Amazing Stereo Christmas Album!

Love it.

Hit Parade Records has gathered some of the most cherished holiday favorites from the 40s, 50s and 60s and spruced them up with this all stereo compilation featuring fifteen brand new stereo mixes plus five new stereo remixes. The upgraded sound will have you singing along with one perennial favorite after another.The compilation starts off with a fantastic first time stereo mix of Bing Crosby’s classic “White Christmas.” The 1947 version included here would eventually become the biggest selling single of all time. Now we can finally hear it in glorious stereo. What a treat.Gene Autry recorded his two Christmas classics “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” way back in the 40s. Both appear in first time stereo and they truly sound spectacular.In the 50s crooner Perry Como recorded two future Christmas classics. “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays” and “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” sound better than ever in first time stereo.A real standout track is the rare original version of The Harry Simeone Chorale’s “The Little Drummer Boy” from 1958. A re-recorded version has appeared countless times on CD in the past three decades. This time not only did they include the original but it’s in first time stereo too. Well done.Singer/actress Eartha Kitt’s sexy “Santa Baby” is another 50s recording that sounds fresh and new in this first time stereo mix. Thanks to the tongue-in-cheek lyrics this future holiday standard has always been a favorite of mine.Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” is a toe tapper that really rocks in this awesome first time stereo mix. Sure glad they included this one.Blues pianist/singer Charles Brown has two songs on this release. The ballads “Please Come Home For Christmas” and “Merry Christmas, Baby” sure sound wonderful in first time stereo. BTW, the version of “Merry Christmas, Baby” heard here is the 1956 release on Alladin Records (arguably the best version of all that Charles ever recorded). I’m impressed with the clear and crisp sound from start to finish on both tracks. Wow.My all-time favorite Christmas recording is the Drifters’ cover of “White Christmas” from 1954. I’m going to play this excellent first time stereo mix on repeat for weeks. Two thumbs up!In 1963 Phil Spector released his now classic “A Christmas Gift For You” album. The original album has been reissued many times on vinyl and CD over the decades since but usually in Phil’s famous “Wall Of Sound” mono. The only version I have on CD of the album is all mono. This compilation includes five of those recordings in brand new stereo remixes and they sound marvelous. I like the balanced vocals and boosted bass on Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” The Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans song plus the three Ronettes tracks sound mighty fine in much improved stereo as well.Another favorite is the uptempo “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms. I couldn’t stop snapping my fingers while listening to this first time stereo mix. Outstanding!Hit Parade also included holiday classics you hear every year end by Brenda Lee, Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Julie Andrews, the Beach Boys and Nat King Cole. All in stereo of course and all sound great.RCA Victor released Elvis Presley’s Christmas Album back in 1957. Over the years the album has sold over 10 million copies making it the biggest selling holiday album of all time (according to Billboard magazine). Three of the songs on that LP appear here in first time stereo including the rocking “Santa Claus Is Back In Town” and the catchy “Blue Christmas.” This collection comes to a fitting close with the king of rock ‘n’ roll’s beautiful version of “Silent Night.” Simply exceptional.A huge thanks to the talented sound engineers that created these fabulous new stereo mixes. Half of these songs have only been heard in original mono since they were first issued decades ago. This CD is the ideal playlist for any holiday celebration or event. You’ll want to play it every year end and enjoy a truly amazing stereo Christmas.

This is a great cd and overall, I am happy to recommend it! The people behind this clearly put a lot of hard work and love into it & if I could give it 4 1/2 stars, I would! Two things I would like to point out though.First, to really appreciate this cd, listen to it with headphones at least once - the sound is incredible!!! Some of these songs have never sounded better!Second, the only reason this cd didn't get 5 stars from me is due to the remix on "Christmas (Baby Please come home)". I listened to it on a few different players just to be sure, but it appears that in this stereo remix, they really brought the strings to the foreground; so much so that they bury the incredible sax solo in the bridge, and the awesome piano work at the end. I compared it to the 2009 'A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector' CD, and the mix on that CD sounds much better to me. The other 4 songs from the same album that appear on 'Amazing Stereo Christmas Album' sound awesome to me on this cd, so I'm not sure what happened on this one song. It could have been there was just too much in the mix to separate out cleanly.Excellent CD overall though, and it'll definitely be a part of my playlist for many Christmases to come!

