From Stewart Mason over at Allmusic:
A rather skimpy but nonetheless useful compilation of Christmas songs, this ten-song set (companion volume to Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1935-1954) wisely steers mostly clear of the annoying novelty Christmas songs of the rock era -- although, sadly, it does force upon its listeners the horrifyingly bad "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" -- in favor of songs that people might actually want to listen to. From familiar classics like Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" and Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" to lesser-known gems like Harry Belafonte's swinging "Mary's Boy Child" and Charles Brown's "Please Come Home for Christmas," maybe the best R&B Christmas song ever, the set even finds room for two of the less annoying novelty tunes, David Seville's "The Chipmunk Song" and Barry Gordon's "Nuttin' for Christmas." Although Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" is included, one or two other superstar Christmas songs (maybe the Kinks' tart "Father Christmas"?) would have been a welcome addition. Overall, however, this is one of the better Yuletide compilations.What he said.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart, but peaked at #15 on the Christmas Albums chart
Tracks: 10 tracks, 27 minutes. (← "27" not a typo).
| Artist | Title |
Year
|
Peak*
|
|
| Bobby Helms | Jingle Bell Rock |
1957
|
#6
| ✔ |
| Brenda Lee | Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree | 1960 |
#14
| ✔ |
| The Chipmunks | The Chipmunk Song | 1958 |
#1
| |
| The Harry Simeone Chorale | The Little Drummer Boy | 1958 |
#13
| ✔ |
| Harry Belafonte | Mary's Boy Child | 1956 |
#12
| ✔ |
| Elvis Presley | Blue Christmas | 1957 | ||
| Barry Gordon | Nuttin' For Christmas | 1955 |
#6
| |
| Charles Brown | Please Come Home For Christmas | 1961 |
#76
| ✔ |
| The Drifters | White Christmas | 1955 |
#80
| ✔ |
| Elmo 'N Patsy | Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer | 1979 |
**
| ✘ |
* peak on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, not the Christmas Singles chart
** peaked at #80 in 1997
 |
| For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox, go visit The Legend of the Longbox. |
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None
This was most definitely among the first dozen or so Christmas and Holiday discs I picked up when starting my Christmas CD collection. Added the companion volume, covering those earlier years, much later though my favorite of the Billboard Christmas discs is Billboard Rock 'N' Roll Christmas, which will be featured later this month on The Hideaway.
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