Like everyone else on the
planet, I absolute love Patti Page’s rendition of “Tennessee Waltz.” That’s
a fantastic song. One thing I didn’t know before – and learned only now while
reading the new liner notes for Christmas
With Patti Page – is that that song was originally the flip side for
“Boogie Woogie Santa Claus.” That’s right – a Christmas song was at least
partly responsible for one of my favorite recordings. That Christmas song is
included in the bonus tracks of the new special re-issue of Christmas With Patti Page. This re-issue
contains five other bonus tracks, including three songs from The Patti Page Show. There are also new
liner notes by Tim Akers.
“Jingle Bells”
Christmas With Patti Page starts with one of the most popular
Christmas songs, “Jingle Bells.” This is one of the best versions I’ve heard,
due to its horns and that nice jazzy bass line. That bass line almost succeeds
in making this a cool song. The problem, as always, is the song’s lyrics. But
Patti Page delivers them with joy, and that’s really all you can ask. She plays
around with the title line toward the end of the song.
“Silent Night” begins
with the choir before Patti comes in. And their voices do sound beautiful
backing her. That’s followed by “Christmas Choir,” in which Patti sings at the
beginning, “Listen to the choir.”
It’s kind of a sweet tune, driven by some very pretty vocal work. It was
written for Patti Page by Kermit Goell and Marty Brown.
“Christmas Bells”
One of the catchier tunes
on this album is “Christmas Bells,” written by Harry Filler and Leonard
Schroeder. It’s got a bit of swing to it, which is cool. It starts, “The Christmas bells are ringing/The holly’s
at the window pane/I hear the children singing/It’s Christmas again/The fire
place is glowing.” It’s one of those Christmas songs that paint an ideal
picture of the world for the holiday, with lines like “Crowds of smiling people greet you everywhere.”
Patti Page and her
musicians pump some big band energy into “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” and I
actually do like the end of this rendition.
“Pretty Snowflakes”
“Pretty Snowflakes” is a
very playful tune about winter and snow, not about Christmas specifically, and
perhaps that’s part of what makes this one of my favorite tracks. It’s really a
delightful song. “Pretty
snowflakes/Pretty snowflakes/Falling down from the sky/How I wonder where you
come from/As you flutter by.” Of course, it does have that overly
optimistic portrait of humanity present in so many Christmas songs, with lines
like, “The whole world is smiling and
bundled up tight/Oh, what a wonderful sight.”
“I Wanna Go Skating With
Willie” is another delightful, playful tune. Again, it’s not specifically a
Christmas song.
“Where Did My Snowman
Go?” is much less fun, due mainly to the harsh screams of the children. It’s
too much, and feels relentless, almost like an assault. Seriously. You’ll want
to turn the volume down a bit for this one.
“The Mama Doll Song”
“The Mama Doll Song” is
so silly (with Patti imitating the doll saying “Mama”) that you can’t help but love it. This song was released as a
single, and was actually a top forty hit on the Billboard chart. Wow,
what a different world.
Bonus Tracks
This re-issue contains
six bonus tracks. The first is “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus,” the single that was
sort of responsible for “Tennessee Waltz.” For that alone, it’s an
important track. But it’s actually a pretty cool tune, with a good rhythm. It
paints a slightly different picture of Santa: “He lives up in the mountains like a hermit in a cave/Never had a
haircut, never took a shave.”
“Little Donkey” is a
strange song featuring some excellent vocal work from Patti Page. This was
released as a single in 1959.
There are also three
tunes from The Patti Page Show: “Home
For The Holidays,” “The Christmas Song” and “Silent Night.” (By the way, the
sound isn’t perfect on “Home For The Holidays,” something which the liner notes
acknowledge.)
And there is a radio spot
in which Patti Page wishes folks a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
CD Track List
- Jingle Bells
- Silent Night
- Christmas Choir
- The First Noel
- Christmas Bells
- White Christmas
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- The Christmas Song
- Pretty Snowflakes
- I Wanna Go Skating With Willie
- Where Did My Snowman Go?
- The Mama Doll Song
- Boogie Woogie Santa Claus
- Little Donkey
- Home For The Holidays
- Christmas Greetings From Patti
- The Christmas Song
- Silent Night
This special re-issue of Christmas With Patti Page was released on October 29, 2013 through Real Gone Music.
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