Customer Reviews

Merry Christmas From London

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

 

 

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.

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.

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?

Strong voice with great songs. There are a couple of songs that only Lorrie herself can sing. One of my favorite Christmas CD's.

This is an almost-perfect CD for any Lorrie Morgan fan. I have everyone of her CDs and this Christmas selection certainly lives up to my expectation of her incomparable vocal abilities, with one GLARING mistake/problem. "Up on Santa Claus Mountain" is a good enough song when she is SINGING, but when she tries to "editorialize" and speak dialogue, she fails miserably. Let me repeat, I am a HUGE Lorrie Morgan fan and I think she is one of the finest vocalists ever, but that one example is why I can't rate this album with 5 stars like I would have liked to.

Add this disc to your holiday collection. Morgan's vibrato is out of touch on some of the tunes, Silent Night w/Wynette; some tunes are hokey, St. Claus Mountain; but others are winners. Her turn of the Rogers and Hammerstein's Favorite Things from the Sound of Music, is spacious with lusciously orchestrated strings. On the whole this is worth a couple spins of the turntable during the Yule season, especially at this sale price

I recently ordered and received a Lorrie Morgan tape-with great service-coulen't have been better...