Lynn Anderson - The Christmas Album (Remastered, Expanded Edition) (1971/2016)

With the phenomenal success of her 1970 single “Rose Garden,” Lynn Anderson was launched into the ranks of country and pop superstardom. The Grammy Award-winning singer’s string of No. 1 hits made her a chart fixture in the 1970s, and, indeed, one of the most successful artists of all time. Among her most beloved recordings is 1971’s The Christmas Album, which arrived on Columbia Records while Lynn was still riding high from the worldwide success of “Rose Garden.” Christmas Album, produced in Nashville by her then-husband Glenn Sutton, featured Music City’s A-team of musicians on a festive collection of both familiar and original yuletide tunes. In addition to her spirited revivals of “Frosty the Snowman,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Lynn introduced “Ding-a-Ling the Christmas Bell” and “Mr. Mistletoe,” and in a classic three-hanky country weeper, insisted, “Don’t Wish Me Merry Christmas.” The Christmas Album placed high on the Billboard Christmas chart in the year of its release, becoming a Yuletide perennial for her legions of fans. However, the album has only seen a limited CD release that came and went, and fetches three-figure sums. Now, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records have come to the rescue with the first-ever expanded CD reissue of this Christmas classic. This new edition of The Christmas Album includes the original album as well as four super-rare bonus tracks, all of which make their debut on CD: the mono mixes of “Ding-a-Ling the Christmas Bell,” “Frosty the Snowman,: and “Don’t Wish Me Merry Christmas” (complete with spoken word intros/outros) that appeared on the special Christmas Seals promotional singles Lynn recorded in 1971 and 1972 as the charity’s ambassador. It’s all been beautifully remastered by Vic Anesini at Sony’s Battery Studios, and Joe Marchese has written the liner notes placing the album in context of Lynn’s groundbreaking career. Lynn Anderson was just 67 years old when she passed away earlier this year, but her original Christmas Album stands as a happy and spirited tribute to her enduring legacy.