Where it all started: The Great Songs of Christmas, Album One, 1961. Available for $1 retail at Goodyear Tire stores.
By David McGee
THE GREAT SONGS OF CHRISTMAS By Great Artists of Our Time
Various Artists
Real Gone Music/Sony Classical
It’s possible a few readers may recognize the title of this collection as being familiar. And if those readers are wondering, Could this be related to those albums Goodyear stores used to sell every year for a buck? Those readers should wonder no more: yes, this wonderful 13-track disc (encompassing 18 songs, including medleys) is indeed an anthology culled from the like-titled albums available every Yuletide season exclusively at Goodyear Tire stores from 1961 to 1977. Obviously there are many, many more recordings contained on those vinyl albums than this 2023 anthology could offer, but to its credit the disc in question offers a broad overview of, say, the character of those releases, which contained tracks recorded for artists’ own Christmas albums for Columbia Records (as per a deal between Goodyear and Columbia’s custom services department, which eventually became Columbia Special Products) and some recorded by Columbia artists exclusively for the Great Songs projects. The artists, initially representing the cream of the crop of Columbia’s Classical division, encompassing Classical, choral and opera styles, include what were then household names—Leonard Bernstein (restored anew to cultural consciousness thanks to Bradley Cooper’s acclaimed performance as Lenny in Maestro) and the New York Philharmonic; the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy; the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Leinsdorf with the Roger Wagner Chorale; Richard Tucker; Robert Merrill; Pablo Casals; and the stunning Anna Moffo, working with producer-arranger-conductor Thomas Z. Shepard on two recordings expressly conceived for Album 8 of The Great Songs of Christmas, including a rousing, brassy arrangement of “Joy to the World” and, even more impressive, a positively transcendent, breathtakingly textured reading of Gounod’s “Ave Maria,” with Shepard’s solemn, string-based arrangement remaining discretely quiescent and introspective, rising and falling delicately according to Ms. Moffo’s emotional expressiveness.
The Great Songs franchise comes with a fascinating backstory that begins, develops and ends with one determined songwriter-turned-ad man named Stanley Arnold. One of many ideas that inspired Business Week to hail Arnold as “one of the most creative guys in America” was to approach Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company with a pitch to do an album of Christmas music, on the theory that, as Arnold wrote in his memoir (Tale of the Blue Horse and Other Million Dollar Adventures), “Christmas had two deep connections with Goodyear: First, everyone is interested in Christmas; second, Goodyear sells many, many tires during the Christmas season. That would be the million-dollar idea for Goodyear, I decided: an album of Christmas music.” Thanks to his success with an earlier project with Columbia Record Projects (CRP) of an anthology of nostalgic songs for the Lucky Strike brand, Arnold was able to fashion a deal that insured Goodyear would risk no investment or suffer any financial setback if the Christmas album was a commercial failure.
‘For Unto Us a Child is Born,’ from Handel’s Messiah, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, as featured on The Great Songs of Christmas, first featured on The Great Songs of Christmas, Album One
Arnold didn’t stop there, though. He had specific ideas as to the content of his proposed anthology—no novelty numbers such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” not even Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.” Instead, as Arnold is quoted in the invaluable liner notes penned here by Joe Marchese of TheSecondDisc.com, “Goodyear’s collection of Christmas music should consist of great songs, precisely as its title promised. I presented a list of twelve selections that were so breathtaking in their scope, of such grandeur in their range of talent, that I crossed my fingers to be sure that my un-businesslike staff had been sufficiently businesslike in promising these titles.” One other stipulation: the albums would sell for one dollar.
After some initial reluctance, a Goodyear VP agreed to stock 30,000 copies of Album One of The Great Songs of Christmas by Ten Great Artists of Our Time in stores in the Winter of 1961; Arnold averred, suggesting a run of three million LPs was more what he had in mind. Compromise ensued to the tune of 900,000 albums pressed and stocked in Goodyear stores nationwide, retail priced at $1 each. The artists on Album One would become familiar presences on ensuing volumes, including Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Percy Faith, Andre Kostelanetz and the Norman Luboff Choir.
‘Still, Still, Still,’ Mormon Tabernacle Choir. An earlier recording is featured on The Great Songs of Christmas.
By December 1, 1961, every copy of The Great Songs of Christmas had been sold and Goodyear had to pull its advertising for the album. In 1962, 1.5 million copies of the second volume were sold out by the end of December’s first week; by 1963 Goodyear was ordering three million pressings, in line with Arnold’s original suggestion. The collections continued to be released every year through 1977, with some changes along the way (for one, Rudolph with his nose so bright did find his way onto some later releases, along with other pop-oriented seasonal tunes). By the time the series ran its course, Goodyear was shipping albums beyond the U.S., to Canada, Mexico, Australia and England. Duly inspired, Goodyear competitors B.F. Goodrich and Firestone issued holiday anthologies of their own for a time. In 1989, Goodyear capitalized on its holiday success by releasing a compilation holiday album on CD and cassette. In 2019 Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records released the first Great Songs anthology, The Great Songs of Christmas: Classic Carols and Pop Favorites, followed by the 2023 title in question here.
