A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters

Bing Crosby | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 24, 2000)
• Original Release Date: October 24, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B00004ZEJ1
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,698 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bing Crosby recorded six Christmas songs during the '40s and '50s with the popular Andrew Sisters and all are compiled here for the first time. Twenty tracks overall, A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters showcases classic and timeless performances between the three sisters and the king crooner on staples such as "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "Winter Wonderland" (with Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians), "Mele Kalikimaka," and others. In between, there's plenty of Bing ("Happy Holiday" from his smash film, Holiday Inn, "The First Snowfall," "Christmas in Killarney") and a bounty of Andrew Sisters' songs that run from the "Merry Christmas Polka" to the peppy vocal burst of "Jing-a-Ling, Jing-a-Ling." --Martin Keller

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The original King and Queens of Christmas music, September 6, 2002

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters (Audio CD)

Although Christmas music has been around for humdreds of years, it's popularity now owas a lot to Bing Crosby and (to a lesser extent) the Andrews sisters, with the outstanding and extremely popular Chrismas songs they recorded in the 1940's.

This is a sample of their Christmas music. They only recorded six Christmas songs together, all included here, the rest of the tracks featuring one or the other.

The duets are Jingle Bells (their most famous Christmas duet), Twelve days of Christmas (a song which has inspired many parodies, some of which are extremely funny, but this is still the best straight version of the song I've come across), Mele Kalikimaka (a Hawaiian song), Santa Claus is coming to town, Here comes Santa Claus and Poppa Santa Claus.

Bing sings seven solo tracks - these are identified in the Amazon[.com] track listing and are generally slower than the other songs, although Christmas in Kallarney is a very upbeat song. The slow songs provide a nice contrast to the songs featuring the Andrews sisters (with or without Bing), which are mostly bright, uptempo songs.

Most of the Andrews sisters tracks without Bing feature Guy Lombardo, including Christmas Island, a million selling single for them. Christmas candles is a really beautiful song which is much slower than usual for the sisters and it's great to hear.

Some reviewers suggest some of the songs are dated, but how many modern songs will still sound modern in sixty years time? Many of the greatest Christmas songs were written in the thirties and forties. The versions here are still as enjoyable as any more modern versions - and I also enjoy those. As to the obscure songs, they merely add to the enjoyment. Not every song can become a standard.

This collection is not a comprehensive collection of their music, and you can find most (maybe all) of these tracks on their other albums, but this is a very convenient and highly entertaing collection with a great mix of songs and styles.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this collection!, November 22, 2002

By 

Kim (Tipp City, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters (Audio CD)

As a collector of Christmas music - I LOVE the fact that this album is loaded with "non-traditional" songs. It's not the same old stuff that every artist puts on a Christmas album, yet the songs sound distinctly "Christmassy". Bing's voice is like a big velvety cloak that wraps you in Christmas spirit, and the energetic vocals of the Andrews Sister's will have you tapping your toes. This collection is classic and timeless, and evokes images of a simpler time. It will be a much-played selection in my Christmas collection. In fact - I think I'd better go order more as gifts or my sister might try to swipe it from me!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Recording, December 29, 2002

By 

William S. Robbins (Sun Prairie, WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters (Audio CD)

The fun thing about this CD is that most of the songs are not traditional Christmas songs, which get so over-played during the holidays. So these cuts add a fresh dimention to your holiday mix if you drop this CD into your random CD carosel.