in 1987, I guess I was bitten by the same CD buying bug that many were: I bought into the Time-Life “Rock ‘n’ Roll Era” series of CDs.  Thankfully I found that the musical selection on these were fine for my purposes, although the sound often suffered a bit.  It did enable me to amass a good collection of “oldies” that I otherwise never would have bought.  One surprising favorite came my way during the holidays–the compilation Jingle Bell Rock.  A couple of the Motown tracks need to be skipped (the Temptations’ “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” is narcoleptic at best), but for the most part it is a very enjoyable and crowd-pleasing collection of holiday favorites.

On here are tracks by Jan and Dean (“Frosty the Snowman”, rescued from obscurity), The Ventures (“Sleigh Ride”), Jack Scott (“There’s Trouble Brewin'”), The O’Jays (“Christmas Ain’t Christmas Without The One You Love”) and Dodie Stevens (“Merry, Merry Christmas Baby”).  The usual suspects are here also (“JIngle Bell Rock”, “Run, Rudolph Run” and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”) and Elton John’s “Step into Christmas” finishes out the disc with the most recent song in the collection.  You can find Jingle Bell Rock if you look hard enough, although you can find another variation or two that changes out and/or skimps on the 25 tracks that this disc offers.

As I prepared to make a few notes about this “new” album, I took a look at the date on which it was released…and am still in disbelief that The Christmas Album was released almost 20 years ago!  Time flies, and yet this recording still sounds as fresh as the day it was released.  While you might expect a Manhattan Transfer recording to feature four-part vocal harmonies and jazz, they reached a bit beyond and enlisted the great Johnny Mandel to handle orchestrations and arrangements, and what you end up with is a beautifully warm and lush holiday recording that transcends musical boundaries.  The rockers and headbangers probably would never warm to it, but it is one of those nice “family” discs that, thanks to the Mandel/Tim Hauser production, can sound lush without straying into sappy Muzak.  Even Tony Bennett pops in for a guest appearance on “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)”.  What really impressed me was the disc opening with the lesser known “Snowfall,” a wintery song penned by Claude Thornhill decades ago.  And, the album closes with the Lennon/McCartney “Goodnight.”  As with any ManTran album, the harmonies are smooth, and each of the members gets their turn in the spotlight.  Warmly recommended!

If you are a fan of the classy 60’s Capitol sound of Peggy Lee, this Christmas compilation will be right up your alley.  Thing is, there are a few variations on this CD out there, that it is difficult to find one that covers all of the bases.  This particular disc covers eight of the twelve tracks from Peggy’s Christmas Carousel album (the title track of which appears on this disc), and three additional tracks.  Arrangements are by Billy May.  What I enjoy most is Peggy Lee’s voice–I am not a fan of many female singers, but if they sing in a lower register such as Lee’s,  I’m often smitten.  She has always gone beyond being a mere vocalist on her albums: her own knowledge and touch to the music bring such touches as the “I Like A Sleighride” phrase injected into “Jingle Bells.”  The classy arrangments also help keep the proceedings from being generic or sappy (as much holiday music can be). This is a welcome holiday play around the house, and you can’t go wrong with Christmas (pictured) or the more modern release Christmas with Peggy Lee.