What are your all-time favorite Christmas albums?

[There may already be a thread on this from the past but I didn't bother to check and I'm not interested in links if there are old threads. I'm interested in starting a new conversation, not continuing an old one.]

'Tis the season! What are your favorite Christmas albums of all time? If you are anything like me, you own a lot of Christmas albums but there are probably several that you don't really care if you hear them or not. What are the Christmas albums that get played every year and make the Christmas season for you? These make the holiday brighter for me every year:

* A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio This holiday special (and the music contained therein) have been a holiday staple for me ever since I was a child. I remember one year when I was kind of depressed and crabby during the days leading up to Christmas and I watched this special. When Linus did his piece explaining the true meaning of Christmas I was in tears. It showed me it's so easy to lose sight of the important things. This will always hold a special place in my heart.

* The Time-Life Treasury of Christmas, vol. 1&2 This is 4 CDs worth of the best Christmas music you are going to hear. What is so appealing is that there is so much variety. Whoever programmed these discs had impeccable taste. This collection is a no-brainer.

* Mel Torme - Christmas Songs This one kind of surprised me because I wasn't particularly a Mel Torme fan. (I own no other CDs by him.) Here he appears with the Cincinnati Sinfonietta as well as with a trio. Whenever I listen to this I think "tasteful", the songs were very well chosen and programmed. There's the stuff you'd expect and other stuff you won't hear anywhere else.

* An Oscar Peterson Christmas This one makes me think of lights turned down low and chilling out with a cocktail Christmas music.

* Leon Redbone - Christmas Island This one probably has less universal appeal than anything mentioned above. I'm a Redbone fan so this one speaks to me. It's fun and different.

I love them all and my holiday season probably wouldn't be the same without them.

Pink Martini - Joy to the World: Christmas classics well done with fun instrumentation and great vocals

Yo Yo Ma - Songs of Joy and Peace: Interesting mix of guest artists including Jake Shimabukuro

A Carnegie Hall Christmas: Album from a PBS special, includes Kathleen Battle, Wynton Marsalis and others.

And the Christmas album from Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is a hoot as well.

No Albums that I can think of, however,

here are some individual songs I enjoy:

Christmas Eve in My Home Town - Jim Nabors

Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives

We Need a Little Christmas - Johnny Mathis

Ding Dong Merrily on High - Roger Whittaker

Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano

Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

Thanks,

PTOEguy said:

Pink Martini - Joy to the World: Christmas classics well done with fun instrumentation and great vocals

Click to expand...

I had never heard of Pink Martini before. I listened to the samples for the CD and it sounded like it might be interesting. It's different enough to distinguish itself from the usual offerings.

Uncle Rod Higuchi said:

No Albums that I can think of, however,

here are some individual songs I enjoy:

Christmas Eve in My Home Town - Jim Nabors

Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives

We Need a Little Christmas - Johnny Mathis

Ding Dong Merrily on High - Roger Whittaker

Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano

Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

Thanks,

Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the Jim Nabors song but all of the rest of your picks with the exception of Johnny Mathis are on the Time Life Treasury of Christmas collection. I'd never heard of Roger Whittaker before getting that collection. He certainly has a rich voice. Then years later I saw commercials hawking some kind of Whittaker CD collection on late night TV. That was quite a while ago.

It's not an official Christmas album, but I tend to play 'the Celts' by Enya a lot this time of year; it feels really wintery.

My all-time favorite "A Christmas Gift For You" from Phil Spector.
My favorite Christmas song "(Christmas with) The Family" - Robert Earl Keen. Makes me pee in my pants from laughing.

So many great ones have been listed already; Charlie Brown and Phil Spector are among my faves.

A few more:

Ella Fitzgerald Wishes You A Swinging Christmas
Frank Sinatra, The Christmas Album
Dean Martin, Christmas with Dino
Christmas with the Rat Pack
The Mills Brothers, Merry Christmas
Very Best of Bing Crosby Christmas
The Christmas Collection: The Best of Louis Armstrong and Friends
Anonymous 4, On Yoolis Night
Anonymous 4, The Cherry Tree - Songs, Carols and Ballads for Christmas
Various artists, Yule B Swingin', Volumes 1 & 2

...and I don't even really celebrate Christmas

I really, really enjoy Chip Davis' Mannheim Steamroller CDs. I have "Christmas Song", "A Fresh Aire Christmas", "Christmas Extraordinaire", "Christmas in the Aire" and "Christmas". I even have his Halloween one.

I also have Christmas hill billy, Gregorian Christmas Chants, Blues Christmas and Klezmer Christmas Songs (great!). I also have a bunch of various "mixed bag" Christmas CDs.

There are a lotta Christmases in eighty years. ld:

Oh, so many to think of, but for an album that's a *little* bit different, this one: https://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Plums-Holiday-Treats-Hill/dp/B000000F20/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1

And if you already have that one, follow it up with the second in the series: https://www.amazon.com/Tinsel-Tunes...rd_wg=2yJgZ&psc=1&refRID=GYKP06VXRRWD53GZKHXM

These are repeat players throughout the season and the years because they have a fresh, rich sound and such a variety of traditional but not oft-heard melodies. I *love* the a cappella Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver medley especially.

I can't believe I forgot to mention "We Three Kings" - The Roches............A folk music-ish classic.

I love playing "Please Come Home for Christmas" by the Eagles. Very bluesy sounding!

I'm not sure I hae a favorite Christmas album, but here are some of the holiday songs I most like to play:

Happy Christmas (War is Over) - Lennon and Ono
I'll Be Home For Christmas - Cannon, Kent & Ram
Feliz Navidad - Feliciano
Silver Bells - Livingston & Evans
White Christmas - Irving Berlin
Mele Kalikimaka - Anderson

She & Him have a couple Christmas albums... I have the first one and it's great. Zooey busts her uke out for a couple songs too!

My favorite Christmas albums are "Christmas Eve and Other Stories," and "The Christmas Attic" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I actually listen to them all year round!

One of my favorite individual Christmas songs is "Little Drummer Boy" by The Harry Simeone Chorale. Such a beautiful acapella song.