Classic, nostalgic favorites ("Pretty Paper" is one of my all-time favorites, although I grew up on the Glen Campbell version) and all with that Willie Nelson voice.
This is indeed a short set, as some reviewers below have grumbled about. Of course, it's also a bargain priced CD and therefore hardly counts as a rip-off. It's also as charmingly understated a holiday album as you're going to find. Listenable almost any time of year for Willie fans, but very much in keeping with the holiday spirit nonetheless.
I have a little tradition of keeping my Christmas recordings out and available the entire winter and then tucking them away in the spring. I don't have a lot of room for things I'm not actively using, but I find that many holiday recordings seem appropriate all winter long. Keeping the holiday spirit alive helps beat the winter blahs. And this year ('07) has been such an on-again off-again winter here in the Northeast, beating those seasonal blahs hasn't been easy. Why, I'm writing this review on "Easter Eve" and the radio is telling us that it was warmer on Christmas day than it is today! Something is topsy turvy.
Well anyway, I thought I'd give this disk one more listen before tucking it away for the next eight or nine months, and I have to say that just today it hit the spot. Nelson's trademark understated approach to the standard holiday tunes ("White Christmas," "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "Rudolph") really does make them as listenable--and enjoyable--in April as they are in December. And taking on such warhorses in his laid back style makes the listener forget about the 350 other versions you've heard in your lifetime.
Still the album would have fared a bit better with the inclusion of a few more originals or even some less well known fare by other writers. Nelson has every right to take on "Pretty Paper"--he wrote it after all. If he had a few more such holiday packages in his closet that he could have dragged out, it would have enriched the album. Your best holiday records, after all, consist of "something old, something new, something borrowed, something a little blue--and a lot red and green." The only thing truly new to my ears was the closer, the instrumental "Christmas Blues," which ends the record on just the right note.
Still this is a charming record. Fans will, of course, want it. The general public could certainly do worse. Happy holidays!
Willie Nelson is great. I love his voice, his phrasing, just the whole feel of his music. What is it about his voice?
It is great to have this in the rotation during the holidays. When I think I can't stand to hear another Christmas carol this is one of a handful of discs that I can still enjoy. If you like Willie and are in need of a holiday alternative to Bing and friends, get this one.
