Search - Brenda Lee, the Chipmunks with David Seville :: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1955-Present

Just the Way I Remember Them

Mark Manalo (mmanalo@aol.com) | Vienna, Virginia | 08/31/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this specifically for songs such as "Nuttin' for Christmas" and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," and this collection didn't let me down. They sounded exactly the way I remembered them. That's the benefit of buying a Billboard Christmas album; you can be sure the songs will be sung by the original artists and not by poor quality lip-sync people. If you enjoy the songs listed and like them sung by the artists on this list, this is for you."

One Of A Series Of "Budget" Releases From Rhino/Wea

10/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one a series of "budget" releases covering various aspects of Christmas to be released over the years by Rhino/Wea in conjunction with Billboard, all with 10-tracks each and liner notes in the form of track-by-track comments. Sound quality is generally good to excellent, and all selections are the original renditions despite what you may read elsewhere, with one exception in this volume where they tell you that Little Drummer Boy is a re-recording of the 1958 hit. All have "Billboard" as part of the title.



Some others are: Family Christmas Classics; Top Christmas Hymns; R&B Christmas Hits; Rock & Roll Christmas; Greatest Christmas Hits (1935-1954); and Greatest Country Christmas Hits. Some of the foregoing are also offered in 4-pack and 5-pack editions. In essence, these are the one you have to have if you want to recapture the delightful seasonal sounds of your childhood (assuming you're old enough to recall the periods covered).



This one repeats one from the Country edition, Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms, but does give you the original White Christmas by The Drifters Featuring Clyde McPhatter and Bill Pinkney, a # 1 2 R&B in 1954, and both a R&B and Pop chart entry for several years thereafter.



Here you get the following staples: Brenda Lee's Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, actually recored and released in 1958 when she was 14, but not a hit until 1960 when it went to # 14, and then appeared on the charts every Christmas from then on into the 1970s/80s; The Chipmunk Song by The Chipmunks with The Music Of David Seville (# 1 Billboard Pop Hot 100 for 4 weeks in 1958 and # 5 R&B, and seldom missed charting for the next several years); Mary's Boy Child by Harry Belafone (# 12 Top 100 in 1956); Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley (recorded in 1957 and part of his first Christmas album, later a # 1 Christmas Charts hit in 1964 and a charter for years thereafter); Nuttin' For Christmas by Art Mooney & His Orchestra - Vocal by Barry Gordon (# 6 Top 100 in 1955); Please Come Home For Christmas by Charles Brown (# 21 R&B in 1960, and on the charts for ten years in a row); Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer by Elmo & Patsy(# 1 on the Christmas charts in 1983 and a repeat hit over the next few years).



Regarding The Little Drummer Boy, the original, recorded for 20th Fox, charted at # 13 in 1958 and almost every year after up to 1970. In 1972 a new recording was done for Kapp Winners Circle and this is the version heard here. It charted at # 9 on the Christmas charts.



Loads and loads of fun and memories."

Classic music

Arrin Price | 01/07/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed this CD very much. It contained all of the "classic" Christmas hits. Nothing beats sitting around with your family at Christmas singing like Chipmunks!"