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Favorite 5 Christmas Albums

My first post

I am honored for my first post here to be in response to my big bro's question.

I collect Christmas music on reel to reel, and from various other sources. I have almost a thousand Christmas tunes, and therefore, I must be an expert? :boring:

No doubt, the greatest Christmas album of all time: Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song. Nat had the most marvelous, most natural male voice, and the arrangements, orchestration, and background singing are all first rate. If I were on a desert island and limited to only one Christmas album, this would be the one. No contest!

In no particular order the other four:

Emmylou Harris - Light of the Stable. Emmylou has the voice of an angel, what could be more appropriate at Christmas?


Ray Conniff - We Wish You a Merry Christmas, now available on i-tunes with album art from someone else's album (what's that all about?). This is the best, most joyful, and just plain fun choral music for Christmas. (PS, Conniff's other Christmas albums :thumbsdn:)

Mann Heim Steamroller's first album. It is now a classic.

The Glorious Sound of Christmas - Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Great music, great arrangements, great recording quality. Did I say great?

Honorable mentions:

Ed Ames Christmas. This one is rare, but what a fantastic baritone voice, along with great arrangements and recording. :thmbsp: And your only native American Christmas artist, not that there's ANYTHING wrong with that. And who else on this list appeared on Daniel Boone?

Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. Some beautiful and powerful new Christmas tunes, some really swinging, purely joyful arrangements of older Christmas music. Christmas is about Joy, and you'll find it here. :tresbon: excuse my French.

Jack Jones Christmas Album. This contained the first version I could find (at the time) of the new (at the time) song "Do you Hear what I Hear?". This is an album of very fine performances and arrangements.
:music:

Further affiant sayeth not. :withstpd:
 
I have an Ames Brothers Christmas album; didn't know there was an Ed Ames solo effort :-)

The Ray Conniff is quite good indeed (so evocative of its era). I believe it sold zillions of copies (roughly).
 
The Jethro Tull Xmas Album (2003)
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The two really blend together nicely, great album, one of my favorite J-Tull albums after the '70s.

Various Artists - Heavy Christmas (1971)
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Christmas songs by... Krautrock bands? Most of the involved groups I've never heard of, except Dies Irae, and Libido is Achim Reichel-related, but I plan on investigating further. For 1971, this is very heavy indeed.
 
Just before Thanksgiving I wanted to bump this thread. I'm going to buy some CDs soon and need all your suggestions.

TIA!
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I can't believe no one has said Elvis. He made killer X-mas albums. My favorite line.
Hang up your pretty stockings
Turn out the light
Santa Clause is coming down your chimney tonite
 
Duke Ellington - Three Suites.

Tchakovsky: The Nutcracker Suite
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites NOS1 and 2
Ellington-Strayhorn: Suite Thursday

I have the CD that was put out by "Columbia Jazz Masterpieces", in 1990. And I stole it from my landlord from that time.

It's classical and jazz - all wrapped up in a Christmas vibe.
 
The Los Strait Jackets - Tis' the Season, is one of my faves.

They take Christmas songs and play them using classic surf melodies. It works and is loads of fun to listen to.

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Bonder said:
Ray Charles - The Spirit of Christmas
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Good ONE! Where are the other four?

I will go looking for this one.

jimfet said:
I can't believe no one has said Elvis. He made killer X-mas albums. My favorite line.
Hang up your pretty stockings
Turn out the light
Santa Clause is coming down your chimney tonite
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And good one, too. Etc.

Funny no one mentioned Elvis either.

Darkspeed said:
:thmbsp:
And the Jackson 5 Christmas album....
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Thanks, but no thanks.

Do you have 4 more?

anytune said:
The Royal Guardsmen - Merry Snoopy's Christmas
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Same as above. But my wife, younger, would go for it.
 
Elvis-If Every Day Was Like Christmas
My 3 Rhino Xmas LP's (60's, 50's, one other, escapes me)
Ventures-In Christmas
Comp. cd Beatles X-mas flexi fan clubs releases
James Brown Christmas-(Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year, KILLS!)
 
Thanks for the Fiver! I'm an old Ventures fan. (Are there any young ones?)

I'll be looking you know where, or half.com.
 
The Perry Como Christmas Album
Merry Christmas by Bing Crosby with White Christmas
Christmas Jollies by The Salsoul Orchestra, real hot in Jamaica in 1976
Christmas with Conniff by The Ray Conniff Singers with Christmas Bride
Alabama Christmas By Alabama with Christmas in Dixie, Joseph and Mary's Boy
 
I cannot rank 5 Christmas albums as there are too many good ones. Suffice it to say that the Andy Williams Christmas Album is the best of them all.

Of course I love the Charlie Brown, the Nat King Cole and the Bing Crosbys.

Thrifting has resulted in some great finds. Frank DeVol's Christmas Album. He is the guy who did the themes to the Brady Bunch, My Three Sons, etc.

I recently found but have not yet heard, Henry Mancini's Christams Album as well as 100 Guitars Christmas. Those should be a trip.
 
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Lost Christmas Eve
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Christmas Attic
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve And Other Stories
Jethro Tull - The jethro tull Christmas Album
Dr. Demento et al. - Dr. Demento presents The Greates Novelty Records of All Time Vol.VI CHRISTMAS

This was a hard choice, many runners up, but I kept it to five.
 
mhardy6647 said:
My Favorites:
Sorry, more than 5. These are the sine qua non for us.

Bruce Cockburn Christmas
Stevan Pasero Christmas Classics for Guitar
The Life Treasury of Christmas Music
Fred Waring presents... Christmas Around the World (1957 Capitol promo album)
Gisele MacKenzie Christmas with Gisele
Eugene Ormandy/Philadelphia Symphony Greatest Christmas Hits
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I have the Ormandy/Phila. Symphony "Glorious Sound of Christmas" on pre-recorded R2R from the early sixties. Fortunately it still sounds good. Great performances.
Also gotta love the Charlie Brown... had it for years.
Just now getting into the Tull.
 
Lots of great suggestions. I haven't gotten into my Christmas records yet but here's some off the top of my head:

I'm with MH on this one:
Gisele MacKenzie Christmas with Gisele
GREAT lp.

I also like Montovanis 'Christmas Carols' LL913, London, one of my all time favorites,

The Statler Brothers 'Christmas Card' SRM15012, Mercury, is excellent - buy it,

Billy Vaughn "Christmas Carols' DLP 25148, Dot,

It's a Spike Jones Christmas, Rhino cd,

Bob River's 'I am Santa Claus' is a hoot (Teddy the red nosed Senator, had a very shiny car, and if you ever saw it, you were probably near a bar), an Atlantic cd,

And honorable mention: Christmas with the Trapp Family Singers is great, I have an old gold label Decca (DL9553) but I'll bet there's better SQ out there.


pmsummer said:
Well after all, Christmas IS about The Law being superseded. :yes:
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Indeed! I'll try it on the next cop :eek: ;)

Pete
 
At least one of you has already mentioned the Philles Records classic A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, which certainly gets my vote as a holiday favorite, one I listen to year-round. My other favorite is an EP: Christmas by the band Low. I can't think of any other "Christmas" albums I like, so my list consists of just two albums.
 
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