Audio CD review:
Brenda Lee, the Chipmunks with David Seville - Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1955-Present

Brenda Lee, the Chipmunks with David Seville - Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1955-Present

Band: Brenda Lee, the Chipmunks with David Seville Title: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1955-Present Rating: Release Date: 31 July, 1989 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms 2: Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee 3: The Chipmunk Song - Chipmunks With David Seville 4: The Little Drummer Boy - Harry Simone Chorale 5: Mary's Boy Child - Harry Belafonte 6: Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley 7: Nuttin' For Christmas - Barry Gordon 8: Please Come Home For Christmas - Charles Brown 9: White Christmas - Drifters 10: Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer - Elmo 'N Patsy

Customer Reviews Classic music It contained all of the "classic" Christmas hits. I enjoyed this CD very much. Nothing beats sitting around with your family at Christmas singing like Chipmunks!. Christmas classics Christmas just isn't Christmas without The Chipmunks' squeaking out "The Christmas Song" or Brenda Lee belting out "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". With Christmas just edging right around the corner, I have been trying to accumulate as many of my favorite versions of classic Christmas caroles for my ipod. Thankfully Billboard has my favorite Christmas songs on one cd on their "1955 - 1983 (or "present" as it is noted on the cd packaging). As for the rest of the cd, I liked most of the songs however I can so live without hearing that tiresome novelty track "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" which has been satirized one too many times over the years, and the equally obnoxious "Nuttin' For Christmas". Other than those two annoying songs, I enjoyed listening to the cd. . One Of A Series Of "Budget" Releases From Rhino/Wea Sound quality is generally good to excellent, and all selections are the original renditions despite what you may read elsewhere, with one exception in this volume where they tell you that Little Drummer Boy is a re-recording of the 1958 hit. This is one a series of "budget" releases covering various aspects of Christmas to be released over the years by Rhino/Wea in conjunction with Billboard, all with 10-tracks each and liner notes in the form of track-by-track comments. All have "Billboard" as part of the title. Some others are: Family Christmas Classics; Top Christmas Hymns; R&B Christmas Hits; Rock & Roll Christmas; Greatest Christmas Hits (1935-1954); and Greatest Country Christmas Hits. Some of the foregoing are also offered in 4-pack and 5-pack editions. In essence, these are the one you have to have if you want to recapture the delightful seasonal sounds of your childhood (assuming you're old enough to recall the periods covered). This one repeats one from the Country edition, Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms, but does give you the original White Christmas by The Drifters Featuring Clyde McPhatter and Bill Pinkney, a # 1 2 R&B in 1954, and both a R&B and Pop chart entry for several years thereafter. Here you get the following staples: Brenda Lee's Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, actually recored and released in 1958 when she was 14, but not a hit until 1960 when it went to # 14, and then appeared on the charts every Christmas from then on into the 1970s/80s; The Chipmunk Song by The Chipmunks with The Music Of David Seville (# 1 Billboard Pop Hot 100 for 4 weeks in 1958 and # 5 R&B, and seldom missed charting for the next several years); Mary's Boy Child by Harry Belafone (# 12 Top 100 in 1956); Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley (recorded in 1957 and part of his first Christmas album, later a # 1 Christmas Charts hit in 1964 and a charter for years thereafter); Nuttin' For Christmas by Art Mooney & His Orchestra - Vocal by Barry Gordon (# 6 Top 100 in 1955); Please Come Home For Christmas by Charles Brown (# 21 R&B in 1960, and on the charts for ten years in a row); Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer by Elmo & Patsy(# 1 on the Christmas charts in 1983 and a repeat hit over the next few years). Regarding The Little Drummer Boy, the original, recorded for 20th Fox, charted at # 13 in 1958 and almost every year after up to 1970. In 1972 a new recording was done for Kapp Winners Circle and this is the version heard here. It charted at # 9 on the Christmas charts. Loads and loads of fun and memories. . . You can see a complete list of all Brenda Lee, the Chipmunks with David Seville discography, or go back to the Brenda Lee, the Chipmunks with David Seville tabs