Merry Christmas From London

Lorrie Morgan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Bmg Special Product
• ASIN: B000009TKQ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,679 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. My Favorite Things

2. A Christmas Festival Medley: Jingle Bells/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [Me

3. Little Snow Girl

4. Up on Santa Claus Mountain

5. O Holy Night

6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

7. Blue Snowfall

8. Toyland

9. Sleigh Ride

10. Ave Maria

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely album with great guests, October 23, 2003

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Merry Christmas From London (Audio CD)

Lorrie recorded this album with a London orchestra as backing musicians, so whatever else this album is, it ain't country. Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams and Tammy Wynette all make guest appearances, though you could easily miss Tammy's contribution if you don't listen closely. Lorrie didn't need all those guests to make a wonderful album, but their willingness to be guests demonstrates their respect for her.

The set opens with a rendition of My favorite things, which did not originate as a Christmas song but has become an occasional feature of Christmas albums. Lorrie then sings a delightful medley of Christmas classics, mixing up carols and festive songs. It begins with Joy to the world, followed by Deck the halls, God rest ye merry gentlemen, Hark the herald angels sing, The first noel (with Tammy), Silent night, Jingle bells, ending with O come all ye faithful.

The remainder of the album mainly concentrates on festive songs although Lorrie also includes fine versions of O holy night. Little snow girl (with Andy), Up on Santa Claus mountain, Let it snow, Blue snowfall (with Johnny), Toyland and Sleigh ride are all great songs that should bring you plenty of Christmas cheer.

This is a brilliant Christmas album with a great selection of songs - plenty of standards but not too many obvious ones. It should therefore please you whether you only buy the occasional album or whether (like me) you have loads of them.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From a Christmas music fan, December 13, 2011

By 

Judith (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merry Christmas From London (Audio CD)

I'm not a huge country fan anymore, but I have found that country music singers often make better Christmas projects than singers from other genres because they tend to stick with mostly traditional music, which is what I want at Christmas, most of the time.

I'm not generally a Lorrie Morgan follower, but I like this Christmas CD. She chose her songs well, with selections that are familiar but not the overworked songs on every other Christmas CD. It opens with My Favorite Things, which isn't a Christmas song, and thus, one I skip. She then follows with a very well done medley of traditional songs, accompanied by an orchestra and choir, as well as a cameo from Tammy Wynette. The duets with Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis, two Mr. Christmases, add to the spirit. Another reviewer thought her father's song Up on Santa Claus Mountain is hokey. I prefer the word retro. I like it a lot. Her rendition of Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! is is perky and delightful. It's the best version of that song I have in my entire Christmas CD collection. Ditto for Sleigh Ride. This is a classy Christmas project that will be a classic in my collection for years to come.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lorrie trucks on over to London ...for the Holidays, March 13, 2010

By 

Gregor von Kallahann - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merry Christmas From London (Audio CD)

I remember seeing Lorrie Morgan several years ago on a PBS special and being quite impressed. Now I'm not a huge country fan, I admit, and I didn't exactly rush out (or go online) to get her complete catalog. That's probably my loss, and maybe when I finally do win the lottery, I'll remedy the situation. But I did pick up on this very reasonably priced CD this past holiday season, and was glad I did. This is not one of those holiday albums that strives to be somehow innovative, whether the fans like it or not. Working with the New World Philharmonic may be something of a departure for Ms. Morgan, but it's hardly a radical artistic move: really, working with a symphony and duetting with Andy Williams is about as traditional as you can get on a holiday album...and the more I hear ill-conceived attempts at doing something more innovative, the more convinced I am that that's hardly a bad thing.

Lorrie Morgan's vocals are only very slightly "country-tinged" here. When she assays holiday or popular standards, she sings them straight, and while some country purists may prefer more twang and more nasality, I think her restraint on these numbers is admirable. If she evokes any other singer for me, it'd have to be Petula Clark, especially on the opening track, "My Favorite Things" and "O Holy Night." Like the legendary Ms. Clark, Lorrie Morgan possesses wonderful diction, a warm timbre but enough "coolness" to never slip from sweet to treacly (something her London hosts would no doubt have called her on had she ever had that tendency: they know from treacle, after all).

The duets with Williams AND Johnny Mathis are a very canny move. They serve to prove she is completely comfortable in a pop setting. She honors country roots in subtle but significan ways, including Tammy Wynette on something of a "cameo duet" on a Christmas medley and by doing a version of one of her late father's compositons, "Up On Santa Claus Mountain." The main problem with the album is simply the relative predictability of the selections. I hope I'm not contradicting myself when--on the one hand--I champion Ms. Morgan's "traditional" approach while faulting her relative lack of originality in the actual selections. But there are any number of equally beautiful, less well known holiday compositions out there, and the inclusion of even one or two of them would have added a bit of extra spice to the (seasonal) mix. After all, what's Christmas without a few surprises?