Released October 1962 Artist Bing Crosby Label Warner Bros. Records | Recorded October 5, 1962 Release date 1962 Genre Christmas music | |
Studio Radio Recorders, Hollywood I Wish You a Merry Christmas
(1962) Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre
(1963) Similar On the Happy Side, Favorite Hawaiian Songs - V, Victor Herbert Melodies, Favorite Hawaiian Songs - V, Selections from Going My Way | ||
I Wish You a Merry Christmas was a long-playing vinyl album of Christmas themed songs recorded by Bing Crosby for his own company, Project Records, and issued by Warner Bros. (W-1484) in 1962.
Contents
The tracks were arranged by Bob Thompson, Peter Matz and Jack Halloran and each conducted the orchestra for their own arrangements. The musical accompaniment was recorded on 23 and 25 July 1962 and Crosby over-dubbed his vocals on October 5, 1962.
The album was re-released by Capitol in 1977 (on LP) and again in 1988 (on CD) as Bing Crosby's Christmas Classics, with one track – "Pat-a-Pan/ While Shepherds Watched Their Sheep" – omitted. All the songs from the original album were included on a 1998 EMI CD called Winter Wonderland in the UK and on an updated 2006 Capitol CD of Bing Crosby's Christmas Classics in the US.
Reception
Billboard reviewed the album saying, "Crosby is a perennial holiday seller, and this LP should prove an important Christmas item for all dealers. The Crosby touch is everywhere evident and the material is drawn from the great Christmas catalog. Chorus and ork assist der Bingle on such Christmas standards as “Winter Wonderland”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
Songs
1Winter Wonderland2:27
2Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas2:52
3What Child Is This? / The Holly and the Ivy3:23