Leroy Anderson The Complete Christmas Collection (2-CD Set)

Having released Christmas collections from Percy Faith, Ray Conniff, Fred Waring, Mantovani, Andre Kostelanetz, and more, we at Real Gone Music have hit just about every note in our survey of great, holiday-themed easy listening records and artists. But one iconic orchestral bandleader remains to be addressed, except that this one made a name for himself more as a composer than a conductor. Leroy Anderson, the man no less an authority than John Williams labeled 'one of the great American masters of light orchestral music,' and author of such wildly inventive works as 'The Syncopated Clock' and 'The Typewriter,' first gained fame by composing pieces for Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, then went on to score the first-ever million-selling instrumental single with 1951's 'Blue Tango.' In 1955, Anderson put his limitless creativity to work recording his first-ever holiday release, Christmas Carols; the album proved to be such a success that he re-recorded it in 1959 with a new song sequence under the name Christmas Festival (named after the marvelous concert overture that begins the record). Neither album, the mono 1955 release or the 1959 stereo release, have come out on CD (the 1959 release was issued on CD in mono); we've put both albums together on one 2-CD set and added bonus mono and stereo versions of the Anderson classic 'Sleigh Ride' (all remastered by Tom Pickles) to create The Complete Christmas Collection! And to top it off, Leroy's son Kurt Anderson has provided us with personal, in-depth liner notes and photos from the family archives to fashion the ultimate Yuletide treat for fans of this American music giant.