Old Enough to Forget

Here we go, another lush strings arrangement of some of the best holiday classics (best is subjective). I know I really shouldn't like this stuff as much as I do. This stuff manages to sit nestled in my sweet spot for all things nostalgic. I'm always reminded of the holiday variety specials I saw when I was a kid. This to me is the sound of Christmas. It makes me think of my mum, who loves strings. This collection touches all the sweet spots (that's twice, now I'm going to work in the hat trick before I'm done) okay, maybe not all, but it goes for the big ones. The album kicks off with "White Christmas" and includes "My Favorite Things" and "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "Little Drummer Boy" which are pretty solid. Actually as I listen more closely the album really does have quite a few sort of new to me moments, which was unexpected and a nice treat. Probably the oddest moment that caught me off guard and gave me a good giggl...

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...

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 and 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 it's 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 The Cookie Bear. Don't ask me why. The other was ...