Search - Depaur Chorus :: Calypso Christmas

How it became a favorite

Cynthia Gray | Canton, MA USA | 12/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would echo every word of these reviews. I love this Christmas album more than any other. How did we all come to feel this way? I'll bet I know.Back around 1960, a huge new audio technology swept the world -- STEREO!After my dad carefully assembled a new stereo rig, he needed stuff to play on it. The old mono LPs were so out! So he join the Columbia Record Club for a few years to build up his record collection.Every month, he would choose a few titles, and they would become a big part of the aural environment at our house.Around Christmas in one of those years, "Calypso Christmas" was on the Columbia list. Calypso had been big for a while, and Harry Belafonte was at his peak. So Dad bit. When we first heard the album, we couldn't believe it -- such beautiful voices, such gorgeous arrangements, such spirited singing!I'll bet every single one of the reviewers on this page first heard the album this way -- as a holiday selection from the Columbia Record Club."

Christmas isn't Christmas...

Cynthia Gray | 10/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...without de twelve rum bottles bouncin' off me head.Truly! We've listened to this thing every Christmas for lo, my 40+ years. When my brother spent his first Christmas away from home while in the Peace Corps--ironically, in the Caribbean--a tape of this was included in his care package: it was the only piece of music he wanted. My father's original record is scratched beyond endurance, so I've ordered copies for him and for my brother for Christmas presents this years. (The $5.98 price tag doesn't hurt.) When my brother spent his first Christmas away from home while in the Peace Corps--ironically, in the Caribbean--a tape of this was included in his care package. I love the different take on Christmas you get from "Christmas in the Tropics" and "Christmas Present for Sallie": you can tell we're not in Kansas any more. But those are essentially novelty songs, and I agree with a previous reviewer who said that it was the reverent tone of the religious pieces that really sets this album apart. To this day, I judge every rendition of "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" I hear against the version done on this album. "Oh, Poor Little Jesus," like many of the songs, is an old spiritual and not really a calypso song, but it's a heartbreaker, the last thing you expect from a Christmas album, and beautifully sung. You don't get much more joyous than "Ring de Christmas Bells," on the other hand, though the singers never lose control. In fact, it's the singing, more than the songs, that make this such a great album. The Depaur Chorus can hold its own with any of the great choral groups, from the Tallis Scholars on down. Whatever happened to them?"

It's not Christmas until I hear this!

Betsy Rogers | Seattle, WA United States | 12/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe how many people have had this in their Christmas repertoire for so many years! This was a family staple for us as well; it just wasn't Christmas until we brought this album out. For the past 10 years I've had to make due with a recorded tape of an extremely old album that my Mom made for me (with skips and everything!). I'm SOOO happy to finally be able to replace it with a CD."