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I first heard this as a little boy. Fred Waring was the master. This "album" is one of the best at portraying Christmas carols in a wholesome, but thrilling manner. There are no stars trying to sell their brands, but much better, top notch arrangements and voices making the Season Bright.
For years, I searched for this album to no avail. The album is a mixture of sacred and secular, with hymns mixed in with pop fare like "The Christmas Song", "White Christmas", etc. My wife and I love to listen to Christmas albums during the holidays. The album is like a series of suites, all bound together by the repeated link of the song "Now is the Caroling Season". Really a unique album from the past. I found a library copy which I recorded to cassette, but it was full of snaps, crackles and pops.I was thrilled to actually find it on CD after years of searching. As one Amazon reviewer said, "Sleigh Ride" is a particular delight.
This piece is part of Bizet's L'arlesienne Suite and is sometimes included on Xmas albums in its original orchestral form. This was a favorite of hers before we met, and all she had left was the album cover. One of the great highlights brings the album to an end: "March of the Kings". As others have said, the recording was not "restored", but is sure sounds better than the scratchy library LP.The Waring style may seem unusual to some. Several fine singers have solos, but most of the pieces are choral. The Waring version is exciting, and the lyrics describe a person viewing a mighty retinue of the Three Kings themselves. It's a nostalgic treat for some (like my wife), but for others I recommend it as a creative choral collection of Christmas favorites.
If you want the true spirit of Christmas with choral music both sacred and contemporary.(for the 1950's) with a touch of nostalgia from a simpler time, this is the album for you and your family. With a tenor that can sing like an angel and the rest of the choir of solo quality, yet blending so wondrously.keep this cd in your collection. It's the best every made.
Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians were radio and TV stars from the 1930s to the 1950s, and released "Now is the Caroling Season" in 1957. Fred Waring has long been a family favorite of ours for Christmas music. This disc contains 21 songs full of strong harmonies that will put you in a festive mood.
The remastering still isn't bad but could be a bit better. This album will really bring you back to christmas of yesteryear (the christmas of your childhood, perhaps).While my favorite christmas album from FRED WARING AND THE PENNSYLVANIANS is their 1961 album, THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS, this album, NOW IS THE CAROLING SEASON, is still almost as wonderful and fully recommended if you like chorus christmas music.
This is for sure one of the greatest chorus christmas albums ever recorded and has a nice orchestra backup in some of the songs such as SLEIGHRIDE (perhaps the best version of this song) or SILVER BELLS (again, perhaps the best version of the song).Then there are just the voices of the chorus in songs like O CHRISTMAS TREE or O COME, O COME EMMANUEL. Of course, as is the norm with FRED WARING'S chorus, these versions are some of the best accapella versions ever recorded.WHITE CHRISTMAS has a nice and fresh original arrangement of the song and as is customary with FRED WARING, among the best versions of that song.
What can I say about FRED WARING AND THE PENNSYLVANIANS - NOW IS THE CAROLING SEASON album from 1957 that others haven't said. The style of this album is that of an old-timey or old fashion style with both the chorus and backing orchestra.
So too is a slower version of WINTER WONDERLAND or a deep and powerful version of THE CHRISTMAS SONG.Two new wonderful songs for me on this album are NOW IS THE CAROLING SEASON and especially, CHRISTMAS WAS MEANT FOR CHILDREN. The latter, CHRISTMAS WAS MEANT FOR CHILDREN, is already a classic for me and I can't believe others haven't recorded it as there were so many other christmas albums that came out in the last few years of the 1950's and so many more in the 1960's.There are many other, mostly rare, christmas songs on the religious side that make up the rest of this album and they are all strong songs.
I only wish the remastering job could have been better such as on the FRED WARING 2 cd set, CHRISTMAS MAGIC, which contained 2 christmas albums from FRED WARING AND THE PENNSYLVANIANS, one from 1959 (THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS) and the other (the one I mentioned above, THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS) from 1961. The original album cover which is kept as the cd cover (minus the COLLECTOR'S CHOICE MUSIC logo at the bottom right corner) is also one of the nicest christmas album covers of all time.100% recommended for your christmas listening pleasure.
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