Track Listing

1. Overture and a Holly Jolly Christmas
2. Jingle Jingle Jingle
3. We Are Santa's Elves
4. There's Always Tomorrow
5. We're A Couple Of Misfits
6. Silver and Gold/Most Wonderful Day of the Year
7. Most Wonderful Day Of The Year
8. Holly Jolly Christmas
9. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Finale)
10. Christmas Medley: The Night Before Christmas Song/A Merry Merry ...
11. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
12. There's Always Tomorrow
13. Jingle Jingle Jingle
14. We're A Couple Of Misfits
15. Silver And Gold
16. We Are Santa's Elves
17. Most Wonderful Day Of The Year
18. Holly Jolly Christmas
19. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5770 in Music
• Released on: 1995-06-01
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
It's not unreasonable for any child to believe that Burl Ives might really be Santa Claus. After all, Big Daddy Burl narrates the animated Christmas classic about Rudolph and he did have that belly that shook like a bowlful of jelly. After listening to this 19-song treasure trove of Christmas music from the animated show, adults might even believe Burl is St. Nick. All the hits are on this generous collection, including "Silver and Gold," "We're a Couple of Misfits," "A Holly Jolly Christmas," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," and "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year." Why look any further for Ives's Christmas treasures when they're collected here on one disc? --Martin Keller

Customer Reviews

The Original Recordings From The Acclaimed TV Special
Crediting this collection merely to Burl Ives has probably caused many to bypass it and assume it does not contain the original recordings from the Rankin-Bass tv special performed by all of the artists (not just Ives), when actually it does. These nine tracks are found at the beginning of the cd (the remaining ten are instrumental versions of the songs).

This is the only cd where you can get all of the Rudolph special's recordings. The holiday collection Rudolph, Frosty, and Friends comes close as it contains all but the instrumental overture and finale). You can also get five of the tracks from the Rudolph soundtrack spread out over Nick At Nite's A Classic Cartoon Christmas and A Classic Cartoon Christmas Too.

Whichever collection you purchase (I own them all), I guarantee they will make you feel like a kid again, no matter what your age is.

The soundtrack to the beloved 1964 Rankin/Bass holiday show
I have to admit I was surprised when I found out that "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," the beloved 1964 Rankin/Bass animagic television show, is the longest running holiday special. I do not know why I thought it came after "A Charlie Brown Christmas," but it indeed was produced a year earlier. The story is based on the song that Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy, made the second most popular Christmas song of the first half of the 20th-century, and the song is sung this time around by the story's narrator, Burl Ives, as Sam the Snowman. Consequently, the grandfatherly Ives, who began his career as a folksinger before turning into a more than credible actor ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), is probably the voice that most people today associate with the song. The explanation for that state of affairs is why this is the soundtrack for the longest running holiday special.

Because of Ives' popularity his name appears above the title on this soundtrack, but he only sings a few of the songs: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "A Holly Jolly Christmas," and "Silver and Gold." The other memorable songs are "Jingle Jingle Jingle," sung by Stan Francis as Santa; "We're a Couple of Misfits," sung by Rudolph (Billie Mae Richards) and Hermie (Paul Soles); and "There's Always Tomorrow," sung by Clarice (Janet Orenstein). The songs were written by Johnny Marks, who wrote both the original "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." When you check the playlist you will notice that there are 19 tracks, and the explanation for this largesse is that the "B" side of the original album consisted of instrumental versions of the songs played by the Decca Concert Orchestra. You have to give credit for filling up the album beyond the 15-minutes of singing from the special. However, for those who treasure this program, being able to sing along without having to wear out the videotape or DVD is a singular pleasure.

Burl Ives Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
This is one of Burl Ives greatest holiday albums.It's actually the soundtrack to Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer but will sound great during the holidays.This cd also has Instrumental Lush versions of these songs which is why I bought it.The Decca Concert Orchestra does these superveley.One of these songs Holly Jolly Christmas(instrumental version with the Decca Concert Orchestra)got played on beautiful music stations in the 70's and 80s.The vocal version of Holly Jolly Christmas by Ives on this cd is similar but not the same as the one on his other Christmas album it sounds a little different on this album.Most stations play his other version.Both versions of it's the most wonderful day and silver and gold are my favorites on this cd.I highley recommend this cd to Burl Ives fans as well as people that listen to beatiful music from the Decca Concert Orchestra.Other artist Christmas albums I recommend include Percy Faith,Roger Williams,Mantovani,The 101 Strings,Johnny Mathis,Tony Bennett,Kenny G,The Carpentars,Radio City Music Hall,Manhatten Transfer,Air Supply,Frank Sinatra and James Last just to name a few.