Whenever I hear the opening strains of Gleason’s take on “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”, I know it’s the holiday season.
There are times throughout the year that I think of this album and want so much to play it, but I refrain from doing so because it means that much more when I hear this album in December.
This past Saturday evening, Ms. Birri and I indulged in this holiday season's first spin of Jackie Gleason's masterpiece "Merry Christmas," by far the most depressing Christmas album ever made.
We have a pair matching vintage aperitif glasses that say "Florida." Ms. Birri enjoyed rye, and I enjoyed some Bailey's.
The sun had set, and it was the perfect hour for appreciating the Maestro's artistry.
This past Saturday evening, Ms. Birri and I indulged in this holiday season's first spin of Jackie Gleason's masterpiece "Merry Christmas," by far the most depressing Christmas album ever made.
We have a pair matching vintage aperitif glasses that say "Florida." Ms. Birri enjoyed rye, and I enjoyed some Bailey's.
The sun had set, and it was the perfect hour for appreciating the Maestro's artistry.
This past Saturday evening, Ms. Birri and I indulged in this holiday season's first spin of Jackie Gleason's masterpiece "Merry Christmas," by far the most depressing Christmas album ever made.
We have a pair matching vintage aperitif glasses that say "Florida." Ms. Birri enjoyed rye, and I enjoyed some Bailey's.
The sun had set, and it was the perfect hour for appreciating the Maestro's artistry.
#GleasonisTheReasonforTheSeason
I can't help but wonder if titling the album "Merry Christmas" was an act of subtle subversion.
Capitol's copy writers seemed to be having a little fun with the liner notes.
I can't help but wonder if titling the album "Merry Christmas" was an act of subtle subversion.
Capitol's copy writers seemed to be having a little fun with the liner notes.
I’m sure I’ve gone on and on about how much I like those Gleason album liner notes. That quality makes their anonymity all the more frustrating, because they are more often than not, brilliantly and subversively written.
"The melodies are familiar ones, but their settings are most certainly not, for even 'Jingle Bells' emerges as a lovely, almost haunting thing in the hands of Jackie Gleason..."
I imagine the first draft read more like this:
"The melodies are familiar ones, but their settings are most certainly not, for even 'Jingle Bells' emerges as a suicidal dirge that only the warped mind of Jackie Gleason could have conceived..."
