I try every year to pick up a new Holiday/Christmas album. Usually it’s something unusual. I think last year I downloaded “She & Him – A Very She & Him Christmas”, before that was “Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

This year with the wedding on December 27th, Christmas has sort of taken a back seat and it’s taken me a while to get into the mood, but I’m coming around.

Around my birthday I saw a Christmas album at Frugal Muse that made me chuckle. I didn’t buy it, but it stayed in my mind. I asked mom about it last week when we had her over for dinner one night. I recall the album cover distinctly. I tried to find it on my phone to download from Amazon MP3, but the cover didn’t match the one I remembered and it seems that there have been MANY from this particular artist. I was only interested in this particular one.

I kind of put it out of my mind. At that point I was still mentally boycotting Christmas anyway.

Today we went out running errands and I ended up at Frugal Muse and they still had the album… waiting for me. It was only $2.98 and for pure nostalgia I bought it. I’m playing it as I write this and damn it!… I love it. I remember this playing at Christmas back in the day when I was little, on the console stereo, and being too young to be cynical, this is how I learned some of the Christmas songs I love still today.

The album?

“Johnny Mathis – Merry Christmas”

Tried to get the snow covered Wisconsin outside in the picture too.

This album is about as smooth as is it comes. Johnny Mathis has a voice like melted butter and as I recall we had several of his, but this is the one I recall coming out during the days when I would play outside until I was frozen and then come in and sit on the floor register in our old house and thawing out. Johnny was on the turntable and it was idyllic.

Even the orchestra is giving me a warm fuzzy today.

Good job Johnny.

I’m putting you next to Lynn Anderson, Cindy’s childhood Christmas favorite.

And to all a good night.