Los Angeles, California: Although Melanie included a Christmas song on her very first LP, 1968’s Born To Be, it was not until the mid-1990s that she turned her attention towards a full festive offering.
Antlers was destined to become one of the most successful and beloved of her “later” albums, an independent release in 1996 that she would subsequently revisit and rearrange on several occasions in the future, while occasionally dropping brand new seasonal singles online, as well.
Now the very best of these releases has been brought together for the first time as Melanie’s Christmas Treasury - a beautifully arranged and pristinely produced collection of both Melanie’s own Xmas compositions and the all-time favorites that need no introduction.
The album itself will be out on November 7. But today we get our first taste of what’s to come, via what she and her son and musical collaborator Beau Jarred described as the “rock version” of “Good King Wenceslaus,” vivaciously electrifying an Antlers chestnut and certain to become a fresh fan favorite.
SINGLE: https://orcd.co/melanie_goodkingwenceslasrockversion
“Momma loved Christmas,” recalls Beau Jarred, “but musically, she had her own very unique take on it. Even when she was singing a song that everybody knows, she was able to make it her own, at the same time as she was writing new Christmas songs that a lot of people were convinced were traditional numbers.”
Much of Melanie’s Christmas Treasury is making its CD and vinyl debut with this release. Antlers alone saw a full CD appearance, while other cuts - including an astonishing six song session with rockabilly maestro Danny B Harvey - have only ever seen digital release in the past,
These include the spoken word passages that bookend the treasury, introducing “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” and rereading the evergreen “Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus”; the timeless “Will Peace Come In Time For Christmas”; and the all-season, all-purpose, festive potpourri that is “Christmahanavaloween.”
Looking at the calendar, it still seems a little early to be thinking about the holidays… could we at least get Halloween, Thanksgiving and Black Friday out of the way first?
At the same time, though, it’s never too early to begin preparing the playlists that will swing us through these last weeks of the year, and “Good King Wenceslaus” is certainly a great place to begin!
CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=melanie+christmas+treasury
DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/melanie_christmastreasury
Track listing
- Introduction
- Santa Claus is Coming to Town
- Ships In The Harbor
- Virgin Mary
- I Saw Three Ships
- Tin Star
- Silent Night
- True Believers (upbeat version)
- Come All Ye Faithful
- Hallelujah
- Christmas Lullaby
- Tonight’s The Kind of Night
- Marvelous Toy
- We Wish You A Merry Christmas
- What Child Is This
- The First Noel
- O Holy Night
- Coventry Carol
- Good King Wenceslaus (rock version)
- It’s Christmas
- Christmahanavaloween
- Will Peace Come In Time For Christmas
- Yes Virginia, There is a Santa
