Ray Price was an established Country music star by the time he released his first Christmas album in 1969.  He would release another in 1987.  Noble Ray Price was born in Texas in 1926.  He initially lived on his parents’ farm in East Texas, but after his parents divorced, he split his time between Dallas and the farm in East Texas.

Ray Price started singing and playing guitar locally as a teenager.  While in college, he was drafted into World War II.  After the war, he did not return to college but instead continued singing and playing locally.  Eventually, Ray Price ended up on the radio, locally and in Dallas.

He got his first recording contract in the late 1940s and by the early 1950s, he had relocated to Nashville.  Up until the early 1960s, Ray Price was known for his Honky Tonk style of singing.  After arriving at Columbia in the late 1950’s, he started recording more in the ‘Nashville’ style, using lush orchestras and choruses.  Ray Price released many albums throughout the 1960s and early 1970s and all charted very well on Billboard’s Country Albums chart.  Ray Price continued to record and release albums up until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2013.

This CD reissue of Ray Price’s Christmas album from 1969 comes from Sony Music Special Products and Columbia Records.  All the original songs are here and in their original order.  Out of the 11 songs, only two could be considered secular Christmas songs.  All the others are traditional Christmas hymns and carols.  There does seem to be an original Christmas song, and even it is a Sacred song.

The CD cover does not resemble the original album cover in any way.  The CD cover shows a current (1991) picture of Ray Price in a tux with a red bow tie.  It is framed with a thin black border.  The title on the CD is displayed at the top of the CD.  A few songs from the album are listed on either side of the photo.  All is presented on a red background decorated with white snowflakes.

The back of the CD features the same red background, the same CD title and lettering as found on the front cover.  Most of the back of the CD features a numerical track listing with time signatures.  Towards the bottom are your typical release copywrite notices.

One important thing that I like to see is the letters AAD.  Those familiar with this blog know that I like that because it means you are getting the original Analog album that was originally produced on an Analog tape deck but is now presented in a Digital format.  Typically, it wasn’t until 1985 that albums were produced digitally.  That means, no synthesizers, no drum machines and no digital production techniques.  What it really tells me is that these are NOT re-recordings.  You really must be careful when buying Christmas CDs that you think were recorded during the artist’s  peak.  Sometimes, in small print, the CD might say, “re-recordings” or say that “these are not the original recordings”.  You must be careful.

The cover of the CD opens along a single fold out, but the insides are completely blank.  This seems typical of Sony Music Special Product releases.  I wish they would have filled that space with a short biography or a short narrative about the recording of this album.

The back of the CD cover is an exact duplicate of the back of the CD.  Once again, this seems typical of Sony Music Special Product releases.

By 1969, Ray Price had become a reliable Country music star.  The Honky Tonk days were over, and his terrific baritone voice was suited to “The Nashville Sound” as well as Pop standards.  In fact, many of Ray Price’s albums crossed over onto the Pop charts.  The songs on this Christmas album reflect that.  The songs have a slight Country feel to them, but I think that is due more to Ray’s vocals as opposed to the instrumentation.  Cam Mullins & his Orchestra provide traditional lush arrangements of familiar Christmas hymns and carols.

The CD begins with the only modern secular Christmas song on here, and that is Jingle Bells.  The song opens with sleigh bells, and the arrangement is a full orchestra.  Ray Price’s vocals are traditional in every sense and the unknown chorus provides a light festive mood.  I’ve said this before, I don’t know who the chorus is, they’re never credited, and they sound a lot like the Anita Kerr Singers, but this was on Columbia Records and the Anita Kerr Singers worked at RCA Nashville.  It was probably not that difficult to put together a wonderful chorus in Nashville in the 1960s.

The 2^nd song, I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day, is presented with a traditional arrangement of lush strings and chimes.  Ray Price puts his baritone voice to good use with this familiar Christmas song.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing follows as the 3^rd song on the album.  Again, Ray Price employs his deep baritone voice to deliver a somber and passionate rendition of this popular Christmas hymn.  The chorus supports Ray Price on the refrains.

