Walter Brennan was an American actor born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1894.  He was noted for his terrific performances in Hollywood movies in the 1930s.  He won three Academy Awards in the 1930s and won critical acclaim for his work in the 1940s.  His early life was a series of ups and downs while working in the newspaper industry.  During the depression, after having lost a fortune in the real estate collapse, Walter Brennan started taking small parts in Hollywood movies.

While serving in World War I, Walter Brennan was exposed to mustard gas, and it affected his voice.  Afterwards, his voice became raspy and squeaky, but it became his trademark.  Because of this, his movie roles gravitated to cowboy pictures.

Walter Brennan started to make the switch over to TV in the 1950s.  And in 1957, he landed the role of the patriarch of the McCoy family in The Real McCoys, a sitcom about a family from West Virginia that relocates to Southern California.

In the 1960s, Walter Brennan started recording albums.  Most had a cowboy / Western theme to them.  Walter Brennan hit it big with an album titled Old Rivers in 1962 and the single titled Old Rivers made it into Billboard’s Top Five that year.

What I have not told you yet was that Walter Brennan’s vocal style was that of talking.  His recitations of everyday living and country stories were presented over a lush orchestra and sweet chorus.  But his singing talents were reserved to speaking roles only.

This CD reissue from Collectors’ Choice Music is a combination of his best-selling album, Old Rivers and his Christmas release ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas …Back Home.  Both were recorded and released in 1962.  For the purpose of this review, I will concentrate only on his Christmas album.

The cover of this reissue uses the covers of the original albums as the artwork, so we do get a copy of the original Christmas album.  Both are presented against a gold background with the Christmas album slightly overlaying the Old Rivers cover.  The description “Two Classic Albums from Walter Brennan: Old Rivers & ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas…Back Home” is displayed in the top right corner.

The back of the CD is split longitudinally.  On the left is a picture of the album Old Rivers and below is a numerical track listing.  On the right-hand side is a picture of his Christmas album and below is a numerical track listing of it.  At the bottom are Collectors’ Choice Music copyright notices.

The CD cover comes out and opens along a single fold-out.  Inside, on the left-hand side is an exact duplication of the back of the first album, Old Rivers.  On the right-hand side is an exact duplication of the back of ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas …Back Home.

The back of the CD cover is an exact copy of the back of the CD, minus the album covers.  So, no new information there.

Overall, the artwork is not bad.  We get a copy of the original album cover, front and back.  There was not a lot of information included on the original album either, but there and on the record label itself, is where we learn that the orchestra is arranged and conducted by Ernie Freeman.  And we know it’s from 1962.  One thing we don’t know is who the wonderful chorus is that appears on every song providing terrific harmonies.

Another thing we don’t know is the composers of the songs.  Seven out of the eleven songs appear to be original compositions.  Only four of the songs, White Christmas, (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays, Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful are familiar.

Beware, these are primarily spoken word Christmas songs.  That being said, I find them to be great Christmas songs.  With the familiar songs we know, the chorus opens the song and sings the first set of verses.  As they continue with sweet oohs and aahs, Walter Brennan comes in and tells a story that recalls or reflects the general theme of the song, and towards the end, the choir comes back to finish the vocals as we know them.

The orchestra is super terrific.  Ernie Freeman pulls out all the stops from small combos to full blown strings and percussion.  This almost sounds like it was recorded at RCA Nashville and the chorus sounds like it could be the Anita Kerr Singers, but there is no information to support that theory.  But the piano sounds like Floyd Cramer and the whole production sounds like the “A” Team, the set of studio musicians that Chet Atkins used on a regular basis.  The album was originally released on Liberty Records and it’s possible they rented the RCA Nashville studios.

All the songs are fun.  They are different, that’s for sure.

The album / CD begins beautifully with White Christmas.  While the chorus sings the verses we are familiar with, and a lush orchestra of strings and celeste plays the melody, Walter Brennan speaks of the benefits that snow brings to him.  He finishes the song with an offering that “may all your Christmases be white” while the chorus and full orchestra build until the final note.

The 2^nd song is Just Three Letters For Christmas, and it tells the sad story of a father getting three letters from his children saying that they wouldn’t be coming home for Christmas like they had been hoping.  While each one thought the other two would be going home, in the end, unbeknownst to the children, the father and mother would be alone for Christmas.  It’s a sad story, told over a full orchestra and chorus.

Song number 3 is A Farmer’s Christmas Prayer.  It opens with acoustic guitar while a poor farmer prays thanks to God for all the great things he has in his life.  Of course, the chorus is there to provide reverence to this Christmas prayer.  The instrumentation is subtle until the very end when it builds up to the finish.

The 5^th song is Old Time Christmas Stories and opens with the chorus and light instrumentation before Walter Brennan speaks of all the great Christmas stories (songs) that come around every year.  As the choir builds, Walter Brennan tells of his favorite Christmas story as the story of the birth of Jesus.

The 8^th song, Christmas Together, has a rollicking piano arrangement while the chorus provides their characteristic oohs and aahs.  It tells the story of how the whole family looks forward to spending Christmas together.  As the years go by and the families get bigger, the memories mount, climaxing with the father telling the story of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve.  This has a very vibrant, enjoyable story to be told and does not feature Walter Brennan’s style of delivering dour stories of hardship.

The 10^th song is A Good Year For Santa Claus, another classic spoken song that you will not hear anywhere else.  It tells the story of how a father reflects on a time in his childhood when there would be no Christmas that year because “Santa might get lost, it’s been a bad year for Santa Claus”, but in the end on Christmas Day, his father takes him out to the barn to see that Santa Claus had brought a newborn colt into the world.

The album / CD closes with O Come All Ye Faithful.  While the chorus sings the verses against a background of bells, Walter Brennan reflects on the true meaning of Christmas while growing up poor in a small town.  This is a fantastic way to close out the CD.  This is probably the best song on here.  The spoken passages are great, and, in the end, Walter Brennan speaks the verse while the chorus sings and the song closes with everything rising in crescendo to finish the song.

As I said, these all contain spoken word recitals.  But all speak of the true meaning of Christmas, and all are unique.  As far as the orchestra goes, it is one of the best arranged I’ve ever heard, and Ernie Freeman et al, provides terrific unmatched Christmas music.  This CD may not be one that you put on and listen to straight through, but I did, and it made for 30 minutes of great Christmas music that speaks more of the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of Christ as opposed to the more commercial aspects of a lot of Christmas music.

This is probably not going to appeal to a younger crowd or be great to play during dinner, but this would mix in great with a larger Christmas playlist.  Hearing one or two an hour would be enough for most people.  If you like TV stars that have made Christmas albums, or you like things a little different now and then, if you enjoy full orchestras and a terrific chorus, then I highly recommend this.

I give this CD :

****