Saturday, December 7, 2013

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: CHRISTMAS WITH THE RAT PACK

The Pack never actually made an album together; this is a compilation of cuts from their individual Christmas records stuck together years later.  So you get a track from Frank, another by Dean, then one from Sammy.  What, no Joey Bishop?  Of course those dudes sit nicely together, so it's not a mixed bag, it's from a day when singers sung, dig?

Dino's so cool.  Even on Rudolph he has to get a bit hip, and change the name to Rudy.  Sammy's even more swingin':  Jingle Bells gets a "Jing-jing-jingle in the morning" remake.  No such playfulness for Frank though; the Chairman takes his holiday serious, and we get the full-throated versions from his mid-50's period, with a chorale and big Jenkins arrangements.  His silken takes on Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing are the heart-tugging opposites to Dean and Sammy's ho ho ho.

I've spent the past week listening to the latest Christmas offerings from every side of the current pop spectrum, with pretty much lukewarm results.  Nobody does it like these classic guys, and you'll do no better in your holiday listening.

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