"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (2010)

Probably my favorite Christmas carol. And probably my favorite rendition.
Celtic meets Renaissance Faire! Excellent!

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Jeff's Fav Christmas Albums. "The Andy Williams Christmas Album" (1963) and "Merry Christmas, Andy Williams" (1965).

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums - one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

"The Andy Williams Christmas Album" (1963) and "Merry Christmas, Andy Williams" (1965). They both have some different songs I love that aren't on the other. So they both go in. Andy passed away this past September so it's bittersweet that I close with him. You can listen to The Andy Williams Christmas Album here and Merry Christmas, Andy Williams here.

That's it! My 10 favorite Christmas albums. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), "Midwinter" by Terry McDade & the McDades (2001), "The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963), Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" (1988) and "Christmas" (1984), "Merry Christmas", by Bing Crosby (1945), "Mantovani Christmas Carols" (1958), "Christmas Celtic by Dirk Freymuth" (1998), "Winter Wonderland" by Bert Kaempfert (1963), "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965) and "The Andy Williams Christmas Album" (1963) and "Merry Christmas, Andy Williams" (1965).

Merry Christmas! This was fun.

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Jeff's Fav Christmas Albums. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965).

 

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums - one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

 

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965). It's Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang. 'Nuff said. Classic. The Vince Guaraldi Trio knocks it out of the ballpark. Listen here.

Count is 9 down and 1 to go. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), "Midwinter" by Terry McDade & the McDades (2001), "The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963), Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" (1988) and "Christmas" (1984), "Merry Christmas", by Bing Crosby (1945), "Mantovani Christmas Carols" (1958), "Christmas Celtic by Dirk Freymuth" (1998), "Winter Wonderland" by Bert Kaempfert (1963) and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965).

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Jeff Fav Christmas Albums. "Christmas Wonderland" by Bert Kaempfert (1963).

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums - one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

"Winter Wonderland" by Bert Kaempfert (1963) . Yet another album my parents had and I grew up listening to. Originally released as "Christmastide with Kaempfert", it's Bert's only Christmas album.
I don't have a Spotify link to listen to the entire album, but you can sample the album here and YouTube has many of the songs, including this one, "Jingo Jango".

Count is 7 down and 3 to go. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), "Midwinter" by Terry McDade & the McDades (2001), "The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963), Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" (1988) and "Christmas" (1984), "Merry Christmas", by Bing Crosby (1945), "Mantovani Christmas Carols" (1958), "Christmas Celtic by Dirk Freymuth" (1998) and "Winter Wonderland" by Bert Kaempfert (1963).

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Jeff's Fav Christmas Albums. "Christmas Celtic by Dirk Freymuth" (1998).

 

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums - one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

 

I love any Celtic music and there's a zillion Celtic Christmas albums out there to listen to. "Christmas Celtic by Dirk Freymuth" (1998) is one of those generic albums, like you might find at Starbucks. I don't remember where I got this - the Dayton-Hudson Corporation put it out. You can find it online but that's about it. I couldn't find it on Spotify, but there are some songs on YouTube, including my favorite off the album, "A Merry Christmas" - listen here.

Count is 7 down and 3 to go. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), "Midwinter" by Terry McDade & the McDades (2001), "The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963), Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" (1988) and "Christmas" (1984), "Merry Christmas", by Bing Crosby (1945), "Mantovani Christmas Carols" (1958) and "Christmas Celtic by Dirk Freymuth" (1998).

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Jeff's Fav Christmas Albums. "Mantovani Christmas Carols" (1958).

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums - one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

"Mantovani Christmas Carols" (1958). The album charted on Billboard's Top 40 five consecutive years from 1957-1961, peaking at #3 in 1958. One source says this album (original album cover pictured) was initially released in 1954.  Listen here.

Count is 6 down and 4 to go. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), "Midwinter" by Terry McDade & the McDades (2001), "The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963), Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" (1988) and "Christmas" (1984), "Merry Christmas", by Bing Crosby (1945) and "Mantovani Christmas Carols" (1958).

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TGIF! presents...Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas" (1975)!

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Jeff's Fav Christmas Albums. "Merry Christmas" by Bing Crosby.

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums - one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

"Merry Christmas" by Bing Crosby. Bing. I think we can just leave it at that. Bing. Fine - it's the 2nd best-selling Christmas album all- time.

Listen. By the way, the reissue in 1995 was renamed "White Christmas". I have no clue why.

Count is 5 down and 5 to go. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), "Midwinter" by Terry McDade & the McDades (2001), "The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963), Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" (1988) and "Christmas" (1984), "Merry Christmas", by Bing Crosby (1945).

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Jeff's Fav Christmas Albums. Mannhiem Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" & "Christmas".

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums - one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

 

Next up:  Mannheim Steamrollers' Fresh Aire and Christmas. Can't pick between the two so they both go up. "Greensleeves" on Fresh Aire and "Silent Night" on Christmas are probably my favorites.

Listen to "Christmas" here and "Fresh Aire" here.

Count is 4 down and 6 to go. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), "Midwinter" by Terry McDade & the McDades (2001), "The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963), Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" (1988) and "Christmas" (1984).

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Jeff's Fav Christmas Albums. "The Little Drummer Boy", Harry Simeone Chorale (1963).

