CLASSIC POP HOLIDAY ALBUMS FROM BING CROSBY, JAMES BROWN, AMY GRANT, OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, VANESSA WILLIAMS, LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND EVEN RINGO STARR REISSUED FOR THE CHRISTMAS COLLECTION SERIES
Photo Courtesy MCA Nashville/Universal Music Enterprises
Yule love 20th Century Masters/The Christmas Collection. The new UMe series, with all 23 albums released September 23, 2003, is a spin-off of 20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection, which features “best of” albums from the most significant music artists of the past century and, with shipments of more than 22 million albums since its inception in 1999, is the most successful single artist series in history.
The following are the pop-and-more releases for 20th Century Masters/The Christmas Collection:
The Best Of Louis Armstrong & Friends (Hip-O Records) hit #4 on the Jazz chart when issued in 1997 as What A Wonderful Christmas, which brought together the largely ‘50s recordings onto one album for the first time. As if Satchmo solo weren’t enough on “Christmas Night In Harlem,” “Christmas In New Orleans,” “Cool Yule,” etc., there are stellar performances with Peggy Lee, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, Mel Torme, Lionel Hampton and Louis Jordan.
The Best Of James Brown (Polydor/UMe) was first released as 1995’s James Brown’s Funky Christmas, a 17-track collection of songs from his seasonal albums James Brown And His Famous Flames Sing Christmas Songs (1966), Soulful Christmas (1968) and Hey America (1970). Included are two Top 10 pop hits, “Sweet Little Baby Boy, Parts 1 & 2” and “Santa Claus Is Definitely Here To Stay” as well as such unique J.B. tracks as “Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto” and “Tit For Tat Ain’t No Taking Back.”
The Best Of Bing Crosby (MCA/Decca/UMe) was hailed as the Christmas album from the voice of Christmas when issued as 1999’s The Very Best Of Bing Crosby Christmas. The 18-selection album features his classic “White Christmas” (one of the biggest-selling singles in history), holiday hits “Silent Night,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “Silver Bells” and “Adeste Fideles” and duets with The Andrews Sisters.
The Best Of Amy Grant (A&M/UMe) went triple platinum as 1992’s Home For Christmas, a #2 pop, #1 Contemporary Christian smash hit. Backed by an orchestra and choir, Grant sings both religious favorites and pop songs such as the David Foster co-written “Grown-Up Christmas List.”
The Best Of Olivia Newton-John (Hip-O Records) repackages her first-ever widely-released holiday album, 2001’s The Christmas Collection. Culled from a TV special, a Hallmark limited release, and ‘til-then unreleased tracks (including her co-written “Christmas Never Felt Like This Before”), the compilation features duets with Vince Gill, Kenny Loggins and Clint Black as well as solo holiday staples.
The Best Of Ringo Starr (Mercury/UMe) marks the revival of the first commercially released Christmas album from any of The Beatles, 1999’s I Wanna Be Santa Claus. Aided by Mark Hudson and the Roundheads, Starr is his good-natured self on The Beatles’ “Christmas Time Is Here Again” and Beatlesque arrangements of standards and originals such as the title track.
The Best Of Vanessa Williams (Mercury/UMe) is a reissue of her gold, Top 40 pop/Top 30 R&B Star Bright album of 1996. Along with then-new recordings were two previously released tracks: “What Child Is This” and “Go Tell It On The Mountain/Mary Had A Baby,” produced by David Foster and featuring an orchestra and Andrae Crouch-arranged choir.
The other albums in the 20th Century Masters/The Christmas Collection are:
All-Star Country Christmas
The Best Of Blues Christmas
The Best Of Boyz II Men
The Best Of Burl Ives
The Best Of Jackson 5
The Best Of B.B. King
The Best Of Brenda Lee
The Best Of Reba McEntire
The Best Of Motown Christmas
The Best Of Aaron Neville
The Best Of 98 Degrees
The Best Of Oak Ridge Boys
The Best Of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
The Best Of George Strait
The Best Of The Supremes
The Best Of The Temptations
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