A Christmas Gift of Love

Performer: Barry Manilow
Artist: Patrick Williams
Engineer: Bill Schnee; Scott Erickson
Producer: Robbie Buchanan; Barry Manilow
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Barry Manilow (vocals); Robbie Buchanan (arranger, conductor, keyboards); Jorge Calandrelli, Patrick Williams (arranger, conductor); John Pisano, Dean Parks, Ken Barry, Mike Thompson (guitar); Michael Lang (piano); Chuck Berghofer (bass); Gregg Field (drums). Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California and The Hop, Studio City, California. This is a Super Audio CD playable on only Super Audio CD players. Personnel: Barry Manilow (vocals); Robbie Buchanan (arranger, conductor, keyboards); Jorge Calandrelli, Patrick Williams (arranger, conductor); John Pisano, Dean Parks, Ken Barry, Mike Thompson (guitar); Michael Lang (piano); Chuck Berghofer (bass); Gregg Field (drums). Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California and The Hop, Studio City, California. What's a nice Jewish boy doing singing about Santa? Never you mind. Barry's been doing it for a while now, and A CHRISTMAS GIFT OF LOVE turns out to be his second album of holiday music in 12 years. Although this Brooklynite plays it safe with perfectly well done versions of perennials like "Winter Wonderland" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," he also does a fine job going off the beaten path in seeking out unexpected holiday fare. "White Christmas" may be a best-selling Christmas song that's been done ad nauseum, but few artists perform it as a swinging medley alongside the more obscure Irving Berlin nugget "Happy Holiday." Making like a Semitic Sinatra, Manilow offers arrangements that swing hard thanks to conductors including Patrick Williams and Ray Ellis. Other surprising inclusions are Joni Mitchell's "River" conducted and arranged by the legendary Paul Buckmaster and a lush version of Frank Loesser's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" that ends up being a nice respite from "Auld Lang Syne."

To many the very embodiment of the soft rock and middle-of-the-road genres, Barry Manilow became an international superstar in the 1970s with a string of hits combining heart-on-sleeve sentiment and finely crafted songs with slick, highly orchestrated production. His ultra-showbiz image (which was likely influenced by his early days as musical director for Bette Midler), appealed to an extremely wide audience. Although Manilow has long been regarded as the antithesis of hip, there is no denying his considerable talent, and his fans are among the most loyal (some might say fanatical) in pop music.

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