When I pulled this off the shelf to review it, I said to myself “This is going to be good”.  If you like Classic Country Christmas music, this is it!  This reissue of Faron Young’s Christmas album from 1979 is brought to us by Highland Music, Inc.  It is a reissue of A Christmas Card From Faron.  I’m really surprised that this did not chart on Billboard’s Country charts.  Faron Young charted consistently in the 1960s and 1970s on the Billboard Country Album chart, but by 1979, he had dropped off the charts entirely.

Faron Young was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1932.  He started singing at an early age, and before he graduated high school, he appeared on Louisiana Hayride, in 1951.  Faron Young moved to Nashville in 1952 and a few months later was offered a recording contract with Capitol Records.  Soon after he was drafted into the Korean War.  Just as luck would have it, Faron Young’s second single had just topped the charts and his third was climbing fast.  Faron Young was chosen as the featured singer in the US Army Band replacing Eddie Fisher.

Faron Young starred in some low budget movies in the mid-fifties and appeared on TV often.  This exposure helped his career greatly.  His singing style during the 1950s was Honky Tonk, but after leaving Capitol Records in the early 1960s, he changed to a more mainstream Country sound.

Faron Young was the first to record and release the Willie Nelson song, Hello Walls.  This became one of his most successful and requested songs.  Faron Young recorded into the 1990s, but never matched the success he had in the 1960s to the mid-70s.

Country music in Nashville in the 1960s was big business.  Country music in Nashville in the 1960s was also highly competitive, with Chet Atkins at the helm at RCA Nashville, and Capitol Records Nashville giving them a run for their money.  By the 1970s, the music business had changed and Faron Young failed to keep up.  Through failing health, depression and bouts of alcoholism, Faron Young took his own life in 1996, at the age of 64.

This reissue of his only Christmas album has a different title than the original album, and although all 12 of the original songs are here, they are in a different track order.  This is actually the first of two reissue CDs of his original album.  Country Christmas was released in 1990, but it is the same album.

Since the title is different, so is the artwork.  The cover of the CD features a smiling Faron Young dressed in a fashionable 1970s Country shirt and vest.  He is resting at a piano.  Across the top of the cover runs a red banner and Faron Young’s name appears in it.  Directly below is the CD title, “Silver Bells” in red letters.

The back of the CD features the same red bar and artist name across the top.  The CD title is also similarly placed as on the front cover.  The back of the CD has a numerical track listing in a slightly tilted yellow box.  Both the front photo and the yellow box on the back are superimposed over a white background that has a small festive graphic design.

The CD cover comes out and opens along a single fold-out.  Unfortunately, the inside is completely blank.  Ouch.

The back of the CD cover is an exact copy of the back of the CD except that the UPC symbol and the copywrite notices aren’t included.  Another ouch.

The artwork for the CD is somewhat lacking.  We know the year, but no writer credits are given.  Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal, but the original album had a lot of original Country Christmas songs on it.  Also, no biography or recording information is included.  Those things are always bonuses, but I can appreciate what this CD is.  It is a low budget CD of an old Country Christmas album.  It is also an exact copy, musically, as the original album, and I’ll accept the things it lacks to be able to have the original album fully intact.

This is really a very pleasant CD.  The songs are not too Country.  Faron Young has a great voice that sings Country without sounding Country.  He lacks the deep southern twang found on many Country artists of the 1960s, especially someone from Louisiana.

Of the 12 songs, only 6 are familiar Christmas songs.  Of those 6, 4 are secular Christmas songs from the 20^th century.  Oh Come, All Ye Faithful and Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem are the only traditional Christmas hymns.

The CD begins with 3 of the 4 secular Christmas songs in a row.  Winter Wonderland is the 1^st song.  The melody gallops along with electric guitar and corresponding piano, all accompanied by a terrific mixed chorus.  Unfortunately, without good liner notes, I do not know who they might be, but they sound great.

The 2^nd song is the title of the CD, Silver Bells.  The music seems to be provided by a studio “band” as opposed to an orchestra.  That means that none of the songs are overly produced with lush strings and large brass sections.  Silver Bells has a traditional arrangement that features the celeste, allowing the song to live up to its name.  Faron Young’s vocals are solid and pleasant.  He sings with just a slight Country dialect that subtlety reminds you that he is a Country singer.

White Christmas, the 3^rd song, is a very pleasant Christmas song that starts with the celeste and it is the featured instrument in the arrangement.  The celeste operates like a piano, whereas keys are played.  Instead of the hammer hitting strings under tension as with the piano, the celeste uses the hammer to strike tuned metal bars, similar to a xylophone.  It is used in a ton of Christmas songs, but I have never heard it used so well as it is in this song.  It is shadowed with an electric guitar, and Faron Young’s vocals are very soft and endearing.  The chorus provides a lush background.

It isn’t until the 4^th song that we get to hear Faron Young at his best.  Country Christmas is an original Christmas song.  It is kind of interesting that as unique as this song is, I have one other song titled Country Christmas, but the other one was written and performed by Loretta Lynn on her Christmas album from 1966.  The one Faron Young sing’s here is a different song.  This song lives up to its title and is a very Country Christmas song.  It features banjo up front, so you might say that this borders on Bluegrass.  The song speaks of a quiet little hamlet in a valley that expresses it’s Christmas spirit in an old-fashioned way by gathering together to sing the praises of Jesus.  The more I hear this song, the more I like it.  This is a really good Country Christmas song from the late 70s.

