Search - Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians :: Now Is the Caroling Season

A reissue of a classic recording

Paul Martin | Albuquerque, NM | 11/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The original 1957 album was a fixture of our family's Christmas celebrations for years. I was overjoyed to learn that it had been reissued, and it certainly lives up to all of my childhood memories. Fred Waring (1900-1984) was a fixture of the American choral music scene for most of the past century. The Pennsylvanians were always primarily a choral group, but Waring added instrumental accompanyment as needed. His career spanned the technological developments of the period; he auditioned for Thomas Edison in the early 1920s, and made one of the first recordings on Edison's new device. The thirties saw warings debut on radio, and in the fifties he moved to TV. One of his more enduring accomplishments was the discovery of the young Robert Shaw, whom he hired to direct his glee club in New York.The singing on this recording is exquisite. This collection is almost entirely ensemble singing, with very few solo voices. The vocal group is compsed of a small number of excellent voices. The ensemble is flawless. The carols themselves are all classics, a collection of the basic carols we all remember. This release identifies the author and arranger for each song. That is fitting, since the arrangements are magnificent. The insert contains a facsimile of the original album cover, with new album notes by Tom Pickles. Many of my Christmas albums are innovative arrangements which add a new twist to familar carols. This recording is the original article. I look forward to passing this heritage on to another generation."

A beautifully old-fashioned Christmas album

Tom Anderson | Piney Flats, Tennessee United States | 09/26/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In Christmas music I really like an old-fashioned sound, and this album has it: beautiful harmony and sensitive arrangements (although some border on the tacky) that nicely capture the feel of Christmas. The Pennsylvanians' version of "White Christmas" has always been my favorite (sorry, Bing!). The only reason this album doesn't rate 5 stars is its sound quality. Although the album sounds better that the distorted individual tracks that have shown up on different compilation albums, it still needs restoration and remixing to get rid of rumble and noise. The CD was released on a small, private label that obviously didn't have the budget for a proper remastering. However, don't let that disuade you from buying this album. I have well over a hundred Christmas albums, and this is among the best."

Top Christmas Album of All Time

Jim | 11/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe this exists! My Mom had two copies of the old album which she played back to back on the old style drop record player so she could hear the entire album without flipping it over. I made copies on cassette because you could no longer find the album. Sleigh Ride is best done here, with the signature trombone "riff" in the middle and March of the Kings is just fantastic. Every song is a keeper with arrangements that are amongst the best ever made for each song. I realize not as popular as anything with Morman Tabernacle or Harry Simeone Chorale attached, but a much better buy for the holidays than anything from the aforementioned two groups. Also may wish to look into the Norman Luboff Christmas album which has been released as a combo with their Calypso Christmas album on CD. I have never heard the Calypso part, but the standard Christmas title is right up there with Waring. Now if I could just find a CD of Pete King's Chorale Christmas Time (I think?) and my childhood memories would be complete. I can smell the cookies baking right now....."