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Eddy Arnold / Henry Mancini – Christmas With Eddy Arnold / Christmas With Henry Mancini

Happy New Year, but Christmas isn't over yet.

Although it's that weird space where you know the end is coming and you hold on a little tighter, it's a losing effort. The tree is starting to cover the floor in needles, it's almost time to get the boxes up from the basement - but not yet.

I figured getting two artists on one platter was reaching a little in terms of a marketing ploy, but I figured at least there was truth in advertising from the folks at RCA. I didn't have a lot of Eddie Arnold in my library other than a couple of his Christmas songs, which aren't on this collection, so I'm coming in cold here. This will be a journey of discovery, and I love hearing new-to-me stuff.

While Henry Mancini is a known name to me, I don't know him for his Christmas music. He's known for some beautiful classics, but to me, "Peter Gunn" is worth all the marbles, and the cherry on top isn't "Moon River - it's the Pink Panther theme. I know you're humming it in your head as you read this.

So here we have this 1974 compilation mashing up two artists into a surprisingly cohesive effort. I had initially thought this was going to be one side Eddie and one side Henry, but the powers that be wisely decided to mix the two together. Not quite alternating, but close enough to give this a sense of continuity.

"Eddie Old St. Nicholas" by Eddie Arnold opens the album and calls to mind Perry Como (guess who I was listening to earlier?), and his songs on the first side are pretty nice. A few of his selections are presented as hymns, complete with the soap opera church organ.

His version of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," with just the organ and backing choir, is quite good. It shouldn't work, as I often get the giggles when I hear a church organ - it just calls to mind Monty Python and the naked organist portrayed by one of the two Terrys.

At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the stripped-down delivery, but I have to admit that, in contrast to the orchestration and choral songs presented by Henry Mancini, they work as a counterpoint. It was more enjoyable than I expected it to be.

It's hard to put some of these bygone artists into perspective, as they just seem like ghosts of Christmas past. But there was a time Eddie Arnold was a bona fide big deal. Reading up on his career, he sold over 85 million records during his career.

Yeah, that's a lot.

Mr. Mancini was no slouch either - he composed over 100 film scores, won 20 Grammy Awards, and was nominated 72 times.

This may have been a marketing cash grab, but it was a thoughtful collection of good Christmas songs. Weaving Henry Mancini's orchestra and choir together with Eddie Arnold's contributions worked really well - whether it was a full band arrangement or simply accompanied by an organ and choir.

All in all, this was a nice find and a solid addition to my Christmas collection.

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