The 5^th song is one of only two traditional Christmas hymns.  Oh Come, All Ye Faithful features the piano as the main instrument heard.  The arrangement is sparse.  The piano is accompanied by more instruments as the song progresses, but they never overshadow the piano.  For the second verse, Faron Young is joined by the mixed chorus that echoes Faron’s vocals softly.

Song # 6 is the other traditional Christmas hymn, Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem.  It begins with a soft acoustic guitar.  After the intro, Faron Young begins to sing the vocals endearingly.  The chorus is there to provide additional softness.  The acoustic guitar continues the melody as it is joined by electric piano and a celeste.

The 7^th song, is Christmas Song.  Though improperly titled, this is the Classic written by Robert Wells and Mel Torme.  The secular arrangements return as this is markedly different than the two previous songs.  Once again, the piano carries the melody.  As the song progresses, other instruments join in.  The small group combines electric piano and the celeste to keep the melody soft.  The mixed chorus gives a wonderful festive feeling to the song.

The rest of the CD features original Christmas songs.  The Country returns with the 8^th song, Candyland.  The song’s melody combines electric and acoustic piano in the arrangement.  A small electric guitar passage introduces the song.  Faron Young exhibits his Country dialect in a welcoming manner.  The song tells of a dream Faron Young had on Christmas Eve.  He dreamt of a poor Country child that expects nothing for Christmas and can only dream.  His dream describes a Country Christmas setting using chocolate drops, lollipops and gingerbread men dancing around as the descriptive nouns.  It’s a unique and fun Christmas song.  The acoustic arrangement is enhanced with the lap steel guitar that provides the Country flavor.

Christmas In The Mountains, the 9^th song, features the banjo once again.  It describes Faron Young returning to the mountains because he really loves Christmas at home.  The song describes all the traditions and smells of Christmas In The Mountains.  The arrangement is pure Country.  With the banjo, lap steel and electric guitar, it’s impossible to hear this as anything else.  It is very well done.

The 10^th song, Happy Birthday Jesus, is an endearing tribute to Jesus Christ.  The arrangement is light, but it is not without a lot of instruments coming together for the melody.  As the song progresses, the drums come in to drive the rhythm while the lap steel gives the song a pleasant Country flavor.  I actually have three different Christmas songs titled Happy Birthday Jesus.  This one, and another by Patti Page and Burl Ives, recorded in 1965 and 1968, respectively.  Reba McEntire also recorded a song titled Happy Birthday Jesus, for her 1987 Christmas album.  But in all honesty, the song Patti Page and Burl Ives sing is Happy Birthday, Jesus (A Child’s Prayer), and Reba’s is titled Happy Birthday Jesus (I’ll Open This One For You).

The first half of The Story Of Silent Night describes the writing of the Christmas song, Silent Night.  I think there are a lot of liberties taken as to the events that may have happened during Joseph Mohr’s writing of the song, but it is a pretty good original Christmas idea.  For the second half of the song, an acoustic guitar introduces the actual song, Silent Night.  Faron Young sings the traditional lyrics, and the arrangement is traditional as well.  The vocals are good, and the chorus provides lush accompaniment.

The last song on the CD, Baby Jesus, opens with the celeste.  It is a slow-paced song that describes the events on the night of the birth of Jesus.  Other than Faron Young’s soft dialect, this would be hard to define as a Country song.  For the first time on the record, the chorus offers more than just oohs and aahs.  They sing the lyrics of the chorus as Faron Young handles the verses.  The celeste, accompanied by a lap steel guitar and surprisingly, a conga, come together to produce a terrific, albeit unusual, arrangement of a great original Christmas song.  The chorus joins Faron Young in unison to finish the song sweetly.

All the original Christmas songs were written by Bill & Jody Emerson, with Lionel A. Delmore assisting on Baby Jesus.  I don’t know if that’s two brothers or a husband-and-wife team.  Whatever it is, they write good original Christmas songs.  Most of the songs speak of Jesus directly.  It’s good to see they focused on the reason for the season for their original songs, other than just the sweet smells, bells and ribbons of a secular Christmas.

The songs on the CD are in a different order than they were on the original album.  On the album, the original Christmas songs were mixed in with the familiar Christmas songs, but here on this CD, the secular Christmas songs are played first, followed by the two traditional Christmas hymns and then five of the six original songs close out the CD.  I don’t know if that was on purpose, but I suppose it was.  By putting all the original Christmas songs close together at the end, it gives the CD a more unique feeling.  By the time you get to the end, you tend to forget the familiar Christmas songs at the beginning and focus on the original ones.

This CD is a reissue of a really good Country Christmas album from a man who use to dominate the Country music charts, but was past his glory at the time of this recording.  Nonetheless, it is a really good Christmas record.  The vocals are smooth with just a touch of Country.  The arrangements are soft and festive because of the large use of the celeste and the lap steel guitar.

I can highly recommend this CD if you like original Christmas songs with a little Country flavor.  Especially if you like older Christmas music.  This Christmas CD should not disappoint many listeners.  Whether it’s for yourself or if it’s played for a group of friends and family, you will probably receive more compliments than rejections.

Faron Young turned out a terrific Christmas album in 1979 and this is it.  I just wish they had used the original title and artwork.

I give this CD :

****