New Country

Mandy Barnett has been a very busy performer ever since her career took off when she was still a child.  Mandy Barnett, (real first name Amanda), was born in 1975.  She released her first album in 1995, at the age of 20.  Mandy Barnett has spent over 20 years starring as Patsy Cline in the musical Always… Patsy Cline, in addition to recording and touring for herself.  She has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry over 500 times.  Currently, Mandy Barnett tours more with symphony orchestras than with smaller Country road bands.

Looking at her song selection on her albums, she seems to be at home with Pop Standards as much as with Country.  And if this Christmas CD is any indication, she seems very comfortable with orchestral Pop arrangements.

This is the only Christmas CD Mandy Barnett has released so far.  It comes in a cardboard case, and there is no artwork that can be removed.  But that doesn’t mean the CD lacks any good information.  On the contrary, there is a lot of good information included.

The cover has a terrific head and shoulder shot of Mandy Barnett in a white sleeveless dress.  The hair and make-up are perfect.  The lighting for the photo is against a dark background and on the cover, it slowly fades into a deep cobalt blue to the right-hand side.  It really allows Mandy’s features to stand out well.  Her name appears across the top in white letters, and the CD title, Winter Wonderland, appears in smaller white letters, each in its own light blue box.  There are a couple of red Christmas tree ornaments drawn in for a festive look.

The back of the CD case is plain, but very retro and festive.  It features a numerical track listing with time signatures.  The background is pale yellow with retro style Christmas ornaments and snowflakes drawn in.

The cardboard case opens along a double fold out, so it has three other pages of information.  Directly inside the open cover, on the left, is a black and white photo of Mandy Barnett in the studio.  The second half of the page, and continuing onto the next, is a small narrative about Mandy’s successes and the recording of this CD.  On the right half of the middle section, production and recording credits are listed.

The CD itself takes up another page, but on the back of that is a more detailed numerical track listing that includes writer and publishing credits.  To the right of that is a list of the musicians who play on this CD.  It is always good when the musicians themselves get credit.

Someone really did their homework for this CD.  This is a terrific Christmas CD.  Most of the songs are arranged and produced just like Christmas music was produced during the Classic Christmas Music Era.  Many arrangements have the sound and feel of the late 1950s to mid-1960s.  With lush orchestras and light choruses, it’s easy to forget that this was recorded in 2010.

That being said, the 1^st song on the CD is the title song, Winter Wonderland.  It is also one of the more Country flavored songs on here.  The song opens with a lap steel guitar that stays throughout the song.  The melody swings and Mandy does a terrific job with the vocals.  Even with the lap steel, this has an old time feel to it, reminiscent of Country Christmas songs from the early 1960s.

The 2^nd song, This Time Of The Year, opens with beautiful chimes.  The string orchestra soon comes along to build the melody accompanied by a soft chorus of oohs and aahs.  Mandy Barnett’s voice pleads the lyrics extremely well.  Brook Benton had a big hit with this song in 1959, and many artists have covered it since, and except for the original, I don’t think any of them are as good as this one by Mandy Barnett.

The 3^rd song, A Marshmallow World, has all the key signatures of something from the 1950s.  Bing Crosby had the hit with this in 1950, and someone paid attention because this one here has all the same great production qualities as the one from  1950.  The orchestra provides the lush treatments found in earlier Christmas music and the mixed chorus adds even more proof that it is still possible to turn out music that sounds as if it came from a long time ago.  The only hint that this is a Country Christmas song is the lap steel guitar heard slightly in the background.

The 4^th song, A Holly Jolly Christmas, is given the traditional, (that is, traditional for the late 1950s), treatment.  Again, the lap steel and acoustic guitars keep the Country flavor.  The mixed chorus provides wonderful harmony.

I’ll Be Home For Christmas opens with soft acoustic guitar.  Mandy Barnett joins in after the first 4 bars and then it’s just her and the acoustic guitar for about 30 seconds.  The song presented here includes the often-dropped opening verse.  That always gives the song more substance when it’s included.  The arrangement relies on a string orchestra and piano interludes to produce the melody.  Again, the producer (Mandy Barnett) has found a way to include the lap steel, but it never exceeds its place in the music.  It, like the mixed chorus, is there to provide a rich, lush tone to the melody.

The 6^th song, Here Comes Santa Claus, changes the pace from solemn to upbeat in an instant.  The song opens with fiddle that stays throughout the melody to keep the Country feeling.  This version features a traditional arrangement, but it is a mix of lap steel, fiddle, piano, electric guitar and banjo.  Mandy Barnett delivers a raucous vocal performance on this children’s favorite.

The 7^th song, All I Want For Christmas Is You, is NOT the Mariah Carey song, rather this is what I call “the original”.  It was originally recorded by the Novelty group, Vince Vance & The Valiants in 1989.  I like it much better than the Mariah Carey song and wish more artists would cover this.  The song features a lush introduction that is comprised of a piano and string orchestra.  Mandy’s vocals are sincere and passionate.  If you are not familiar with this song, this version will convince you of its inclusion as a terrific Christmas song.

The tempo and rhythm pick up with the 8^th song, (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays.  This song features more of a Country feel than most of the previous songs.  The song opens with fiddle that stays with the melody throughout the song.  The fiddle, combined with the lap steel and electric guitars, gives this a certain Country feeling.  Mandy’s vocals are traditional, and she does a great job with her delivery.

The 9^th song, White Christmas, is a soft, solemn arrangement featuring a string orchestra with piano.  The vocals are passionate and soulful.  The chorus gives wonderful support to the melody.

Song # 10 is Jingle Bell Rock.  This song was originally written with a Rockabilly Country flavor to it, so it’s well suited to the traditional Country instruments used here to provide the melody.  The slight Country flavor Mandy Barnett has in her voice suits this song very well.

The 11^th song, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! has a nice Country feel to it due to the electric guitar work along with the piano.  The melody is provided by a small combo featuring our friendly fiddle and no strings can be discerned in the arrangement.

The CD closes with Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.  The arrangement is traditional, as are Mandy Barnett’s vocals.  The strings keep the melody lush, and the piano and electric guitar give it a small Jazz combo feeling.

Because all the songs are modern Christmas standards and the arrangements stay true to the Classic Christmas Music Era, this Christmas CD has a nice feel to it.  With the presence of lap steel and electric guitars, it keeps a nice Country flavor, but the string orchestra keeps it Pop flavored.  This has all the elements of the “Nashville Sound” found coming out of RCA and Columbia in the 1960s; lush string arrangements combined with a mixed chorus of pleasant voices.

I can recommend this CD to anyone who likes Christmas music for the same reason my brother gave this to me as a gift.  It presents familiar Christmas songs in a lush and traditional manner.  It may have been recorded in 2010, but it has all the sounds and flavor of something from the mid-1960s.  Now I can better understand why the CD artwork is so retro.  It is because the music itself is.  The cover designs are very reminiscent of a bygone era, and the music is as well.

I’m not that familiar with Mandy Barnett except through this CD and looking over her biography and song selection throughout her career, she seems well suited to the Pop Standards and the type of arrangements that usually come with them.  This Christmas CD has all those things.

You can put this on for friends or family, whether they like Country music or not, and there won’t be too much to complain about.  It’s a great Christmas CD from the 21^st century and one that will be timeless as the years pass.  These songs and their arrangements will never fall out of favor.  That’s one of the reasons Christmas music is still recorded like this, because it is timeless.

I give this CD :

****