Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - As Told by Paul Wing

As I write this, Christmas is just 29 days away. Wow, it seems like I was just putting up an album in July!

Seasonal sharity is in full swing so I figured I'd get my butt in gear and join in. My first album of Christmas '07 is the kiddie-centric record Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Rudolph's Second Christmas, featuring two stories narrated by Paul Wing, written by Robert May, with music by Norman Leyden. There are also four delightful renditions of "Suzy Snowflake" performed by Dale Evans, "The Night Before Christmas Song" performed by Gisele McKenzie with Ray Charles' orchestra and choir, "Frosty The Snowman" performed by Vaughn Monroe and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" from The Voices of Walter Schumann. What a line-up -- it's the Yuletide version of Circus of The Stars!

This recording comes from the Pickwick re-issue, which is presented as stereo, albeit processed from mono. I actually have two versions of this album, the aforementioned Pickwick issue and one from RCA/Victor (which features a better cover, see above). According to a recent eBay auction, the Paul Wing stories were also released on two 45rpm records in the 1950s.

This is a little gem of an album. You have two wonky stories to entertain the kids and four brilliant arrangements of familiar favorites.