SINGS MERRY CHRISTMAS MUSIC - Perry Como

YEAR: 1956

LABEL: RCA/Camden

TRACK LISTING: Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Twelve Days of Christmas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S, Joy To the World, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Christmas Song, That Christmas Feeling, I'll Be Home For Christmas, Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles), Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Winter Wonderland

IMPRESSIONS: From the dim, dark mists of the past, this Perry Como Christmas LP (with the cover shown above) was in my mother's record collection and I heard it at a very young age. Then somehow it disappeared! Then one day around 1979, I was shopping at Two Guys department store with my grandfather and what to my wondering eye should appear but this long-lost and dimly-recalled album (this time with the white background album cover). I snapped it up with fiendish glee (as well as the Bing Crosby "MERRY CHRISTMAS" album mentioned further down) and brought it home. Dropping the needle down on the outer groove, the saccharine-sweet sounds of the violin on the opening track flooded me with memories as I listened to "Twas the Night Before Christmas"; this is still my favourite rendition. Como's "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is also probably my ultimate version of the "traditional" version of this song. As I listened to the whole album, all these previously forgotten songs immediately sprang from the back of my cranium in instant recognition. Rarely can you buy this feeling. And that's why I've got this album posted here. It's another which brings back that nostalgic old Christmas on Linwood Avenue with the wood-panelled walls and the Lionel trains.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Twelve Days of Christmas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S, Joy To the World, Frosty the Snowman, I'll Be Home For Christmas, Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles), Winter Wonderland

FACT SHEET: PERRY COMO SINGS MERRY CHRISTMAS MUSIC is the slightly unwieldy title of Como's first Christmas album which went through several editions in the early days of the LP. First in 1956, Como's previously released Christmas recordings were gathered together by RCA Victor in a 10" LP using this title in 1951. RCA then released the current version of the album as a 12" LP (with a couple additional songs) in 1956. The version of the album released on the Camden label (an RCA subsidiary) with the above album cover is the one I remember and was released in 1961. The album features Ted Weems and his Orchestra.