Well, I say 'new', but it's a re-release of an old album - the best Christmas album ever recorded, in my view. It's been newly remastered and has a couple of bonus songs thrown in for good measure. One is Snowflake, which isn't quite a Christmas song, but at least it's wintry, and the other is Scarlet Ribbons, which isn't one I'd automatically consider festive, though it arguably fits the description of 'holiday themed'. My choice would've been either Ding Dong (a Christmas song sung in South Africaans) or his overdubbed radio version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I know all you music-lovers will be ordering this great album from Amazon as soon as you've finished reading this post. That's right, isn't it, Crivvies? Hello - is anybody there? Anyway, I've pre-ordered mine and will receive it on the actual day of release - Friday. Below is the Product Description on the Amazon site.
Has there ever been a warmer voice than that wielded by Gentleman Jim Reeves? That light, warm baritone helped change the face of country music, helping to usher in The Nashville Sound with a series of albums and singles produced by Chet Atkins. He is without a doubt the greatest country crooner of all time... and of all his releases, his 1963 holiday album 12 Songs of Christmas just might be his most enduring. This record, which features such holiday evergreens as "An Old Christmas Card" and "C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S", has never gone out of print in the CD era, or any other era for that matter; but the CD that is currently available is a full 20 years old, and, to be kind, the sound on that release is showing its age. So, we have given it a fresh remastering by Vic Anesini at Sony's Battery Studios, and added two holiday themed songs ("Snowflake" and "Scarlet Ribbons") to this Expanded Edition to make it, er, "14 Songs of Christmas"! Steve Harmon contributes brand-new liner notes to accompany vintage photos. A Christmas classic, sounding bigger, better, and even warmer than before!
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Update: Just received an email saying that there'll be delay in getting it to me, and that it'll arrive between 20th November and 4th December. Drat! I was so looking forward to listening to it to see if I could hear the difference in audio quality, as the old CD I already have sounds perfectly fine to me. Ah, well, I'll just have to wait.
I see the track listing includes "Mary's Little Boy Child" - I assume that's the song "Mary's Boy Child", made famous by Harry Belafonte? If so, why change the title?
ReplyDeleteProbably because Mahalia Jackson's release in 1956 was called Mary's Little Boy Child, so it seems to have been known under both titles, CJ. You will, of course, be buying this exciting new Jim Reeves re-release, won't you?
ReplyDeleteNo, but I have bought a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream and a bottle of Tio Pepe sherry - the sort of thing I only drink at Christmastime. I've also bought two 2020 calendars - Rural Britain and Blue Planet (I always buy two so I have a choice of pictures every month). And I've also bought a book called Last Christmas in which well-known people such as Jo Brand and Caitlin Moran reminisce about Christmases past (I haven't read it yet). So I'm getting in the Christmassy mood and I'll listen to Jim Reeves Christmas songs if you post them on Crivens :)
ReplyDeleteDon't know if I'll bother posting any Jim Reeves songs this year, CJ, 'cos I've already done so about three times now. Next time you visit the blog, just type Jim Reeves into the search box and you'll have them all to listen to at will. As for calendars, I spotted a Babe one in a shop the other day so I might splash out on it. (Oh, behave yourself, CJ - you know what I meant.)
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