By STEPHEN IDE
Published in The Patriot Ledger Dec. 18, 2003 - PDF Tearsheet
Once again, ’tis the season for holiday music releases. There are plenty of new choices this year, plus a wealth of reissues sure to add warmth to the season.
The Three Tenors return with a follow up to their highly acclaimed “Home for Christmas” album. Their latest, “We Three Kings” (Razor & Tie, www.irishtenors.net), promises to add to their popularity. The three, Anthony Kearns, Finbar Wright and Ronan Tynan, met with huge success from their first album, selling more than 2 million worldwide and enjoying specials on PBS and elsewhere.
This 57-minute CD includes medleys and many classics, including “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “O Holy Night” and “Silent Night.” And the tenors add a few twists, singing the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” and a complex, enjoyable combination of David Bowie and Bing Crosby in “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth.” They also add a couple of patriotic numbers, including “America the Beautiful,” to round out the recording.
To say that the vocals here are stunning is an understatement. Their voices are pure and powerful, and it’s easy to be smitten by the compositional complexity, the nuance and captivating harmonies.
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“Singers and Songwriters: Christmas” (Legacy) is a compilation of holiday classics by 18 folk and country artists, from previous releases. Rosanne Cash, The Judds, Art Garfunkel, Carly Simon and Jose Feliciano are among the performers who lend their vocals to songs such as “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and “O, Come, All Ye Faithful.” Among the tracks, which vary from sparse acoustic guitar or piano to full orchestration, are songs by performers no longer with us, such as John Denver and Jim Croce.
The common thread here, naturally, is that these are all holiday tunes. Otherwise, you’d be hard-pressed to put Willie Nelson and Melissa Manchester in the same package. Surprisingly, however, it works as a mood-setting album of cherished, seasonal melodies.
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A timely reissue is “Christmas with Johnny Cash” (Sony, www.legacyrecordings.com/johnnycash), originally released in 1963. Photos of a youthful “Man in Black” adorn the cover (Cash died in September at 71). Musically, Cash is in good voice, in Christmas songs and stories such as the touchingly poetic tale “The Christmas Guest” and a newly released track “Christmas As I Knew It,” a story of a lean country Christmas. Cash’s assured baritone is crisp in songs like “Away in a Manger” and “Blue Christmas,” with choral backing. Though only 35 minutes long, this 12-track CD will satisfy many Cash fans and those looking for a touch of country Christmas.
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The young teen crowd may appreciate the 2002 reissue of Hilary Duff’s “Santa Claus Lane” (Buena Vista Records, www.disneyrecords.com). New to this 36-minute pop album is the driving “What Christmas Should Be,” with its chiming, buoyant chorus “How ’bout peace on Earth.” The song was written by the team that created the teen hit “Why Not,” from Duff’s solo album, and the “Lizzie McGuire” movie soundtrack.
The cherubic Duff’s syrupy vocals are pleasant enough, drenched in enough instrumentation and reverb to make them listenable. Most folks will recognize classics like “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Jingle Bell Rock,” redone in highly produced pop fashion.
Joining Duff is Lil’ Romeo on the rap “Tell Me a Story (About the Night Before),” and Christina Milian adds vocals to “I Heard Santa on the Radio.” Lizzie McGuire fans will applaud.
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It seems to be a requirement today that all stars record Christmas albums, so it’s no surprise that country artist Kenny Chesney has released “All I Want for Christmas” (BMG, www.kennychesney.com). Chesney’s take is a bit different, blending melodies like a countrified “Silver Bells” or a steel drum arrangement of “Jingle Bells” with the island rhythms of “All I want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan” and the rocking, self-penned pop song “The Angel at the Top of My Tree.” Highlights include a duet with Willie Nelson in the tender “Pretty Paper” and sweetly affecting harmonies from the Grisby Twins in “Silent Night.”
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A bunch of classic albums are finding their way to the reissue rack, thanks to Legacy records. One of the more irresistible choices is Johnny Mathis’s “Merry Christmas.” Originally issued in 1958, and produced by Mitch Miller, this 50-minute CD features Mathis’s sweet tenor over full orchestration to a dozen classic carols and songs, including his famed “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.” Added are two bonus tracks, “Christmas Eve” and “My Kind of Christmas.”
Another good choice from legacy is Gene Autry’s “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and other Christmas Classics.” Autry released this 47-minute album in 1947 and it has been reissued many times, but the remastering has lost little of its original sound.
The Singing Cowboy is in fine voice in his famed melody, “Here Comes Santa Claus” and 17 other country-inspired songs, some well known, others, like the “Merry Christmas Waltz,” less so. If you want to hear some different yet enjoyable melodies this holiday season, this may be just the thing.
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Safam is a quartet known for its sophisticated blend of contemporary and traditional Jewish-American songs. The group adds a relevance and modern flavor to Jewish music, with an eclectic, inspirational sound that is both marvelous and celebratory. It’s surprising that in its 28 years the group has not put out a collection of music for Chanukah, the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights that begins at sunset on Dec. 19.
That omission is remedied with their delightful 2-CD set of classic and original songs about Chanukah and the springtime holiday of Passover. “Chanukah/Passover Collections” (www.safam.com) is an upbeat mix, with songs in English and in Hebrew.
The group’s tightly woven harmonies meld in a doo-wop rendition of the traditional Chanukah candle blessings and an affecting Hebrew rendition of the traditional “Maoz Tsur (Rock of Ages),” which segues into a rock melody about Jewish hero “Judah Maccabee.”
Another highlight is a cover of Peter Yarrow’s “Candles of the Menorah,” which gives personal meaning and significance to the holiday. Highly recommended for adults and children.
Stephen Ide is an editor at The Patriot Ledger.