A Really Swell Christmas

Really Swell Christmas | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 23, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Columbia Legacy
• ASIN: B000002AE2
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,440 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Deck The Halls - The Glad Singers

2. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Joe Loco Quintet

3. Happy Holidays - Percy Faith

4. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas - Liberace With George Liberace and His Orchestra

5. Jingle Bells - The Ray Ellis Orchestra

6. Blue Christmas - Frankie Yankovic

7. Winter Wonderland - The Harmonicats

8. Santa And The Doodle-Li-Boop - Art Carney

9. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - John Davidson

10. Santa's Laughing Song - Santa Claus And His Helpers

11. Christmas - Rod McKuen

12. The Christmas Song - George Maharis

Editorial Reviews

1996 Columbia Legacy compilation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Christmas cheese" means just what it says., November 9, 2005

By 

David Kenner (Fort Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Really Swell Christmas (Audio CD)

The songs on this very short CD are cheesy. This doesn't mean they're gonna be filled with deep Lou Rawls-styled soul grooves or swing like Ellington or Kenton, so don't expect that. The tracks were selected for their cheesiness and they rise to the occasion. But just because they're cheesy doesn't mean they're not fun. The tracks by The Glad Singers, Art Carney and John Davidson are all worth the price of this CD!
The Percy Faith track is from his CHRISTMAS IS album (which is one of THE all time great Christmas albums) and is mastered better here than on the Columbia CD.
The Rod McKuen track is the most bizarre. It comes from an album of romantic poetry called IN SEARCH OF EROS. In this one minute epic, Rod briefly expouses on why holidays meant little to him when he was young and then thanks his love for, among other things, "jam from the delicatessen".
The tracks on this disc are the kind that inspire people to make goofy audio Christmas cards for friends. You should only buy this disc if you are willing to listen to it in the spirit in which it was compiled.

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard Not To Like This Inoffensive Christmas Release, June 30, 2008

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Really Swell Christmas (Audio CD)

OK, so this won't go down as one of the all-time classic Christmas compilations. But then again, I would not go so far as to say (as some have) that most of the tracks are "bad." In fact, it's a happy little, inoffensive offering that just also happens to contain one of the most difficult charted Christmas hits to find in CD format (and the only such hit in this collection) - that being Santa And The Doodle-Li-Boop by Art Carney, the beloved Ed Norton of The Honeymooners. Released in 1954 on Columbia 4-40400, it made it to # 24 that Christmas. That alone earns this 3 stars in my mind.

As for the other 11 tracks, I don't see how anyone can call Percy Faith's Happy Holidays, from his 1966 # 23 Columbia LP, Christmas Is, "bad." This has become almost a standard each season on most Easy Listening radio stations, as is Jingle Bells by the Ray Ellis orchestra which came out in 1957 on the single Columbia 41056.

And anyone who knew and loved Liberace will enjoy his rendition of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, first released in 1954 on the Columbia LP Christmas At Liberace's and with the backing of brother George Liberace & His Orchestra, just as they will Winter Wonderland by Jerry Murad's Harmonicats, which first appeared in the 1961 Columbia LP An All-Star Christmas.

I agree that one of the best selections here is Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by The Joe Loco Quintet. Born Jose Esteves in New York City in 1921 (and also known as "Crazy Joe"), Joe Loco is a pianist/dancer/trombone player who, before forming his own group, had played with Ciro Rimac's Brazilian Band and the Original Afro-Cuban Band in the 1940s. In the early 1950s, adapting straight Pop music to the Latin beat, he is credited with introducing both the mambo and the cha-cha to North American audiences, especially in his release of Tenderly, but for some reason Columbia decided not to release his 1955 interpretation of the Gene Autry classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. So, you're hearing it here for the first time.

The sound quality is excellent (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 are in stereo), although the liner notes are skimpy, offering just three brief paragraphs by producer Al Quaglieri. However, they do provide recording dates for each track and the label details of their initial appearance on record. All in all, not a bad buy at all.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Finest Cheesiest Christmas CD's Ever, November 22, 2007

By 

Hellen Kisic (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Really Swell Christmas (Audio CD)

This is a must have CD for serious cheese collectors. And by the way, it is alot of fun. This is a feel good, very light hearted, blast from the past type of CD. I like nostaglia. I like Lawrence Welkesque music. I like Christmas poetry. I like the unusual. I like Liberace. It's all hear. That's how good it is. And the track that is not to be missed is Art Carney's "Doodle-Li-Boop". You haven't heard anything until you hear this spirited song about a child's desire to acquire the one most precious gift and Santa's dilema in fulfilling his request. Pure Joy!!! Buy this CD you shouldn't be disappointed.