Bing Crosby - Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas is probably one of the best Christmas albums ever. This is a weird one to date, but the version I found in the bin is DECCA DL-8128 and is a mono recording, likely released in 1955. Christmas and Bing are pretty intertwined at my house. Invariably I'll make the family watch Holiday Inn or White Christmas, often both. Then we'll make a point of the pulling out the Father Chuck O'Malley movies.

As a kid I remember watching the TV special where old Bing and young Mister Bowie sang their "Little Drummer Boy" duet - I remember distinctly plugging my ears when it was on. I thought it was horrible. It would take decades for this opinion to soften - which it did and it is now a favourite.

The vinyl may be labelled Microgroove unbreakable, but it wasn't immune to the ravages of time and poor care. It cleaned up reasonably well, but there's enough crackle here and there to pretend there's a nice fire in the hearth making the room feel cozy and warm.

Considering how big "White Christmas" was, it's no wonder everyone who decides to release a holiday record has to take a crack at it too. Back in 1955 Guinness Book of Records referenced "White Christmas" as the best selling single of all time. The Crosby version alone would sell over $50 million copies. Considering there are another 50 million covers out there, that's a lot of snow.

The album though is wisely called Merry Christmas, and over the course of the two sides Bing serenades and croons his way through the sacred and the contemporary (I know it's all old now, but it was "new" once). Side two features The Andrews Sisters on three of the six track and they're fantastic songs. "Jingle Bells' with it's clever vocal delivery makes this version one of my favourite interpretations. It also never gets past the first verse. It was years and years later I realized there was more to the song. Strange how a song about a horse in the snow has become synonymous with Christmas.

Mele Kalikimaka

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6 Cylinder

As a kid we had one radio station, not counting CBC, and generally there was very little that was worth listening to, although there were times something would come on that would make you pay attention. It was 1979 and on a couple of occasions I heard "There Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and it cracked me up, and I always wanted to get a copy for myself. A few years ago when my niece was dancing, they did a performance to this song, and now I can't separate my niece from a bunch of dancing chicks in chicken suits. Such is life. When I found this in the dollar bin I actually let out a little chirp, my goodness could it be? It was, and it was in great shape - including the inner sleeve. Score. I had no idea what to expect, for all I knew there was only one song worth listening to, and if that was the case it was still a dollar well spent. If I could buy an album by Showdown and enjoy it, odds are I'll find something to enjoy here to. Before I put this on I...

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