In short, this album is well worth it if you like a jazzy or lounge sound with your Christmas cocktail.