Track Listing

1. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
2. Coventry Carol
3. Good King Winceslas (instrumental)
4. The Little Drummer Boy
5. I Wonder As I Wander
6. Bring A Torch, Jeannette, Isabella (instrumental)
7. Down In Yon Forrest
8. The Carol Of The Birds
9. Angels We Have Heard On High (instrumental)
10. Ave Maria (german)
11. Mary's Wandering
12. Deck The Halls (instrumental)
13. Away In A Manger
14. Adeste Fidelis (instrumental)
15. Cantique De Noel (french)
16. What Child Is This
17. Silent Night
18. The First Noel
19. We Three Kings (instrumental)
20. Virgin Mary
21. Good Christian Kings (instrumental)
22. Burgundian Carol
23. Away In A Manger (french)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6505 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Customer Reviews

The perfect voice
Joan Baez has the perfect voice for these lovely old (or seemingly old) Christmas carols---a plangent, high, pure soprano. Only her fast vibrato keeps her from being mistaken for a Vienna choir boy.

It was eerie to hear her sing these carols again on CD, almost forty years after I first heard them on vinyl. In that decades-long interval, no one has ever managed to sing "The Little Drummer Boy" without sounding saccharine and/or lachrymose. I grew to despise the "rump bump bump bums" that resounded every Christmas season through elevators and K-Marts---until I heard Joan sing the song again. Somehow her straightforward presentation, with medieval-sounding accompaniment turns this 1940's chestnut into a haunting Childe ballad.

This CD has a good mix of traditional carols, and some that may sound unfamiliar, e.g. "Down in Yon Forrest." For those of us who still remember the original vinyl release, there is the pleasant surprise of six additional songs.

Another new add-on is "The Making of Noël"-liner notes by none other than Peter Schickele, the discoverer of that 'highly figmental composer' P.D.Q. Bach! Schickele also happened to write the arrangements for this album of Christmas songs back in 1965, and talks about his experiences with Joan Baez.

The original liner notes---a poem by Joan Baez---are also included.

It was worth 5 stars the FIRST time ...
now, the remastered release adds several tracks not present on the original. How could it get any better that that?

Being almost as old as Joan Baez is, I am now finally replacing my 60s LPs with CDs, remembering, recapturing a time I thought behind me. This recording of Joan Baez is different from her usual, as it is of traditional pieces, not of political protest. One gets to hear her voice, her lovely voice, and not be conflicted with a contrary point of view. Consequently it should be heard by a wider audience. This is about joy and the music simply sparkles

The hidden treat here is that the arrangements are by Prof Peter Schickele, too often unheralded for the excellent musician/musicologist he is aside from his more (n)famous PDQ Bach genre. I LOVE the percussive harpsichord in The Little Drummer Boy: it always gets REPEATS on my playlists.

I came searching Amazon for the album as originally released, and a can't be more pleased that it has 'grown', as well as matured. If pageants can be intimate, this sequence of vocal and instrumental tracks certainly qualifies.

A classic of the season
If, like me, you heard this record every December when you were growing up, this reissue is a must-have. It is one of those Christmas classics for me, up there with the Waverly Consort's Christmas and New York Pro Musica's Play of Herod. It is also (I have to admit) one of my favorite Joan Baez albums.
I have to disagree with one of the prior reviewers, who questioned the need for an expanded reissue. Now I have to admit my prejudice here--I love expanded reissues. I love hearing what got left off the initial release, even if it was deservedly omitted the first time. In this case, the expanded reissue is worth it, if just to hear Joan's rendition of "the First Noel."
There is, as other reviewers have noted, a dark side to this album, a dark side that keeps it from slipping into treacly sentimentality. For that and other reasons, it has staying power. Brava, Joan. Bravo, Peter Schickle, the arranger. And bravo to the Solomons, the original producers and creative force behind the album. This team would go on to make the great, now-forgotten BAPTISM, an even darker album of songs and poetry. But that's for another season.