 

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums - one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

"The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963). I'm guessing it's the most famous version of this song. This album was first issued under another name in 1958. The song was originally titled "Carol of the Drum", written by Katherine Kennicott Davis and was published as based upon a traditional Czech carol. Harry Simeone made some small changes to the song and retitled it "The Little Drummer Boy". Classic. Check out the album here.

Where are we on our count? 3 down, 7 to go. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), "Midwinter" (2001), "The Little Drummer Boy, a Christmas festival, the Harry Simeone Chorale" (1963).

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TGIF! presents....Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?"!

A flood of memories from when I was attending college at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. 28 years later, the message - and cause - hasn't changed. It hasn't gotten stale or boring. Do something this holiday season for someone in need. You may not have to look very far.

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Josh Groban makes me want to puke.

I can listen to Michael Bublé. Or Harry Connick, Jr. James Blunt, for that matter. But - I can not listen to Josh Groban massacre Christmas carols. Or any other song, for that matter. Ever.

Cool your jets, Groban groupies. I didn't say he can't sing. I just don't like his voice. There's no fluctuation. There's no character. It's not distinct. The timbre is timbre-less. His voice is like fish with no tartar sauce, a brat sans mustard or waffles without our homemade maple syrup (or any syrup, for that matter). Bland. Period.

Fine. You judge. Here's Groban's "O Holy Night" and here's Johnny Mathis' rendition. Who's voice is better?

There are probably thousands of singers in professional choirs all over the world whose voices sound just like Groban's. Big deal. What sickens me even more is that Grobad dated this hottie for three years. Here's to a Grobad-less Christmas - and a Grobad-less year!

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Jeff's Fav Christmas Albums. "Midwinter - Terry McDade with the McDades".

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums, one at a time. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

Canadian Terry McDade and his children combine harp, flute, fiddle, guitar and pipes to present a Celtic, earthy, soulful blend for the holidays. Midwinter (2001) is tough to find anywhere but online. I can't even point you to a place to hear the album. I can, however, let you sample the album here. And - my favorite tune from this album, "The Huron Carol", can be heard in its entirety here.

Albums thus far:  Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis (1958), Midwinter (2001).

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Jeff's Fav Xmas Albums. "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis".

I love Christmas and I love Christmas songs. So - here are my favorite 10 Christmas albums. No particular order so I didn't number them - just the album title.

 

Let's start with "Merry Christmas, Johnny Mathis" (1958), produced by Mitch Miller. You'll notice some of these albums are dated - that's because I listened to them every Christmas season with my parents and Brother Jas growing up. I'll try to include a Spotify link, or you can peruse the Internet and find it on your own.

Johnny Mathis – Merry Christmas

Notice this is an ALBUM list - not a SONG list. Some of my favorite tunes are omitted as they don't appear on any of these albums. I'll give you an a few examples:

Anything by Dean Martin, including "Marshmellow World".
Anything by Frank Sinatra, including, "Have Yourself A Merry Christmas".
"The Christmas Song", Nat King Cole
"Do They Know It's Christmas", Band Aid
"You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch", How the Grinch Stole Christmas
"Happy Xmas (War is Over)", John Lennon & Yoko Ono
"Blue Christmas", Elvis
"Merry Christmas, Everybody", Slade
"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day", Wizzard
"Wonderful Christmas Time", Paul McCartney
"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", Gene Autry
"Holly Jolly Christmas", Burl Ives
"Little Saint Nick", The Beach Boys
"I Believe in Father Christmas", Greg Lake
"Sleigh Ride", Leroy Anderson
"Ring Christmas Bells", Ray Conniff & The Ray Conniff Singer

All songs - not albums. As I progress through the list, I'll recap the previous albums. Oh - I know you have your favorites as well. These are mine. Season's Greetings!

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The Favre's...Hattiesburg, MS!

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The Kazar's....Wheaton, IL!

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Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Hugh.

Composer of such hits as "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "The Trolley Song", Hugh Martin passed away on March 11 at the age of 96.

This one's for you, Hugh.

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TGIChristmasEveDay! presents...Ray Conniff & The Ray Conniff Singers with "Ring Christmas Bells"!

Not exactly sure what year this video this but this song appeared on Conniff's 1962 We Wish You A Merry Christmas album, so thereabouts...

Conniff was extremely popular throughout his career, as were The Ray Conniff Singers. This rendition of "Carol of the Bells" is a favorite dating back to my childhood. Conniff's take is a bit more dramatic and haunting, as you'll hear when you listen to it. If you feel rushed and don't have a couple minutes to listen to one song, fast-forward to the 1:40 mark and listen to the crescendo of voices - sort of scary in a way. Ha...and I'm not the only person to feel that way. Check out some of the video comments below:

"Very forceful, intense and also kinda scary....like the kind of music you'd hear from cult members..."
SuperSeaweedSoup 18 hours ago

" 'Ring Christmas Bells' used to scare me. I thought that one night I would wake up in the middle of the night and see people surrounding my bed singing that song."
coalsonicmario19 1 day ago

"Those women look like robots."
beastmode307 4 days ago

"I had the goosebumps while listening to this song, one of my fav songs!"
1jojo1jo 6 days ago 1jojo1jo 6 days ago

Listen to it. Don't be surprised if Rod Serling comes creeping up in back of you...

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