Track Listing

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Happy Holiday/White Christmas
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas
6. My Favorite Things
7. The Christmas Waltz
8. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
9. River
10. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
11. A Gift Of Love

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46837 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

From Amazon.com
It's refreshing to hear a version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" that doesn't reference the arrangement Phil Spector came up with on A Christmas Gift for You four decades ago. Barry Manilow's rendition was inspired by Bing Crosby's 1945 collaboration with the Andrews Sisters. And that pretty much explains where the artist is coming from on the majority of this holiday offering. This is a big orchestrated (and voiced) Christmas album, most of it well suited for delivery on a Broadway stage. Accordingly, the singer picks holiday-themed tunes from the likes of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne, Irving Berlin, and Frank Loesser. Then, just to confuse things a bit (this is, after all, someone who had a huge hit with Ian Hunter's "Ships"), Manilow throws in a superb cover of "River," Joni Mitchell's ode to Christmas depression. Everything else is warm and festive, though, including the Manilow-penned title track. The singer's longtime fans will adore this collection. --Bill Holdship