The Classic Christmas Album | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | October 7, 2014 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1958–2013 [2] | |||
Genre | Christmas | |||
Length | 39:51 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
JazzWeekly.com | positive [3] |
TheSecondDisc.com | positive [4] |
The Classic Christmas Album is a Christmas compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 7, 2014, by Columbia Records [1] and includes two 1961 recordings that were previously unavailable: "Ol' Kris Kringle" and the original version of the title track from his 1969 Christmas album Give Me Your Love for Christmas . Three other songs ("Christmas in the City of the Angels", "Sign of the Dove" and "The Very First Christmas Day") make their debut on compact disc as of this release, [5] and two other non-album singles ("Christmas Is..." and "My Kind of Christmas") can be counted among the rarities here. The collection also includes a selection or two from several of Mathis's Christmas studio albums—"Sleigh Ride" from Merry Christmas , "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from Sounds of Christmas , "Calypso Noel" from Give Me Your Love for Christmas , "The Christmas Waltz" and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" from Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis , and "Home for the Holidays" from Sending You a Little Christmas —as well as his duet with Bette Midler from her 2006 holiday album Cool Yule , which was a medley of "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!".
The Second Disc's Joe Marchese was impressed by the rarities on this collection ("Didier C. Deutsch and Jeff James have gone the extra mile") and also the sound quality ("Maria Triana has beautifully remastered all tracks."). [4]
George W. Harris of Jazz Weekly wrote in his review of the disc that Mathis is "one of the few vocalists that owns 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', and December 25th is better off for it." [3]
Compilation [2]
"Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himber, it has been covered by over 200 different artists. Its lyrics are about a couple's romance during the winter season.
Merry Christmas is the first Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis and was released by Columbia Records on October 6, 1958. The selections are a mix of traditional Christmas carols and holiday hits.
Christmas Songs is a 1992 studio album by the American jazz singer Mel Tormé.
Sounds of Christmas is the second holiday-themed album by vocalist Johnny Mathis and the first of his 11 studio projects for Mercury Records. His first yuletide effort, 1958's Merry Christmas, relied heavily on popular holiday carols and standards, but this 1963 release also included two new songs as well as covers of some lesser-known recordings by Andy Williams and Bing Crosby.
Stockings by the Fire is a holiday compilation album released in November 2007 in the United States through Starbucks' record label Hear Music. In the United States, the album reached a peak position of number 34 on the Billboard 200 and number four on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.
"We Need a Little Christmas" is a popular Christmas song originating from Jerry Herman's Broadway musical Mame, and first performed by Angela Lansbury in that 1966 production.
White Christmas is a 1996 studio album by Rosemary Clooney. This was Clooney's third Christmas album. She had previously appeared in the 1954 holiday film White Christmas. Clooney is accompanied by a big band on the album.
Merry Christmas is the second Christmas album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Columbia Records in 1965, and his seventeenth studio album overall. This seasonal LP is focused exclusively on 20th century compositions, unlike 1963's The Andy Williams Christmas Album, which, of its 12 tracks, had six with origins predating the turn of the century.
Merry from Lena is a 1966 album by Lena Horne. Released in 1966, this Christmas album marked Horne's departure from United Artists Records and the recording industry until her return at Skye Records in 1970.
Give Me Your Love for Christmas is the third Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis and was released by Columbia Records on October 13, 1969. The oldest song selected for this project was the 1934 classic "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", which meant there were not the traditional hymns that could be found on his previous Christmas outings. He did, however, cover several other contemporary Christmas favorites along with a few new and lesser-known songs, such as the title track, which was a reworking of an unreleased recording of his from 1961, and "Christmas Day", which came from the then-current Broadway musical Promises, Promises. New versions of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Little Drummer Boy", which he also recorded in 1963 for his previous Christmas LP, Sounds of Christmas, made the final track list here as well.
Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis is the fourth Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 23, 1986, by Columbia Records. This was Mathis's fourth holiday-themed LP and focused exclusively on secular material.
Maybe This Christmas is a holiday compilation album released in November 2002 through Nettwerk Records featuring contemporary musicians performing both classic and original Christmas songs. The album, named by Ron Sexsmith, is the first in a series of three holiday compilations released through the record label between 2002 and 2004. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of each album went to Toys for Tots, a charity supported by the United States Marine Corps. Most of the tracks exclusive to Maybe This Christmas were recorded just a few months prior to its release. The album's cover art was designed by artist Paul Frank, creator of Julius the pictured "wide-mouth monkey". Critical reception of the compilation was mixed, with reviewers often complimenting or criticizing select tracks. In the United States, the album reached a peak position of number thirty-eight on Billboard's Top Holiday Albums chart.
Celebration – The Anniversary Album is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the UK in 1981 by the CBS Records division of Columbia. Two of the covers on this release had not previously been included on any Mathis album: Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" and a new version of Mathis's 1976 song "When a Child Is Born" that was recorded with Gladys Knight & the Pips and reached number 74 on the UK singles chart during a two-week run that began on December 26, 1981.
The Christmas Album is the fifth Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 15, 2002, by Columbia Records and included his first recordings of three traditional carols, three new songs, and a handful of 20th-century offerings.
The Christmas Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in October 1993 by Columbia Records and included selections from the four Christmas albums that he had recorded to date: Merry Christmas, Sounds of Christmas, Give Me Your Love for Christmas, and Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis.
Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 19, 2006, by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings. It includes selections from four of the first five Christmas albums that he had recorded: Merry Christmas, Sounds of Christmas, Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis, and The Christmas Album. Two tracks that were recorded with other artists are also included: "O Tannenbaum", which comes from Mannheim Steamroller's 2001 album Christmas Extraordinaire, and a medley duet of "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" with Bette Midler from her 2006 holiday album Cool Yule.
The Singles is a four-disc box set by the American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 2015 by Columbia Records to commemorate the singer's 80th birthday. In his review of the collection Joe Marchese explains that it "doesn't bring together every track released by the legendary artist on 45 RPM; such an endeavor would take far more than four discs. Instead, it features the tracks originally released by Mathis on Columbia in the singles format – in other words, non-LP sides – between the years of 1956 and 1981, in their original single mixes." His description of the compilation echoes that of the compilation's producer Didier C. Deutsch in the liner notes as explanation for the exclusion of the hit singles "Misty" from Heavenly (1959) and his "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" duet with Deniece Williams from You Light Up My Life (1978). Deutsch excuses these as "songs extracted from specific albums to call attention to these albums." The set does, however, include "Ten Times Forever More" and "I Was There" from his 1971 LP, Love Story, and a shorter version of "If We Only Have Love" than the one that was included on his other 1971 album, You've Got a Friend.
The Complete Christmas Collection 1958–2010 is a three-disc box set by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 2015 by Real Gone Music under license from Columbia Records. The set includes Mathis's five holiday albums from the period in their entirety: Merry Christmas, Sounds of Christmas, Give Me Your Love for Christmas, Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis, and The Christmas Album. It also compiles all of Mathis's holiday songs that were only released as singles, as well as thematically-appropriate tracks from his non-holiday albums: "When a Child Is Born" from I Only Have Eyes for You, the holiday version of "What a Wonderful World" from Let It Be Me, and his two recordings of "Ave Maria" from Good Night, Dear Lord, which bookend the set.
A Very Swingin' Basie Christmas! is a 2015 Christmas album by the Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Scotty Barnhart, and released by Concord Records. The album was recorded between August 2014 and July 2015.