Have a Manilow classic Christmas album

I know that what everybody is watching out for is the very first Christmas album by Rod Stewart. I wonder how he will rock it or if he will go all suave, nice and easy. But Christmas music this year will still sound even brighter with the arrival of The Classic Christmas Album compilation series from Sony Music. 

Sony is this huge label with a library of recordings by some of the biggest music stars ever.  So this year, they decided to come out with Christmas CDs using those previously released songs but in very well-put together packages. That means well-chosen tracks and nice attractive covers. 

I do not know if there is a Barbra Streisand Classic Christmas Album on schedule. I hope there is one. But the first batch in the series that I got my hands on is truly excellent. You should now be able to find in the local stores classic Christmas albums by John Denver, Kenny G, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Luther Vandross and what I have been playing these past few days, by Barry Manilow. 

Well, you all know Manilow is a singer, composer, arranger and producer. He is a big music star but for some strange reason his music often gets described with not so flattering words. It is said to be kitsch, unsophisticated, too commercial and of limited or of no artistic value of all. A critique that has gone down through the years was that Manilow made “wimpy little ballads.”

But the taste for art and in this case, one’s choice of music is really all relative. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. And in Manilow’s case, lots of fans all over the world including a big number from the Philippines find treasures in what he has to offer. How else will you account for a long list of hits that Manilow has made from the time he released Could It Be Magic and Mandy in the ’70s.  The guy easily proved himself to be a veritable hit factory in the ensuing years. He sang. He composed, arranged and even produced many memorable songs. And this is not to mention the many sold-out concerts and TV specials. 

I do not hear any “wimpy little ballads” in Manilow’s The Classic Christmas Album. Sony did a great job of picking out tracks from three previous releases, In The Swing Of Christmas, A Christmas Gift Of Love and Because It’s Christmas. The closest you can come to being wimpy here is with the live, laidback version of Barry’s biggest-selling Holiday song, the very sad but also oh so real It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve. Anybody who says that they were not touched by this song is lying.

The CD is actually a mix of the two sounds of Manilow that have won wide acceptance everywhere.  These are the pop balladeer of the early years, in Because It’s Christmas (For All The Children) and the crooner of recent times, Violets For Your Furs and the medley of Happy Holiday and White Christmas. Also included is I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, which made me miss Manilow’s recording of an oldie that has now become a Yuletide standard, Baby It’s Cold Outside with k.d. lang.

Also included are Silver Bells, Jingle Bells, a duet with R&B trio Expose, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, The Christmas Waltz, Christmas Is Just Around The Corner from Cranberry Christmas, There’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays, River, Silent Night/ I Guess There Ain’t No Santa Claus, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Joy To The World/ Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and A Gift Of Love. 

Pay close attention to Silver Bells. Those voices you hear are all Manilow and he made the vocal arrangement himself. That was also all Manilow in the Joy To The World and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas medley. He also did the arrangement of Jingle Bells which is touted to be a cover inspired by a recording that the legendary crooner Bing Crosby made with the also legendary girl group, The Andrews Sisters.

Next, I am going to feast myself with the sound of Kenny G’s sax. His music has also been described as bland or kitsch or whatever. But who cares, it is Christmastime, the albums come at a bargain and the songs are eternally beautiful.