Customer Reviews

Where Will You Be Christmas Day

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

 

 

this is quite possibly the best CD i have ever heard in my life. i absolutely treasure the music and am so thankful that the guys at dust-to-digital thought to put this compilation together. it is not "christian" necessarily, even though it is a christmas album (when you hear "christmas in jail" and "papa ain't no santa claus" you'll see what i mean) so don't think that it is only for those whose taste runs to the religious. the music represents the soul, the backbone, and the seed of just about all american music (except perhaps techno...). a must own for any lover of folk, country, rock, blues, soul, gospel, and even funk music. this is the best of the best--you will not be disappointed!

I love this cd. The songs are uniquely christmasy. I don't necessarily play it Christmas morning when I'm sticking with the traditional stuff, but I play it more than any other Christmas cd I have. In contrast to the guy that doesn't think these are recorded well, I think these have excellent sound quality for this type of old music. The variety is awesome from the bagpipe guy to a Leadbelly quicky, Buell Kazee doing his usual thing to blues, solo vocals and more. I get these songs, like "The Wrong Way to Celebrate Christmas" in my head and I can't get them out. I wish I could find another Christmas cd like this one. Now that would be the right way to "Celebrate Christmas".

This CD has a wide range of musical styles, collected from rare recordings from the 20's to the 50's; most of the recording seem to come from a gospel/blues tradition, but each is unique in it's own way...
Some of these songs are quite enjoyable, but others take some getting used to; this is not a CD I would play on Christmas with the family gathered round, but I have been listening to it in my car during the holiday season...I collect Xmas CD's, and this unusual compilation is a welcome addition to my collection.

This is collection of Christmas songs recorded from old 78s. Some of the songs are a bit scratchy, but they are all quite listenable. The recordings date from 1917 to 1959, with the majority being recorded in either the '20s or the '30s. The music is played is a wide variety of styles; including gospel, folk, calypso, blues, county and others. Most of the songs are quite enjoyable. This is a very different Christmas album than any other you've ever heard, which is a good thing.

This is one of the most unusual Christmas discs you'll ever hear, and perhaps the most memorable. Around our house, this album has become one of our favorites among the 200+ discs we have in our Christmas collection, one that my wife and I both look forward to when the holiday season rolls around each year.

As others have already noted, this album has blues, gospel, folk, calypso, and country, among other genres. Some of the artists, like Bessie Smith, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Lead Belly, are still fairly well known, and others deserve to be, based on the evidence here. Even though you've probably never heard of Vera Hall-Ward or the Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers, you'll have a hard time forgetting their "Last Month of the Year" and "Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn," the two lead-off tracks on this disc -- I can easily see adventurous listeners of R&B, jazz, rock, country, and blues all enjoying these tunes. The only well-known song here for modern listeners is a version of "Jingle Bells" by the Maddox Bros. & Rose, but it's not the only one you'll start singing along with after a few listens.

The Dust-to-Digital label and compiler Dick Spottswood have done an amazing job here. Buy this album now!

This is a real gem of a Xmas songs CD. Quirky, not oft heard and just plain fun....if you like your songs a little less sa

If poorly recorded roots music is of interest to you, you might want to consider buying this CD. The poor recording is, of course, not the fault of the company making the CD. The recordings are made from old originals that were made with primitive equipment in primitive conditions. There is no arguing that the music is historically significant. But, I was hoping that there might be one or two songs I could consider listenable. Each year I search for obscure music to add to a large collection of holiday CD's. This one, unfortunately, will not be one that I count among the worthwhile purchases. Pairing this with the John Waters CD is, I suppose, logical. I would recommend that one first, however, on the basis of sound quality if nothing else.