Martina McBride Album: “White Christmas”

Description :

Personnel includes: Martina McBride (vocals); Dennis Burnside (arranger); Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Carl Gorodetzky, Janet Askey, Karen Winkelmann, JoAnn Cruthirds, Elisabeth Small, Gerald C. Greer, Carolyn Wann, Lee Larrison, Conni Ellisor, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, David Angell, Alan Umstead, David Davidson (violin); Jim Grosjean, Kristin Wilkinson (viola); Anthony La Marchina, Julia E. Tanner (cello); Mary A. Hoepfinger (harp); Karen Winkelmann (recorder); Skip Cleavinger (penny whistle); Matt Rollings, Jim Medlin (piano); Steve Nathan (synthesizer); Craig Nelson (acoustic bass); Joe Chemay (electric bass); Shannon Forrest (drums); Sam Bacco (percussion); James Ferguson, Marabeth Jordan, Louis D. Nunley, Lisa Silver (background vocals). Engineers include: Clarke Schleicher, Tony Green, Mike Poole. Recorded at Ocean Way, Nashville, Tennessee and Emerald-The Tracking Room, Nashville, Tennessee. All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology. Personnel: Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); The Nashville String Machine (strings); Ann Richards, Sam Levine (flute); Skip Cleavinger (pennywhistle); Karen Winkelmann (recorder); Lee Levine, Dan Lochrie (clarinet); Bill Woodworth, Bobby Taylor (oboe); Jim Medlin, Matt Rollings (piano); Mark Jordan, Steve Nathan (synthesizer); Joe Chemay (bass guitar); Lonnie Wilson, Shannon Forrest (drums); Eric Darken, Sam Bacco (percussion); Louis D. Nunley, Dennis Wilson, Lisa Silver, Marabeth Jordon, Mark Ivey, Bergen White, James Ferguson (background vocals). Once, country artists used Christmas albums as an opportunity to create versions of holiday classics suitable for airplay on country radio. In the late '90s, country artists used holiday albums as an opportunity to stretch artistically--and that usually meant recording with a full orchestra. Martina McBride's WHITE CHRISTMAS, her first holiday collection, is a fine example of this trend. It finds McBride, a singer of astonishing talent and power, cradling her amazing voice in lush orchestral arrangements which occasionally, as on a track like "Let It Snow," turn whimsical. The material here is strictly classic Christmas, from secular favorites like "Silver Bells," and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" to religious ones like "What Child Is This" and "Away In A Manger." In an attempt to mimic classic Christmas albums of the past, there's a vocal choir on many tracks, but McBride's voice is so breathtaking that you find yourself wishing they'd just be quiet and let her do all the singing. Thankfully, on the standout track, "O Holy Night," the arranger wisely lets her soaring vocals go solo. WHITE CHRISTMAS' true appeal is the warmth and emotion McBride manages to bring to Christmas standards the listener has heard countless times.

Martina McBride released this CD several years ago. At the time I bought her CD and could not stop listening to it during Christmas.

Now they have packaged it with 4 new songs. Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland are my favorite new songs on the CD. Silver Bells is my favorits song on the entire CD.

If you are a Martina McBride fan or if you just like Christmas music, this is for you.

Martina could possibly have the best voice in Nashville, and now she sings our favorite carols as well..............You have to buy this one

Editorial writers are critical because they are jealous and have no talent. Often, artists change songs because they don't have the talent to give an acurate, honest interpretation, and use "artistic freedom" as an excuse for their failings.

The same thing was said about the Carpenters, calling them "vanilla." In the words of Paul Willams, "but what an exquisite flavor vanilla is."

Martina McBride has one the best voices of her generation, and doesn't need to hide it behind the usual production tricks and false "interpretations." Because she is confident of her musicianship, she sings these Christmas songs the way they were meant to be sung, letting the lyric and melody shine through to honor the holiday.

As a composer/arranger/producer, I appreciate her interpretations, as well as the production quality of this album.

Thanks Martina.

Martina McBride's WHITE CHRISTMAS is one of the most traditional Christmas cds to be released in recent years. There's no new holiday anthems to learn, just tried and true hymns ("What Child Is This," "Away In A Manger") and Yuletide evergreens ("Silver Bells," "I'll Be Home For Christmas"). The perky and sweet McBride is a natural to interpret Christmas music and her cheerful (if bland) selections fit her persona well. If you are looking for a set of familiar music with traditional arrangements and pleasant vocals that will add a little ambience without dominating your surroundings, this cd should do the trick.

This cd was originally released in 1998 with only ten tracks, with "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" added when it was reissued just a year later. Make sure you are getting the 12-track set if purchasing a used copy on Amazon.

All these songs have been recorded many times before by many different singers. However, Martina has such a wonderful voice that I forgive her for not including any original material.

From the opening strains of Do you hear what I hear?, the least-covered song here, it is obvious that this is a high-quality album from a singer who is inspired by these songs. Best of the lot is O holy night - although I've heard many covers of it, I regard Martina's as the ultimate performance of this song.

There is a huge market for Christmas albums full of familiar songs and Martina knew it when she chose these songs. If you are looking for such an album in an easy listening style, they don't come any better than this.

Note that in 2007, a new edition of this album was released containing all these 12 tracks plus four more. This version of the album remains available (at least for the time being) at a lower price than the 2007 version.