[2003] Lee, Brenda - Best of Brenda Lee; Christmas Collection

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Torrent description

Title: 20th Century Masters: The Best of Brenda Lee; The Christmas Collection [Original recording remastered]
Artist: Brenda Lee
Audio CD (September 23, 2003)
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Christmas
Format: Format: Free Lossless Audio Codec


Track Listing:

01. Rockin Around The Christmas Tree
02. Papa Noel
03. This Time Of The Year
04. Jingle Bell Rock
05. Christy Christmas
06. Im Gonna Lasso Santa Claus
07. Winter Wonderland
08. Silver Bells
09. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
10. The Angel And The Little Blue Bell
11. Frosty The Snowman
12. Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day
13. Blue Christmas
14. A Marshmallow World
15. Strawberry Snow
16. White Christmas
17. Jingle Bells
18. Silent Night


Amazon Review:
This collection was originally released on an 18-track CD titled Rockin around the Christmas tree.

Brenda is one of those singers - just like Bing Crosby - whos most famous song is a Christmas classic, despite a vast catalog of other material. On this collection, Brenda demonstrates her skills on a wide variety of Christmas songs, although there is only one carol (Silent night).

The oldest recordings here (from 1956, when Brenda was only 11) are Christy Christmas and Im gonna lasso Santa Claus - this song is quite amusing but also has a moral tale, as it points out that Santa is more generous to the rich than the poor. Sadly, that will always be true.

In 1958, Brenda recorded Papa Noel, a cajun-flavored song, and Rockin around the Christmas tree. Expected to be a massive hit, it missed the charts completely, though Brenda wasnt yet in the big time. Following the multi-million selling Im sorry in 1960, a decision was taken to try again that Christmas. This time, the song went high in the charts, not just in America, but around the world.

The remainder of these songs, except White Christmas, Jingle bells and Silent night (which were recorded in 1965, but remained unissued outside Japan until the release of the Rockin around the Christmas tree CD mentioned in the opening paragraph), were first released on Brendas original Christmas album in 1964, which also included some of the earlier tracks, including (of course) Rockin around the Christmas tree.

Some of the songs were originally popularized by other singers, including Jingle bell rock (Bobby Helms), White Christmas and Silver bells (both Bing Crosby), This time of the year (Brook Benton) and Blue Christmas (Ernest Tubb, but made even more popular by Elvis), but Brendas vocal style makes her versions distinctive, even though the arrangements are mostly faithful to the originals. Its a marshmallow world is a brilliant song which had already appeared on the Phil Spector Christmas album, though I dont know its origin.

What really makes this album, though, are the original songs. Apart from those recorded in 1956 and 1958, there is Christmas will be just another lonely day (a serious song written by Ray Stevens, best known for his comic songs), Strawberry snow and the slightly silly (but brilliant) The angel and the little blue bell.

Allmusic Review:
This edition in Universals discount-priced compilation series Best of Brenda Lee: The 20th Masters Christmas Collection is actually a re-titled reissue of the 1999 collection Rockin Around the Christmas Tree: The Decca Christmas Recordings. It contains all of the seasonal music Brenda Lee recorded for Decca Records between 1956 and 1965. Included is her initial Christmas single Christy Christmas/Im Gonna Lasso Santa Claus, along with the 1958 45 rpm Rockin Around the Christmas Tree/Papa Noel, the A-side of which finally became a gold-selling hit in 1960; the complete contents of Lees 1964 LP Merry Christmas from Brenda Lee; and three songs, White Christmas, Jingle Bells, and Silent Night, recorded in 1965 and included as bonus tracks on Japanese copies of the LP, but not released in the U.S. until 1999. The selections are a combination of familiar holiday fare done in Lees inimitable style and a few attempts to join the pantheon of Christmas perennials. Only Rockin Around the Christmas Tree succeeded, despite Lee having reached the charts with the ballads This Time of the Year and Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day, but the surprisingly aggressive Im Gonna Lasso Santa Claus is amusing, especially coming from a singer who was only 11-years-old when she recorded it.

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