At the holidays, we often look back to our childhood fondly for favorite things we enjoyed back in those simpler years.  I have my share of memories, including a handful of holiday albums that even today, get at least one spin during the busy holiday season.  One of those I spin is A Merry Mancini Christmas.  Thankfully, RCA has chosen to commit that album to CD, but has also released an enhanced version (featuring a new transfer from the 3-track masters) called Greatest Christmas Songs.  The running order has changed, and a few tracks have been added, but the music remains the same.  (It’s nothing a programmable CD player can’t fix!)  One of those extra tracks is the lush and jazzy “Snowfall” which hails from the Mancini Touch LP from the late 50s.  The music is what you’d expect from mid 60s’ Mancini:  a few medleys of popular upbeat Christmas songs strung together on one side in more of a jazzy pop-standards vocal configuration, and the quiet and more reflective songs with strings on the flip side.  The vocalists, incidentally, include Mancini’s wife Ginny, who was an in-demand singer herself back in the day.  One true highlight is the Mancini-penned “Carol For Another Christmas” which opened the second side of the original LP.  Well worth seeking out if you’re a fan of Mancini’s!