"Christmas Songs" (Columbia) by Sinatra (incl. 2019 HD release updates)*

Got the iTunes Download - Great Sound! terrific!

 

Glad you like it, Markus!

 

Merry Christmas! Picked up the new 2019 hi-res mastering, 24/192 download of Christmas Songs by Sinatra the other day. So crystal clear. That warm 40s sound! Beautiful.

 

Agreed! I love it.

 

The calendar's just flipped to Jan' 6... 2020.. *can you believe that? 2020?... and I'm spinning this one. Not sure why... the tree and all the decorations are days gone and packed away here at the Pants Party household... but this album is so damn blue and I felt like saying goodbye to the holidays. With a few Gin and tonics. Memories are richer remembered, I say. And none richer are the days most recent. So, let's dive in...

Some thoughts on the album itself.... I've always found it a tad off-kilter. It's dramatic and somewhat solemn. Dark. Heavy is even a better word. I'm really liking it, in this out of place January setting. By off-kilter, let me say, that's a good thing... since a genre can easily get cluttered with everything else -- yet, at the same time, there's nothing off kilter at all about these renditions. They're actually hard-hitting Christmas songs -- from the 1940s. The decade that defined the cultural reality of the holiday. I don't know if they still have it, but there used to be a station on some satellite services called "40's Christmas" -- so, that's my point. The 1940s. Christmas. Gimme.

The album does have some "up beat" moments, but, in large the album is pretty deep. If Christmas is nothing but crap to you, this isn't going to be an album you'll enjoy. Frank Sinatra and most of the nation during the 1940s clearly took the holiday seriously. However, if you're a Grinch or maybe even a Scrooge -- sick of the holiday cheer and unable to see past the hustle, travel and forced-festivities that make real sentiments seem robotic -- you might actually need to listen to this album. In many ways, as programmed, this might be some of the most intensely touching Christmas music you'll hear. And most of it won't be playing at your local mall.

 

It's been a difficult year for all of us. I've only recently found out this hi-res download existed. Christmas is coming, will soon be time to buy it, download it and crank it up!

 

You won‘t be disappointed.

 

A new Sinatra Christmas LP, with ten tracks from the Columbia years, is due this season:

Christmas With Frank Sinatra (Opaque White Vinyl) - Amazon.com Music

Release Date: October 7, 2022
Product Type: 150 Gram Colored Vinyl LP
Label: Sony / Legacy Recordings
Catalog No.: 997649
UPC: 194399764916




[ …with thanks to Andrew Trager for the heads-up. ]

 

It would have been nice I think if Sony had chosen to reissue Christmas Dreaming instead. I am glad to have a copy in superb condition.

 

Different song order and track list: “Winter Wonderland” (radio?) substituted for “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and only one version of “White Christmas.” [See: This post]

No clue yet about which takes or mastering on this new limited-edition vinyl. Calling @Granata Chuck.

 

I don’t have any Columbia era Frank on vinyl yet. I’m pumped!