Description
Bing Crosby – Christmas Classics – Vinyl Record
Christmas Classics opens with a familiar song in a different setting. The version of “White Christmas” here uses a Nelson Riddle arrangement, with Crosby’s warm baritone carrying the melody through a fuller orchestral setting. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” keeps the opening intimate, and “Winter Wonderland” brightens the mood. Crosby’s phrasing ties those first three songs together. He gives a line room to settle, even when the tune picks up around him.
The first side takes a turn toward traditional carols with “What Child Is This? / The Holly and the Ivy.” The pairing brings two old melodies into the same performance, and Crosby’s solo “The Little Drummer Boy” follows it with a much simpler refrain. “O Holy Night” gives him a melody that climbs to a much bigger finish. Then “The Littlest Angel” brings the scale back down to a story, with “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” closing the side on a lighter note.
Side two opens with “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” before getting straight to “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Crosby has a knack for making those little stories easy to follow, and hearing them back to back puts the playful side of his holiday repertoire front and center. “Christmas Dinner, Country Style,” tucked in near the end, has some of that same good humor. Its picture of a holiday meal brings the record back to earth after “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and the medley of “Pat-A-Pan” and “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.”
Crosby and David Bowie close the record with “Peace on Earth / The Little Drummer Boy,” from Crosby’s 1977 Christmas television special. Crosby sings the familiar carol while Bowie takes the higher “Peace on Earth” melody, written for the performance. The two lines run together before the singers come into unison. Having Crosby’s solo “The Little Drummer Boy” on the first side makes it easy to hear what the second melody adds and how comfortably Crosby holds the tune beneath it.
This Capitol Records / UMe reissue puts all 16 selections on a single LP, with eight tracks per side. The sequencing gives the collection a nice symmetry. Side one begins with Crosby singing the song most closely associated with his Christmas recordings, and side two ends with one of his least expected partners. In between are the quiet ballads, church carols and playful story songs that made him equally at home singing about a snowy evening, a red-nosed reindeer or a child with a drum.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Side A
A1. White Christmas
A2. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
A3. Winter Wonderland
A4. What Child Is This? / The Holly and the Ivy
A5. The Little Drummer Boy
A6. O Holy Night
A7. The Littlest Angel
A8. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Side B
B1. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
B2. Frosty the Snowman
B3. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
B4. I Wish You a Merry Christmas
B5. Do You Hear What I Hear?
B6. Pat-A-Pan / While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
B7. Christmas Dinner, Country Style
B8. Peace on Earth / The Little Drummer Boy (with David Bowie)