The pace and the tone itself, changes with the 4^th song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.  The tempo is much slower than the previous songs, and the instrumentation is softer.  An acoustic guitar is heard up front while a string orchestra joins in at the end of the verses, and during the refrains.  Once again, the chorus is clearly heard on the refrains.  This is a wonderful version of this Christmas standard.

The pace and arrangement do not differ with the 5^th song either.  O Little Town Of Bethlehem picks up where God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen left off.  The same acoustic guitar is up front, and the strings are featured softly.  The chorus takes their place on the refrains.  The song ends with just the acoustic guitar performing the melody.

Ray Price keeps it solemn with The Little Drummer Boy on the 6^th song.  The arrangement is traditional.  It starts off with a drum pattern that stays throughout the song while the strings come on stronger as the song builds.  The chorus as well, continues to increase in volume and strength as the song progresses.  This is the longest song on the album.  While most songs are between 2 and 2 ½ minutes, The Little Drummer Boy is almost 4 minutes long.

The 7^th song is one of my favorite Sacred songs, and those familiar with this blog know that I love The Lord’s Prayer.  I guess it’s not really a Christmas song, but it does show up on a lot of Christmas albums.  The song opens with a harp and a string orchestra.  As Ray Price sings his solemn vocals, the chorus accompanies him with lush harmonies.  The arrangement never exceeds the vocals.  The harp and strings stay softly behind as the voices build in volume.

So far, these are all terrific Christmas songs.

Song number 8 is O Come, All Ye Faithful.  What I really like about this arrangement is the chorus opens the song with an a cappella refrain before Ray Price begins the opening verse.  Usually, the singer begins the song right as the music begins.  All throughout the song, the chorus shares vocals with Ray Price.  Many times, their parts are performed a cappella.  This is another stand out Christmas song.

It Came Upon The Midnight Clear continues the somber mood of this album.  Ray Price again shares his vocals with the chorus.  The music is soft, as are all the vocals.  Once again, the chorus is showcased with a cappella arrangements.

The 10^th song, Happy Birthday To You, Our Lord, is an original Christmas hymn.  I don’t think it was written for Ray Price specifically, I think it was written for Mahalia Jackson for her 1968 Christmas album which was also on Columbia.  Ray Price recorded his version just a year after Mahalia’s version, and those are the only two versions that I’m aware of.  It features a lush orchestra and of course the chorus.  You can kind of hear the traditional Birthday Song melody in this song but since it is almost 2 ½ minutes long, there is a lot of room to improvise.  Ray Price sings of all the glory Jesus has brought to the world as he and the chorus wish Him a Happy Birthday.  All the while, it is a terrific original Sacred Christmas song.

The CD, and the original album, closes with a soulful rendition of Silent Night.  Solo acoustic guitar begins the song and is the only instrument heard for the first 20 seconds.  Slowly the string orchestra moves in and builds in volume as the song progresses.  As Ray Price delivers a solid vocal performance, the chorus comes in for the middle part but then disappears while Ray finishes the song by himself.

This is a terrific Country Christmas album recorded in the heart of the Classic Christmas Music Era.  Although I have cataloged it as a Classic Country Christmas CD, it could be considered Pop Vocals as well.  It is not a Country album in the same way a Loretta Lynn, Hank Snow or Willie Nelson album would be.  It does not employ traditional Country instruments such as fiddles, mandolins or lap steel guitar.

Ray Price delivers solemn, Sacred vocals on familiar Christmas songs.  The chorus definitely adds the festive flavor found on many Christmas songs.  And Cam Mullins & his Orchestra provide traditional lush arrangements.  For the life of me, I do not know why this album did not chart on any Billboard album chart.  Not the Pop Album, Country Album or Christmas charts.  None.  Unbelievable.

There is not a bad song on here.  This would be a great surprise for someone who seeks out traditional Christmas music from the Classic Era but would otherwise overlook Ray Price because they were not familiar with the name or was under the impression that it might be too Country.  I can recommend this to anyone that likes their Christmas music traditional or with just a little Country flavor.

I give this CD :

****