Liberace - 'Twas The Night Before Christmas

I figured, you can't really go wrong with Mr. Showmanship. I was still rooting around for records before Christmas, and honestly I ended up with more records than I had time to sit and digest. Oh, playing them was another matter, but sitting and taking it in and then trying to compose a pithy regurgitation of my auditory experience just took time I didn't have this season.

Regardless when I found 'Twas The Night Before Christmas I was pretty excited, mainly because I'd be able to play it in the basement when mum was over, and not have her complain about the noise. After all, her favourite song ever, is Frank Chacksfield's "Ebb Tide" so her tastes run to the schmaltzy ... but in a good way. For me it just hearkens back to another time and it always feels nostalgic. I won't fall into the trap of equating them with the good old days, or a simpler time ... not being there I can't make such a sweeping generalization and not come across as a naive simpleton. As that tends to be my default setting I don't need to over complicate things to get the same result.

Back to Liberace, setting aside the whispers about his sexuality, and whether or not he was closeted. He would deny the rumours to his dying day, and this was likely due as much to the attitudes prevalent in those good old days ... or that he couldn't reconcile his faith with his "alleged" sexuality. Doesn't matter to me, all it makes me feel is sad.

I'm really just here to write about his Christmas album. It's a glorious campy and oddly sacred affair. The album sounds a little thin, which was too bad. I'm not sure if it's just the pressing, or how it was recorded. Again, doesn't matter. Originally released in 1974, the copy I have looks to have been re-issued in 1978 on Mistletoe Records, which as the name implies specialized in Christmas recordings.

The album starts with Liberace narrating the title track, and honestly it was a bit of a surprise as I was really just expecting piano interpretations of the songs. Having the album start with him reading the classic story of Santa was actually pretty cool. Then tonally the album abruptly dives into the sacred, with Liberace speaking reverently about his audience with Pope Pius XII where he played "The Rosary" it's a really poignant moment. It's also quite pretty.

The album is a really thoughtful collection of hymns and wasn't what I was expecting. Considering the moniker of "Mister Showmanship" I expected Liberace to tinkle away to the modern secular classics. Instead, over the course of the album, aside from the opening track, it's actually an intimate set of recording and it's almost like it was being played just for you.

Christmas day may have come and gone, but there's still a few days to go until the wise men show up. So until that happens there's still more Christmas to celebrate.