The Andy Williams Christmas Album

To prepare for this holiday season I went to my go-to store and decided to take advantage of their Black Friday sale and pillage their dollar bin to see what was there.

I ended up finding an even dozen albums and, with the discount (yeah, I'm so cheap I was looking for a deal on albums in the dollar bins), I was out of there for less than ten bucks.

Here we are December 1, and we're (the Royal "We") going into the Christmas pile and starting off with Andy Williams' classic from 1963.

You never know what you're going to end up with, but I wound up with a very nice copy, and as a plus, the jacket still had its original shrinkwrap. I still find it odd when I find a record thusly wrapped. I had friends who told me never, ever, ever leave that shit on - it'll warp your records.

Anyway, I've always loved Andy Williams. As a young kid, I have a handful of memories. From The Andy Williams Show I remember Cookie Bear. Don't ask me why.

The other was making my mum comb my hair like Glenn Campbell. If she couldn't get my side part to curl up properly, I'd not want to go to school.

Ah, the early '70s - they were the best of times.

This album remains one of my favourites, and all of the big songs are here. The ever ubiquitous "White Christmas" gets a wonderful rendition, and the number of great songs here is only marred by "A Song and a Christmas Tree," which is an odd rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." It tries a variation on a theme and misses (by that much).

Still, there's an almost hypnotic quality to Andy Williams' voice that just melts me.

Of course I have to call out "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" as the album's great contribution to the Christmas carol canon.

It's interesting that every artist, even Andy, had to take a crack at the quintessential Christmas song, "White Christmas," but to me a close second is "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." It too is a signature song, and oddly enough, few artists have tried to cover it.

Oh, I know there have been a few who've tried, but you never hear them.

One tends to forget how big a deal Mister Williams was at one point. Even if he's remembered for nothing other than his Christmas album, he'll still live on.

I like that he writes Happy Holidays on the back cover. To those who like to argue this takes the "Christ" out of Christmas, they weren't paying attention to the songs on the album.

It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

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