Christmas Duets

I don't know how many times I've bought Elvis' Christmas EPs, LPs and
CDs but there's always something new about it. From his classic 1957
LP we have 7 songs that have been re-recorded by many of the original crew + the today's female C&W stars. The music, although sounding
exactly as back in '57, is so fresh that it really sounds like if
the king were singing and recording them today. Sometimes today's
technology should even convince the "purists" of the way this whole
project has been presented. There's nothing wrong with having the
original Elvis recordings mixed with today's country stars and
above all enhance the original music. A brilliant result

THIS CHRISTMAS CD IS THE BEST OUT THERE BAR NONE. THE DUETS ARE GREAT AND SO ARE THE MIXES. GOT SOME FOR MATES THAT WERE NOT ELVIS PRESLEY FANS . BUT THEY SAY THE CANT STOP PLAYING THE CD FOR THERE FRIENDS TOO.
AND THE LONG MIX OFF MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY IS KNOCK OUT. RUSH OUT AND BUY IT BEFORE THEY DELETE IT GO ON QUICK .

Having the majority of Elvis Presley's officially released tracks including all of his famous music, I was intrigued by this album. Inevitably, it arouses mixed feelings and I am left, after hearing it, to ponder what might have been if Elvis had recorded duets during his lifetime. There is no way that duets created by overdubs can ever be as brilliant as those created by two people singing together in the studio. Of course, I knew that before I bought this album but I still wanted it. And to be fair, the engineers, the musicians and the women who sang the duet parts all did as well as could be expected on such a project.

Of the participating women, Anne Murray and Olivia Newton-John established their careers while Elvis was alive, while Amy Grant and Wynonna Judd came to prominence in the eighties, so all four of them would be likely to have heard plenty of Elvis' music on the radio, as it was newly released, during their childhood. But the influence and appeal of Elvis goes way beyond those who were around during his lifetime. Some of the women featured on this album weren't even born by the time of his death and they also turn in great performances.

The album gets off to a great start with Blue Christmas (featuring Martina McBride), which I would have liked even more than I already do without the woo-woo backing sounds (they are better suited to his original recording than this version). Carrie Underwood has plenty of fans who love her music, but also plenty of detractors who say that she sometimes shouts rather than sings. There was no danger of her shouting on the classic ballad, I'll be home for Christmas, in which she performs her part brilliantly. If you're one of Carrie's detractors and you are alarmed by her presence here, fear not. While I'm not one of her biggest fans, I do like her music.

Arguably the most famous female singer here is LeAnn Rimes, featured on Here comes Santa Claus. This bright, cheerful song is all over in less than two minutes but it's a great song that was (I think) first recorded by Gene Autry, who was also the first singer to record Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer (a song that Elvis didn't record). Next comes Wynonna Judd, a well known Elvis fan who has recorded several Elvis covers, sometimes as a member of the Judds. Wynonna joins Elvis on the bluesy Santa Claus is back in town.

Sara Evans has yet to record her own Christmas album but she has recorded at least one Christmas song for inclusion on multi-artist Christmas albums. Here she joins Elvis for the most-covered Christmas song of all, Silent night. I've heard plenty of versions of this song and, like most of the others, this duet sounds brilliant without standing out from the rest, except for the obvious fact of it being a duet. It's a great song but, being a simple ballad, there's very little that any singer or musician can do to make it distinctive without destroying its essential simplicity. So this version sounds entirely predictable but I like it that way.

Amy Grant has recorded three complete Christmas albums (and wrote the original songs Tennessee Christmas and Breath of heaven, either or both of which may yet come to be recognized as Christmas standards), plus four other tracks that appeared on a compilation otherwise made up of tracks from those earlier albums. She joins Elvis on White Christmas and the result is every bit as good as you would expect. Gretchen Wilson joins Elvis on the bluesy Merry Christmas baby, by far the longest track here at over eight minutes running time; Elvis' solo recording ran for less than six minutes. It sounds fine but the length doesn't add to the quality. Next comes O little town of Bethlehem, featuring the two women from Little Big Town. I'm not familiar with that group's music although I know that they also have featured male vocalists and the vocals on their own music are shared around, making for plenty of variety. I expect to buy some of their own music eventually.

The last two duets feature Anne Murray and Olivia Newton-John. Not only are they the oldest women participating, but they are also the only non-Americans. I felt it was particularly appropriate that Anne Murray joined Elvis on Silver bells, as it was on Anne Murray's first Christmas album that I first acquired a version of that song and I have always felt that Anne's voice was particularly suited to the song. I've acquired or heard plenty of other versions of the song since then, but Anne's is still among my favorites. Her duet with Elvis is also excellent. Olivia is in fine form too, on O come all ye faithful.

The album closes with three bonus solo tracks (First Noel, If I get home on Christmas Day, Winter wonderland). I thought at first that they may simply have been taken from earlier re-masters to pad out the album, but they, too, have been re-worked in some way. In that case, it might have better to find three more women to join Elvis on these tracks. As it is, these tracks tend to overshadow the duets that have gone before, brilliant as those are. This reinforces my belief that if you haven't got an Elvis Presley Christmas compilation, you should buy that first. Solo versions by Elvis of all the songs here can be found on Christmas Peace, along with seven of his other Christmas recordings. But this is a high-quality album that has much to commend it.