7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Frank is great, Dean is pretty good, but we need more Sammy, 4 Dec 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Christmas With The Rat Pack (Audio CD)
Do not worry that you are going to be subjected to the sound of Peter Lawford singing Christmas songs, because "Christmas with the Rat Pack" leaves the singing to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. The Chairman of the Board and Dino get eight tracks each, with Sammy only getting three, and then the trio sing the last two songs together and live. As you would expect, this is a Christmas album for those who are looking for something a bit stronger than eggnog when they are trimming the tree.
Martin gets to cover the hip seasonal songs, like "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," "Baby It's Cold Outside," and "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!" while Frank does more of the religious songs, such as "The First Noel" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." All Sammy gets to sing is "Christmas Time All Over the World," "The Christmas Song," and "Jingle Bells." Martin gets to cover "Silver Bells," "White Christmas," and "Winter Wonderland," so he makes a strong showing on this album. Sinatra, as you would expect, shines most on songs that show his finely honed vocalization skills, such as "The Christmas Waltz," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "I'll Be Home for Christmas."
Obviously it would be nice if Sammy was thrown a few more crumbs, and you can argue the album would hang together better if they cut the couple of songs Martin sings that really sound like he is holding a martini in one hand. Fans will probably not care, but there are a few tracks that seem to run a bit more against the grain than some of the others, even though Martin milks them for all they are worth. The cover is an "Ocean's 11" inspired image that had the "11" with a couple of candy stripes and then a shot of the three kings of holiday singing.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
auld lang syne, 8 Dec 2003
This review is from: Christmas With The Rat Pack (Audio CD)
christmas AS IT SHOULD BE SUNG. YOUNG OR OLD IT MUST APPEAL TO EVERYONE ALL THE CLASSICS THAT SEEM TO HAVE BEEN AROUND AS LONG AS CHRISTMAS ITS SELF BUT STILL FEEL FRESH AND WARMING. SHERRY OR ALCOPOP THIS IS TOP OF THE CROP. GO ON, HAVE ANOTHER MINCE PIE
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CHEERFUL RATPACK SEASONAL GIFT-WRAPPED PACKAGE, 11 Nov 2010
With so many Rat Pack compilations available it's quite a job separating the wheat from the chaff especially as so many fall into the latter category and are poorly researched, recorded and mostly full of duplications. However, I can happily report that this EMI release is the real deal with first generation Capitol, US Columbia, Reprise etc. tracks ensuring solid sound and vocal quality throughout.
Sinatra heads the list with seven songs extracted from his Fifties Capitol reign including HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING and I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. Dean's six selections are taken from both Capitol (LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW) and Reprise (SILVER BELLS and a winning combination of PEACE ON EARTH/SILENT NIGHT) with Sammy just squeezing in with three random songs including that Mel Torme co-composed classic THE CHRISTMAS SONG.
It would have been nice to have found all three singers sharing a seasonal song or two but that treat obviously never happened in a recording studio so appreciating and enjoying their individually wrapped Christmas gift fare is the nearest you'll now ever get to in this Rat Pack celebration.
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