"I wait for it the whole year 'round..."

Lovely collection of Christmas music. I especially enjoy the songs we don't hear over and over on typical Christmas albums, such as "Marshmellow World" and "Winter Romance." In my ever-growing collection of holiday music, this is one that gets played over and over again. Pity Christmas comes only once a year.

Cool Christmas

Dean may be gone, but he's still the coolest thing around. This is the music of Christmas. Of my 50 or so Christmas albums, this is the one I played over and over and over. Buy it...Dean won't let you down.

Dean Martin has a great time making spirits bright

"Making Spirits Bright" gets to be the definitive Dean Martin holiday record because it is able to drawn on the crooner's recordings for both Capitol and Reprise and the producers of this 1998 collection seem to have culled the best of both worlds. The only song that seems out of play is "Silent Night," because it is the only religious song among the 15 tracks, and having Dino sing "round young virgin, mother and child" on the same album where he is doing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" strains the limits of my acceptance. The album does have the virtue of beginning and ending with the quintessential Dean Martin holiday songs, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (the Capitol versions starts the album and the Reprise version finishes it off). There is an inherent casualness to the way Martin sings most of these songs, such as "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," "Blue Christmas," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" that is rather charming. It is impossible not to think of Martin singing these songs with a drink in one hand. Then again, how many holiday albums show a couple of champagne glasses on the cover? (and what did you think was meant by the "Spirits" in the title?). But Martin is not always out to have fun with each song, as he shows on "Silver Bells" and "White Christmas." Dean Martin as a sing of Christmas songs is certainly not to everyone's tastes, but if you are open to this type of holiday music then "Making Spirits Bright" is as good as it gets.