Just as I mentioned a few reviews ago that John Gary was the best male Pop Standards vocalist you’ve never heard of, I can honestly say that June Christy is the best female Pop singer you’ve never heard of.  To be more accurate, June Christy was really a Jazz vocalist, but she did record Standards in addition to Jazz interpretations.

June Christy was born Shirley Luster in 1925 in Springfield, Illinois.  She grew up in the suburbs of central Illinois.  She began singing professionally at the age of thirteen and sang all throughout high school.  Most of her singing occurred as the girl singer of local territory bands.  It was during this time that she changed her name to Sharon Leslie.

After changing her name once again, this time to June Christy, she eventually replaced Anita O’Day in Stan Kenton’s Big Band in 1945.  It is with Stan Kenton that June Christy really started getting attention.  She has a smokey, suave, light vibrato to her voice that is perfectly suited to Jazz standards.

While still with Stan Kenton’s band, June Christy started releasing records under her own name, starting in 1947.  After many singles throughout the late 40s, her first album was released in 1954 and simply titled Something Cool.  It was me acquiring that album on CD early in my collecting years when I discovered June Christy and I’ve been a fan of hers ever since.

June Christy released numerous albums every year from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s.  In 1965, she started feeling the strain on her marriage and cut back on her touring schedule.  By the late 1960s, she started releasing fewer albums, and only released one every few years afterwards.  She died of kidney failure in 1990, at the age of 64.

This is June Christy’s only Christmas album and it was recorded at the peak of her career in 1961.  The music is provided by Pete Rugolo & his Orchestra.  June Christy started working with Pete Rugolo in 1947 with her first solo recordings and he was her orchestra director for most of her career.

Collectors’ Choice Music has done another terrific job of releasing an old Christmas album on CD.  Collectors’ Choice Music is a label that specializes in releasing older albums and great compilation CDs of all genres of music.  This CD reissue is produced in partnership with EMI Music Special Markets and Collectors’ Choice Music.

The cover of the CD is an exact copy of the original album cover.  Nothing is moved and nothing is missing, and the only addition is the Collectors’ Choice Music logo in the bottom right corner.  The cover shows a young-looking June Christy getting ready to throw a snowball right at the camera.  She is standing in a snowy field at the edge of a white pine tree.  Her name appears to the left in red letters, and the album title appears below in green letters.  A small description of the album, the conductor and the writers are listed.

The back of the CD is a near copy of the back of the original album.  Both are the same except the back of the CD is missing the endorsement found on the back of the album.  In its place is a numerical track listing.  The photo on the back cover shows June Christy shaking the snow off the branches of the white pine tree she is standing next to.  Where the track listing was on the back of the album, on the back of the CD, there are typical copywrite notices and label logos.

The CD cover comes out and opens along a single fold-out.  Both sides of the inside contain a critique and endorsement of this CD reissue.

The back of the front cover shows a smaller image of the back of the original album, including the original endorsement and placing of the track listing.  Although it is an exact replica of the back of the original album, the version on the CD is in black and white, whereas on the original back of the album, it was in color.  It is an exact copy, but still too small to read the endorsement without a magnifying glass.  To the right of the album image is a numerical track listing including publishing credits.  Below the image are more detailed copywrite and production notices, some from the original album and some for the CD reissue.

Overall, the artwork is very good.  There is nothing from the original album that we are missing.  The two-page review inside the CD cover is a nice bonus as well.

Collectors’ Choice Music did not include any bonus tracks with this reissue and that’s okay with me.  Bonus tracks can be a nice plus, but when the original album, with the original artwork and original title are reissued, I prefer to keep it the way it was when originally released.

As with everything else, the songs are kept in their original order too.  There is something unique about this album, something that you rarely ever see in a Christmas album, and that is all 10 songs are original songs written by the song writing team and husband and wife duo, Connie Pearce and Arnold Miller.  Off the top of my head, I cannot recall a Christmas album or CD in my huge collection that contains only all original Christmas songs.

Another thing should be said about this album, and that is not ALL the songs are Christmas songs.  There are two ‘Winter’ songs and one really neat New Year’s Eve song.

Usually, a part of my review includes my observations of the current artists’ version of a Christmas song and how it compares to traditional versions of the same song.  That is not possible to do with this album because there is nothing to compare it to.  These are all unique Christmas songs you will not find anywhere else except maybe one or two on a Christmas compilation..

The CD begins with a dour Christmas song, Christmas Heart.  June Christy reveals her true self with this song.  She was known for her smokey, dour vocal style.  Even though the arrangement features lush strings and a full orchestra, June Christy’s vocals put a little Jazz flavor in all the songs.  I have this Christmas CD cataloged as Pop Vocals, but it could be / should be cataloged as Lounge.  (The presence of the lush strings makes it hard to define this as Lounge).  Nonetheless, it is an endearing song of love.  The arrangement is very lush with a large string orchestra, harp and celeste.

In fact, June Christy was instrumental in making the music style known as ‘cool’, very popular.  Smokey lounges, cocktail waitresses trying to stay hidden and a girl singer up on a dimly lit stage were the epitome characteristics of Lounge music.

