John Denver Christmas

John Denver Christmas

Louise Gold featured as a Muppet Performer providing background vocals on John Denver & The Muppets A Christmas Together.

Catalogue number: (Delta CD) 24 492

Cast

John Denver And The Muppets A Christmas Together

Muppet

Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and, Animal - Frank Oz

Robin, Floyd, and, Lew Zealand - Jerry Nelson

Scooter, Janice, Staler, and, Beaker - Richard Hunt

The Great Gonzo, Zoot, Beauregard, and, Dr Bunsen Honeydew - Dave Goelz

Kermit The Frog, Waldorf, and, Dr Teeth - Jim Henson

Also featuring The Muppet Performers - Louise Gold, Kathryn Mullen, and, Steve Whitmire

Musicans

Vocals, 6 & 12-string guitars - John Denver

Drums, and, Percussion - Hal Blaine

Electric & Acoustic Guitars, and, Dobro - James Burton

Bass - Emory Gordy Jr

Keyboards - Glen D Hardin

Reeds - Jim Horn

Banjo, Electric & Acoustic Guitars - Herb Pederson

Acoustic Guitar - Denny Brooks

Mandolin, and, Harmonica - Danny Wheetman

John Denver Christmas Like A Lullaby

John Denver and ? Company

Production Team

Produced by Delta Entertainment Corporation

Track Listing

John Denver And The Muppets A Christmas Together - (Laserlight Digital CD, 2002) 12 761

1. The Twelve Days Of Christmas - John and The Cast (John Denver and The Cast)

2. The Peace Carol - John, Scooter, and the cast (John Denver, Richard Hunt, and, The Cast (definitely includes Dave Goelz and probably includes the rest of The Eight)

3. Christmas Is Coming - Miss Piggy, The Great Gonzo, Scooter, and, Robin (Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, and, Jerry Nelson)

4. A Baby Just Like You - John (John Denver)

5. Deck The Halls - The cast (The Cast (includes: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen, probably includes Steve Whitmire))

6. Noel: Christmas Eve 1913 - John (John Denver)

7. The Christmas Wish - Kermit The Frog (Jim Henson)

8. Medley

Alfie: The Christmas Tree - John (John Denver)

Carol For A Christmas Tree - The cast (The Cast (Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen))

It’s In Every One Of Us - John and the cast (John Denver and The Cast (Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen))

9. Silent Night, Holy Night - John and The cast (John Denver and The Cast (Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen))

10. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - John, Miss Piggy, Animal, The Great Gonzo, Kermit, and, Floyd and the cast (John Denver, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jim Henson and Jerry Nelson, with Richard Hunt, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen)

John Denver Christmas Like A Lullaby - (Laserlight Digital CD) 12 762

1. Christmas Like A Lullaby

2. The First Noel

3. Away In A Manger

4. The Children Of Bethlehem

5. Jingle Bells

6. White Christmas

7. Marvelous Toy

8. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

9. The Christmas Song

10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

John Denver and The Muppets (Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen), along with Hal Blaine, James Burton, Emoy Gordy Jr, Glen D Hardin, Jim Horn, Herb Pederson, Denny Brooks, and, Danny Wheetman had appeared together on the album John Denver And The Muppets A Christmas Together, from which their tracks on this album come. Those tracks also appear on Christmas For Kids. Three tracks from that album, two of which turn up here, were also released as a single John Denver & The Muppets Merry Christmas 45RPM.

Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen were the eight main puppeteers on The Muppet Show, on which John Denver had been a guest star.

The Muppet Show Eight ( Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen) also puppeteered on The Great Muppet Caper, and, The Muppets Go To The Movies. They featured on the documentary Of Muppets And Men. Their recording credits include: The Muppet Show Music Album, The Great Muppet Caper (Soundtrack album), Favourite Songs From Jim Henson’s Muppets, Put Some Zing In Your Spring, Muppet Music Sampler, Muppet Hits 1, Muppet Hits 2, Muppet Music Mix, and, Music Mayhem & More.

The Big Five (Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and, Dave Goelz), plus Louise Gold puppeteered on The Royal Variety Performance (1977). Their recording credits include The Muppet Show Music Hall, The Muppet Show 2, For What It’s Worth, and, Jim Henson Presents Silly Songs.

Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen puppeteered on The Dark Crystal, for which Jerry Nelson did some voice work.

Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, and, Kathryn Mullen went on to puppeteer on Labyrinth.

Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen went on to puppeteer at Jim Henson’s Memorial Service.

Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, and, Louise Gold puppeteered together on The Muppet Christmas Carol, and, Muppet Treasure Island. Their recording credits include The Muppet Christmas Carol (Soundtrack album). They also went on to take part in the documentary I Love The Muppets.

Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen puppeteered together on Sesame Street.

Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and, Louise Gold’s recording credits include Born To Add.

Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and, Louise Gold’s recording credits include Elmo’s Lowdown Hoedown.

Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, and, Louise Gold puppeteered on The Animal Show, on which Frank Oz made an appearance as a guest puppeteer.

Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, Kathryn Mullen had appeared in The All Time Get Around Sometimes Play Together Every Other Friday Night Vaudeville Show.

Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, and, Dave Goelz did voice-work for the British outerspace segments on the international Fraggle Rock, on which Louise Gold puppeteered.

Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, and, Louise Gold’s recording credits include Jerome Kern The First 100 Years.

Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, and, Louise Gold puppeteered on The Secret Life Of Toys.

Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, and, Louise Gold’s recording credits include A Green And Red Christmas.

Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and, Louise Gold’s recording credits include The Count’s Countdown, however there has been some debate as to whether Louise Gold actually sang on it.

Jim Henson, Richard Hunt, Steve Whitmire, and, Louise Gold puppeteered on Tale Of The Bunny Picnic.

Richard Hunt, and, Louise Gold puppeteered on The Ghost Of Faffner Hall.

Jim Henson appeared on the documentary Inside The Labyrinth.

Steve Whitmire probably puppeteered on ITV’s 50 Greatest Shows.

Review

Definitely one of the better Christmas song compilation CD sets. Well sometimes the choices and arrangements on these sort of albums can be enough to make anyone as cynical as the scrooge-like counterpoint in Jason Carr’s Christmas Is New Once More. First of all we have the class Muppet album John Denver And The Muppets A Christmas Together. Unfortunately this is the version where three tracks were omitted, though fortunately they are not missed too greatly, even if it would have been nice to have them. The remaining ten tracks, featuring the combined talents of the TMS Eight, capture the spirit of the classic Muppets at their height.

Secondly there is an album I was not familiar with before, John Denver Christmas Like A Lullaby. This proves to be a pleasant compilation album of songs. The sleeve notes are somewhat sparse on this album, failing to explain who the backing vocalists are (the sleeve notes have concentrated on the first album rather than the second). This album starts with a distinctly religious flavour, but that is only the first four tracks, the remaining six are rather more secular. In this way the album is actually quite inclusive, perhaps something of a rarity in Christmas albums. Yet in these politically correct times this album does strike a balance. By and large John Devner sounds like he is trying to be David Essex. Of the songs themselves, some stand out. Jingle Bells is satisfactory. White Christmas has a somewhat peculiar arrangement, this is not unpleasant, just bizzare (a bit like the sort of thing Jason Carr might do when arranging a classic, although not with Mr Carr’s sense of style). The Country And Western style, Marvelous Toy is probably one of the least well known songs on the album, and therefore one of the most interesting, it is a shame therefore that John Denver’s diction on it left a lot to be desired, it would have been nice to have been able to hear the lyrics clearly. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is most annoyingly catchy. Although I think it is a fun Christmas song, it can also be rather irritating as, like Spitting Image’s infamous Chicken Song it is one of those songs that once you’ve heard it you can’t escape it. It is apt to pop into ones head at the most inconvenient times (such as when trying to sleep and it is no lullaby). As for another great Christmas classic, the beautiful Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, of course John Denver sings it adequately, with good vocal technique. However, I think it doesn’t really quite suite his voice. Judy Garland of course did it to perfection; while I have also heard it sung with a lot of genuine feeling by Rebecca Thornhill and Louise Davidson. Yet for all that it ends the album pleasantly.

So is this album worth getting. Well if you want a decent Christmas compilation for background music, then yes it would be a perfectly respectable choice, certainly ever so much better than Christmas For Kids. And overall both parts of the album strike a good balance between the religious and the secular, therefore parts of it will probably appeal to most people. As an album featuring The Muppets it is not really worth getting, as one can buy a more complete version of that CD on its own anyway. As for West End actress Louise Gold, although she does provide good strong backing vocals on the Muppet album, it doesn’t exactly show off her talents (The Muppet Christmas Carol Soundtrack would be a better choice there). So overall this is a satisfactory Christmas album, but don’t pay too much for it.

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