Christmas music is a double-edged sword: it unleashes childhood memories (which can work both ways) and it can get really old really fast. Hearing this collection, though, is like hearing much of this material for the first time. Living breathing Stereo can have that effect! Starting with three songs from the Forties that only existed in muffled mono (and – in Gene Autry’s case – on a scratchy 78, because this is the original recording and not the oft-compiled re-make), it’s like opening a magical box of sound: individual strings, bells and background voices pop up across the sound field. Other first-time stereo treasures include “The Little Drummer Boy” (this is the original 1958 version), “White Christmas” (The Drifters) and “Blue Christmas” (Elvis) and – believe it or not – “Jingle Bell Rock.” So cool to hear that twangy guitar standing alone in the left speaker, and to hear those distinct background vocals and bells shining through. The ones that don’t quite work for me are the remixes of the Phil Spector material (the exception being The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride”). Somehow, the bass and drums sound washed out to my ear, but maybe that’s just me. That said, for a guy with lots of Christmas comps in the collection, this one has become one of my favorites!

This CD includes most every Christmas standard of the last 80 years-many of them in stereo for the first time. Standards-rock-R & B-they're all here. Certainly the best single disc of Christmas songs on CD! Every year since 1942, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" has been part of our lives. Now we finally get to hear it in state of the art stereo. and Gene Autry's two huge Christmas hits "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Here Comes Santa Claus" from the 40s are also here in stereo. Then you have the early rock classic "Jingle Bell Rock" in stereo for the time. And finally the original 1958 "Little Drummer Boy" by the Harry Simeone Chorale in real stereo. Also included are classics by Elvis, Dean Martin, The Ronettes, The Beach Boys, Burl Ives, Andy Williams, Perry Como and many more. If you only buy one Christmas CD this is the one to have. Buy it and be amazed!

I have a HUGE collection of Christmas LP's and CD's and NONE sound as amazing as this new CD from Hit Parade Records !!!! Besides being a fantastic compilation of 1940's, 1950's and early 1960's Christmas tracks, the sound on this CD is nothing short of superb !! The new DES stereo mixes of these iconic songs will blow you away !!! This is by far the BEST sounding compilation Christmas CD I have ever heard !! KUDOS to Hit Parade Records !! You guys earn an A++++++++++++++++++++++++!! Would love to hear a volume 2 in the near future !!!!!! Thanks again !! RichD

great value CD tracks are excellent great stereo perfect for a Christmas gift

Good

perfect

Es posible que muchos no disfrutéis especialmente de la Navidad (entre los que me incluyo), pero si algo es capaz de hacerla más llevadera, son las canciones navideñas: Pero no tipo "los peces en el río" o "campana sobre campana, o "la Virgen lava pañales". No, eso casi asusta de lo vulgar que resulta. Sin embargo hay una inmensa tradición en el mercado anglosajón sobre canciones navideñas, una gran cantidad de estupendos compositores que han creado joyas imperecederas y es raro el artista que se precie que no tenga su correspondiente álbum navideño. Este CD recoge 30 clásicos inmortales grabados entre 1947 y 1964, todos en un excelente sonido Stereo. Desde Bing Crosby, pasando por Nat "King" Cole, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Brenda Lee, Dean Martin, Perry Como, The Ronettes y unos cuantos más. El álbum se cierra con una impresionante versión de SILENT NIGHT interpretada por Elvis Presley. Pienso que nadie podrá resistirse a un disco como éste y será difícil que no forme parte de la mesa navideña cada año.

I liked less old songs, but they are big classics of Great American Christmas Songbook. But the sound and stereo are superb. Incredible how old songs ssound so actual.