What Would Christmas Be...

... without a Christmas Organ record?

Well, fear not, fret little, and rejoice heartily!  Here today I have for you "Merry Christmas" by George Wright playing a selection of Christmas songs on the Wurlitzer Pipe Organ and the New York Paramount Theatre.

The notes on the back of the album cover are quite descriptive, setting the mood, describing the mighty Wurlitzer organ, informing us about the percussion instruments heard in accompaniment, and even providing technical details about the recording.  Kudos to the copy writer for Hi Fidelity Recordings.

This is really good album of Christmas music.  To me, it stands in the upper tier of albums of organ music, primarily because of the song selections.  There are some old standards like "Jingle Bells", "White Christmas", "Deck the Halls" and others.  But there are also some others that won't be commonly found, or, in the case of "Holly", Mr. Wright's own composition, anywhere else.  "The Little Red Monkey" is a piece of Christmas mischief, perhaps even better suited on a Halloween album.  The album closes with "Christmas Fantasy", a lengthy arrangement featuring themes from many Christmas songs expertly arranged and blended, a fitting finale to a really nice record.

For your pre-Christmas Sunday, here is "Merry Christmas" by George Wright.

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