Robert,

This album has always been largely a mystery; and it's one of the few recordings in my collection that I could never find the original LP for -- if indeed there ever was one. It is represented in my collection by the Columbia Records reissue CD, which was released on their "CBS Special Products" label.

Chip,

Thank you for the information about the Jack Dorsey CD. I'll keep up the search!

A quick story if I may... When I was a kid we had just a few Christmas LP's consisting of the mono version of Music Of Christmas, the Longines Symphonette Society's 'Twas The Night Before Christmas 4 LP box set, the Goodyear LP The Joyous Songs of Christmas, and John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas.

About 8 years ago, I decided that I wanted to purchase these same Christmas releases for my collection and I was able to get the Percy Faith and John Denver on CD and I bought the Longines set and the Goodyear release on LP and had them transferred to CD. Delighted with my purchases, I started searching the internet for lists of the essential Christmas albums and that's when I came across your posting of the Top 500. I started off buying most of the Collector's Choice and the Real Gone Music releases and decided to dig deeper. Now, all these years later, I have 248 of your 250 1st Tier and 2nd Tier listings in my collection. The only LP's that I haven't been able to find are the Christmas Roses CD (#170) and The Merriest Of Christmas Pops LP (#233), featuring Esquivel & Ray Martin. (although the 6 Esquivel tracks are collected on the Merry X-Mas From The Space-Age Bachelor Pad CD released on Bar/None Records in 1996). So, I just wanted to thank you for posting your Top 500 list! You turned me on to a lot of great music that I otherwise never would have ever thought of buying.

Best regards,

Rob

That's terrific, Rob! I'm so glad to hear that you've pretty much duplicated the 1st and 2nd Tiers of my Top 500.

You should eventually be able to pick up The Merriest Of Christmas Pops LP on eBay, as it appears there from time to time.

My 3rd Tier is a smaller collection -- consisting of only 50 albums -- but there are a lot of worthwhile things to pick up there. There are a lot of worthwhile things in the Bubbling Under section as well, but if you decided to stop at the 3rd Tier, you'd be in really good shape.

Thanks for being such a dedicated fan, Rob!

Hi Chip,

Thanks for the encouragement. I agree that there are many solid releases in your 3rd Tier, Bubbling Under, and Notable Mentions listings.

I've had the Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic's Joy of Christmas, along with the Don Ho and The Randy Van Horne Singers albums for some time. I'm also a big fan of the John Klein release on Real Gone Music, as well as the remaining Johnny Mathis albums, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, and the Kenny Burrell releases. Last but not least, I've enjoyed the Jim Nabors and June Christy CD's quite a bit. There's no shortage of good stuff here. I look forward to digging a little deeper!

All the best,

Rob

Hi Chip,

    Well, I am happy to report that I have finally obtained the long sought out Christmas Roses CD! What a nice surprise. The disc is really quite good and I thoroughly enjoyed the arrangements throughout. I've listened to it a handful of times since getting it last week and I am certain that it will be in my permanent CD rotation.

    I was surprised to see that Columbia Records released a second Jack Dorsey & His Orchestra Christmas CD, Jingle Bell Country on it's CBS Special Products label in 1989 with additional material from Studio One Records And Tapes, the same label that licensed the material that is collected on Christmas Roses. So, I'm hoping that the material on both discs might be from the same sessions? I've done some digging online but have found no information on session details for these releases and as you stated previously, it's unlikely that these were ever released on LP. Do you have the Jingle Bell Country CD in your collection, and if so, can you share any feedback about it? As for Christmas Roses, thanks for turning me on to yet another winner!

Take care,

Rob

Glad you found it, Robert! Did you find it on eBay? As for Christmas Country, no I don't have that reissue. As far as the session dates are concerned, it's hard to say because this recording is such an enigma.