Even though the artists in this 2023 release are nominally Classical artists, the diversity of approaches to the great songs herein is as bracing as it is often surprising, commencing with Bernstein’s album opening selection from Handel’s Messiah, a booming, intense performance of “For Unto Us a Child is Born,” featuring the Westminster Choir and New York Philharmonic, that speaks as much to the Maestro’s indefatigable energy and vision as it does to Handel’s composition. Which is why the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, following with a deliberate, stately medley of “Angels We Have Heard on High”/“Good King Wenceslas” and “Joy to the World,” stands as calm after the storm. In fact, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is the album’s nominal star, appearing on seven of the 13 recordings here, all selections being among the oldest carols on record, dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, including a version of “Still, Still, Still” so deeply and reverently rendered as to stir a soul to tears as the moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on. The Choir, by the bye, has achieved the remarkable feat of having five albums of Christmas music certified Gold (three albums) and Platinum (two albums).
‘Ave Maria,’ Anna Moffo, from The Great Songs of Christmas, first featured on The Great Songs of Christmas, Album Eight
Another change of pace is offered by way of Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s charming yet stirring take on Harry Simeone’s “Little Drummer Boy,” with the youthful vocal support rendered stoutly by the St. Francis de Sales Boychoir directed by Peter LeManna. The great tenor (and cantor) Richard Tucker, whose recordings are widely regarded as unrepresentative of the full scope and range of his vocal gift, is here with two bravura performances that belie those criticisms, with his impeccable diction, full-bodied timbre and unabashed emotional investment in full flower in solemn renderings of “The Lord’s Prayer” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” with the latter notably moving for the dignity—and understanding–Tucker brings to the narrative the song describes over a beautifully understated string arrangement. Another great male voice, that of baritone Robert Merrill, is nothing short of breathtaking in the power and passion he brings to a recording commissioned by Goodyear for the eighth Great Songs volume, it being a majestic medley of “March of the Kings”/”Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”; as a bonus track on this CD, his “O Come All Ye Faithful,” originally recorded for a holiday anthology album, Christmas Greetings Vol. 4, produced by the A&P supermarket chain, mates his forceful, buoyant performance to the softer voices of an unidentified choir in a most sublime album closer.
‘Little Drummer Boy,’ London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, with the St. Francis de Sales Boychoir directed by Peter LeManna. Featured on The Great Songs of Christmas, first featured on The Great Songs of Christmas, Album Five
Breathes there a soul so dead as to not be moved by Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” no matter when, where or how often it is heard? And was there a more formidable champion of J.S. Bach’s work than the virtuoso cellist Pablo Casals, a favorite of Jacqueline Kennedy’s who performed at the White House for the Kennedys in 1961, but who began his recording career for Columbia in 1915? For Album Six in the Great Songs series, the then-89-year-old Casals came to New York specifically to record an emotionally resonant take of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” for his Great Songs contribution (accompanied by an unidentified choir that sounds remarkably like the Roger Wagner Chorale), with his royalties dedicated to establishing two scholarships for promising musicians.
Putting some glide in the stride of Michael Praetorius, the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, with the Roger Wagner Chorale providing vocals, offers a sprightly “In Dulci Jubilo” unusual for its rhythmic bounce in contrast to the usual stately renderings. No, Leinsdorf, the Orchestra and the Chorale saved the stately reading for the Roman Catholic hymn dating from at least 1792, “O Sanctissima,” (“O Most Holy”), in which the instruments and voices are perfectly balanced in feel and expressiveness, evoking both reverence and wonder in seeking redemption in prayer to the Virgin Mother Mary (“you bring divine medicine; pray, pray for us” is one translated lyrical passage).
‘March of the Kings/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,’ Robert Merrill, featured on The Great Songs of Christmas, first featured on The Great Songs of Christmas, Album Eight
Enterprising souls, your faithful friend and correspondent included, can find the original vinyl editions of The Great Songs of Christmas from various eBay dealers. So much more is in the vaults—Barbra Streisand, like Pablo Casals, recorded her contribution especially for the Great Songs collection; other artists on the albums include Johnny Mathis, Steve Lawrence, Anthony Newley, Tony Bennett, Joan Sutherland, Petula Clark, Isaac Stern, Mahalia Jackson, Doris Day, Connie Francis, the Brothers Four, Lena Horne, Eydie Gormé, Harry Simeone Chorale, et al., et al. A few volumes are also available for streaming on Spotify. Several volumes have appeared on CD, but some remain available only on vinyl. Curiously, one of the most important of all Columbia artists, Frank Sinatra, is nowhere to be found in The Great Songs of Christmas archive. Nevertheless, kudos to Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records for a CD sampling of the greatness that was The Great Songs franchise on vinyl, destined for instant classic status in the Christmas music realm. The beauty of it all? There’s more where that came from. So…
Postscript: On December 18, 2022, the Akron Beacon Journal’s Mark J. Price published an in-depth piece about The Great Songs f Christmas series. His reporting includes a list of artists featured on each album.
