A Sparkling Christmas [Yellow] Vinyl

A Sparkling Christmas packs twenty-three holiday classics from the late 1950s and early 1960s onto one yellow LP, a snow globe of rock and roll, doo-wop and teen pop.

That era is when Christmas got loud. The season once belonged to crooners and choirs, until rock and roll's first generation realised sleigh bells swing nicely against a backbeat. Brenda Lee was only thirteen when she cut her tree-rocking hit, the Drifters gave White Christmas a doo-wop glow, and British voices like Billy Fury sit comfortably beside their American cousins, which is a rare treat on a set like this.

Blue Christmas finds Elvis at his most lovelorn, Run Rudolph Run is pure Chuck Berry guitar swagger with reindeer attached, and The Chipmunk Song remains impossible to hear without grinning. Johnny Cash, Connie Francis and the Everly Brothers all pop up too, so the mood never stays in one place for long.

Twenty-three songs, a bright yellow pressing, and no filler. It works as a party record, a tree-trimming record, or the thing you put on when the relatives arrive and nobody can agree on anything else. Side B closes with the Everly Brothers wishing the room a merry Christmas, which is about as warm as a final track gets.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas
2. Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run
3. Dodie Stevens - Merry Christmas Baby
4. The Cadillacs - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Charles Brown - Please Come Home For Christmas
6. Santo & Johnny - Twistin' Bells
7. Skeeter Davis - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
8. Billy Fury - My Christmas Prayer
9. Connie Francis - I'll Be Home For Christmas
10. The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)
11. Bobby Darin - Christmas Auld Lang Syne
12. The Drifters - White Christmas

Side B

1. Johnny Cash - The Little Drummer Boy
2. Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
3. Solomon Burke - Christmas Presents
4. Jan & Dean - Frosty The Snowman
5. Linda Scott - Christmas Day
6. Chubby Checker & Bobby Rydell - Jingle Bell Rock
7. Bobby Vee - Winter Wonderland
8. Jo-Ann Campbell - Happy New Year Baby
9. Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
10. Frankie Lymon - It's Christmas Once Again
11. The Everly Brothers - We Wish You A Merry Christmas