Search - Bing Crosby :: I Wish You a Merry Christmas

Bing's most overlooked Christmas album...

James E. Orr | 12/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""I Wish You A Merry Christmas" should be a Christmas time staple. It is always overshadowed, of course, by "White Christmas", but it has some of the best versions of holiday classics ever recorded. Like "White Christmas" (which was origionally entitled "Merry Christmas") it has the wonderfully swinging melodic background accompaniment from the legendary Andrews Sisters. Bing's deep and tender crooning is never better as he warms up with the traditional "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". Another definate highlight of the album is the romping version of "Winter Wonderland", where the Andrews girls give this one a true big band swing. Bing has great fun with the track, adding his signature jazzy vocal stylings to the great melody. Check out "The Little Drummer Boy", a dramatic somber ballad. Bing really knows how to set the mood of a song with his incomparable voice. The last song on the LP, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is fun, with a bit of humor to leave you in great spirits of the season. The zenith of the session, though, is the beautifully uplifting Christmas hymn "O Holy Night". Crosby gives you goosebumps the size of cranberries, causes your heart to swell to a burst, and leave you nearly weeping with this angelic spiritual. His voice truly is an instrument with many moods. I don't think you can accually have a good Christmas music collection without this album, along with "White Christmas". I can't imagine what it must have been like on Christmas before Bing Crosby. After all, he is, without a doubt, the "Great Crooner of Christmas"."

Bing's the Best

Chris Chringle | Mid Atlantic USA | 12/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While you won't hear "White Christmas" in this collection, you will hear Bing sing some of his best Christmas songs, each a Christmas gem. Technically the recording sounds clean and clear, and sentimentally it should put you in the Christmas mood. My personal favorites are 'Do You Hear What I Hear' and 'Christmas Dinner Country Style.'"