The 2^nd song, Ring A Merry Bell, features more of a Jazz arrangement.  Gone are the strings and in their place are brass instruments.  Another smokey song that has June Christy wishing her friends and family a Merry Christmas without her, for she is “far from home”.

The 3^rd song, Hang Them On The Tree, starts with the brass section, then as they fade away, piano and acoustic guitar continue the melody.  After the first set of verses, the whole group comes together to complete the song.  This is a somewhat strange Christmas song.  The lyrics describe a woman who reflects on the past year at all the hardships, loves lost, feelings hurt, etc. and turns them into Christmas ornaments as a way to repurpose her feelings. (?)  Yea, that’s kind of the way I heard it.  The music is fine, but the song could fool you if you don’t pay too close attention to the lyrics; it’s a kind of bizarre Christmas song.  I guess it’s the story of a woman making the best of a sad situation at Christmas time.  These are the kind of torch songs June Christy was known for.

The Little Star, the 4^th song, restores our faith in the season.  It’s a cute Christmas song that personifies a little star who wishes for something bigger.  It’s the classic Rudolph story but told in the persona of a star.  The arrangement is again lush.  Gone is the brass Jazz orchestra, and Pete Rugolo commands a fine orchestra.

The 5^th song, The Merriest, is June Christy’s most common Christmas song.  If you have a Christmas compilation CD with one June Christy song on it, I guarantee, it’s this song.  It’s a swinging Jazz orchestral arrangement.  It is June Christy’s way of wishing all the naysayers, downers and mopes a Merry Christmas.  It’s a great original Christmas song and it appears in my Top 500 Classic Christmas Recordings.

The 6^th song is the album title, This Time Of Year.  It features a traditional arrangement of strings, flutes and reed instruments providing a lush background for June Christy as she again croons her sorrows as others around her enjoy a much better Christmas.  She seems sad in her situation, but freely admits that she’s responsible for it at the same time.  Another dour, sad Christmas song…if you listen to the lyrics.

The 7^th song, Seven Shades Of Snow, is more of a ‘Winter’ song, than a Christmas song.  The music begins with the string section that allows an acoustic guitar to finish the introduction as June Christy begins her vocals.  The rest of the arrangement features lush strings, simple reed instruments and a terrific celeste that accents the ends of the verses.  In the lyrics, June Christy uses colors to describe her moods at Christmas time and how they are reflected in the new snow.  As she reckons with each one, together, the Seven Shades Of Snow make for warm feelings in her heart.  She never mentions the word ‘Christmas’ so this song could also be just another sad heart song with a happy ending.

Sorry To See You Go, the 8^th song, would at first, after all the heart reckoning June Christy has given us so far with this album, cause you to presume she is telling her boyfriend that he can go, that she is better off without him.  But, apply that sentiment to the year, and it is a neat New Year’s Eve song about the end of the old year and the anticipation of the new one that’s about to begin.  After a light Jazz piano and combo introduction, the band swings the rest of the melody.  After the earlier song The Merriest, this is the second-best song on here.

The 9^th song is The Magic Gift.  While the arrangement remains somber, June Christy describes her feelings towards the gifts her lover gave her, presumably for Christmas, although she never mentions that word.  It could be any kind of gift.  In fact, at the end, she says the true gift she received, if you add up all the individual gifts, was love.

The original album, and the CD, ends with Winter’s Got Spring Up Its Sleeve.  Again, not a Christmas song, but I never mind a ‘Winter’ song now and then.  One time, I mixed all the ‘Winter’ songs that I have in my entire music collection into my regular playlist of Pop Vocals, and they sounded out of place because the lyrics did not match the current outdoor surroundings, especially in the summer.  The best time to listen to ‘Winter’ songs is during the Christmas season.

I like having this CD in my Christmas music collection.  I am a big June Christy fan.  She posses a unique voice and a vocal styling that was original when she first started and helped many others succeed afterwards.  But…this is an unusual Christmas album.  If you are looking for Rudolph, Winter Wonderland and having a White Christmas, you better look elsewhere.  This CD is not that and it will only disappoint you.

This Christmas CD is not going to appeal to a lot of people.  Most of the time, listeners want to be somewhat familiar with the songs they are hearing, at least the titles.  Other times, Christmas music is used more for background music to entertain a diverse group of people, and this will not make most spirits bright.  Again, mixed in with a large playlist of all kinds of Christmas music, this would pass.  But if you pass on this CD, please at least include The Merriest in your Christmas playlist.

If you appreciate all kinds of Christmas music, especially Christmas music from the Classic Era, you would probably like this.  Most of the arrangements are Jazz based and without a doubt, June Christy’s vocals are.  This Christmas CD is one of those Christmas albums that should be described as Lounge music and should be treated as such.  If you are having a retro, ‘cool’ Christmas party, you better have this on hand.  This CD, along with some of the many ‘Cocktail’ themed Christmas compilation CDs, makes for a great playlist if you can put a 100 or so together.  (By the way, 20 Christmas songs take only one hour on average, to play.  If you are having a six-hour party, you should have at least 130 songs ready).

I give this CD :

****