USA Today Weekend - Barry's fav holiday tunes
Scooter
USA Today Weekend
Issue Date: December 20, 2009
HOLIDAY MUSIC
5 Christmas songs (that make the whole world sing!)
Barry Manilow shares why he loves this season so much.
Plus, the top adult-contemporary recording artist of all time picks his
favorite holiday tunes.
By Brian Truitt
Growing up in a poor household in Brooklyn, N.Y., Barry Manilow never had
a bunch of gifts waiting to be unwrapped around his family's aluminum
Christmas tree that was adorned with blue tinsel and ornaments. There was
no need for them: For him, the real presents were the Bing Crosby, Frank
Sinatra and other big-band Christmas albums that his stepfather would
bring home around the holiday season.
To this day, those two aspects -- family and great tunes -- remain
Manilow's Christmas traditions. "I love the season because it's the only
time of the year when everybody stops yelling at each other for a couple
of weeks," says Manilow, who begins a headlining stint at the Paris Las
Vegas hotel March 5. "Things calm down, people are all concerned about
giving, charity and spirituality, and it's just a lovely time of the
year."
Manilow, the top adult-contemporary artist of all time, has shown his love
for the Christmas tunes his Irish stepdad and Russian/Jewish mother
enjoyed both on his records and in performance. He has released three
holiday albums since 1990 -- the most recent is October's "In the Swing of
Christmas" -- and his "Happy Holiday!" DVD came out last month. In the
spirit of the season, Manilow gives us his five holiday favorites:
The Christmas Waltz
"Frosted windowpanes" and "painted candy canes" set the scene for this
musical Christmas card from the big city, and they come alive thanks to
the sweet croon of Frank Sinatra. "One of the most beautiful Christmas
songs ever written, done by the greatest male singer of all time," Manilow
says.
The Christmas Song
Perhaps no yuletide-ready song is as vividly wintry as this Mel Torme
track, with chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your
nose and folks dressed up like Eskimos.
It has been sung -- many times, many ways -- but none as popular as Nat
King Cole's 1946 recording, which became "the definitive version of this
romantic song."
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
It's one of the most performed holiday songs, but many people don't
realize there have been several different versions. Sinatra made it a
seasonal classic in the late 1950s, but Ol' Blue Eyes had tweaked the
original -- made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 movie musical "Meet Me
in St. Louis" -- to make the lyrics a little less melancholy. Yet it's
Garland's take that Manilow thinks is "the greatest rendition of this
holiday song ever."
Silver Bells
Silver Bells first appeared in the Bob Hope film "The Lemon Drop Kid" in
1951, and even though Bing Crosby's early-'50s version with Carol Richards
is the standard, this popular tune has been covered by everybody from the
animated Alvin and the Chipmunks to Kenny Rogers to Twisted Sister to
Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. Manilow recorded his own take -- singing
all of the harmonies himself -- on his recent album "In the Swing of
Christmas."
"I had a ball doing all 21 voices on this holiday classic," he says.
Happy Holiday/White Christmas
Bing Crosby debuted Irving Berlin's White Christmas in December 1941, and
over the years it has become one of the most beloved songs of all time --
Christmas or otherwise. For Manilow's second seasonal album, 2002's "A
Christmas Gift of Love," the crooner doubled the Christmas spirit by
pairing White Christmas with another Berlin classic, "Happy Holiday."
"It's the most joyful rendition of these great Irving Berlin songs I could
come up with," he says.
"I dare you not to smile."
--
Scooter