Here’s an example. This is the King’s College Choir singing “O Come All Ye Faithful.” This arrangement was by David Willcocks, one of the best and best-known choir conductors of the 20th century. He was Director of Music at King’s from 1957 to 1974.
Mr. Andy Williams was too. Here’s “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” recorded for his first Christmas album “The Andy Williams Christmas Album,” released in 1963. The song was written specifically for his TV variety show’s Christmas episode that year by its vocal director George Wyle and co-composer Edward Pola. As of November …
Continue reading ‘I’m starting to feel the Christmas Spirit now’ »
This is he playing “Hark on High” from his 2016 “I Heard It Was Christmas Day” album. I heard him play on the Echoes radio show three weeks ago and liked what I heard enough to hunt up this Christmas album. The other material of his that I’ve heard is just as captivating.
Here are The Carpenters (Karen, really) singing “Ave Maria,” from the duo’s “Christmas Portait” album, which was first released in 1978. This album is an evergreen: On April 16, 1998, Christmas Portrait was certified Platinum by the RIAA for shipment of one million copies in the United States since its 1978 release. In December 2011, …
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leslie Odom Jr., singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from his “Simply Christmas” album. If you’re wondering who he is, he won a Tony as the first Aaron Burr in Hamilton. The song has had several iterations of its lyrics since it was written for the Judy Garland film Meet …
Have some Aaron Neville. This is from his 1993 album “Aaron Neville’s Soulful Christmas”. The first time I heard his name and kept it in my head was when he sang four duets on Linda Ronstadt’s 1989 “Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind album. Besides his solo work he’s worked with his brothers …
Here are The Andrews Sisters singing “Sleigh Ride.” . It’s not clear when this was first recorded, but it appeared on the 2004 compilation “Songs for Christmas”. The sisters had an incredible career. It began in the 1930s in the Midwest, first in vaudeville and then touring with big bands. They recorded hundreds of songs …
Here is Linda Ronstadt singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” from her 2000 album “A Merry Little Christmas”. It should come as no surprise that it had the highest sales of all holiday albums released that year. It took her a long time to record a holiday album, and she chose only half-a-dozen of the …
Continue reading ‘Ms. Ronstadt excels at Christmas music too’ »
Ladies and Gentlemen, Ms. Anita Baker. She had a rather odd career, filled with arguments with record companies and subsequent absences from the charts and radio. Her biggest hit was her second album, Rapture, released in 1986. A collection of “adult R&B”, it sold 8 million copies. She announced her retirement via Twitter in January …
Christmas is coming, he says. It’s an old nursery rhyme of uncertain provenance.