Growing up as a child of the 60s I always thought of Andy Williams as someone that parents enjoyed…and that grandparents just LOVED! Williams' popular NBC variety show was a 3 time Emmy award winner, and millions of television sets next to the aluminum tree and color wheel were tuned in to his annual Christmas specials.

In 1963 The Andy Williams Christmas Album (the red one) was released and was a tremendous commercial success. Andy's version of" White Christmas" became a #1 pop single and the "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" became a holiday standard…and is in fact playing now at a shopping mall near you.

1965 brought the release of the companion album Merry Christmas (the green one).This record is a bit more subdued than the first one and never produced a huge single, but still makes for enjoyable holiday listening. The highlight of this record is the upbeat treatment of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.

These two records and the annual TV variety show helped define Christmas and the holiday season for many Americans during the 1960s. Williams' voice and the stellar arrangements don't seem dated and hold up very well. While holiday recordings from Frank, Bing, Dean and Tony have found a home in every hipster's holiday CD collection, Sony's Legacy label has given us the chance to add a little Andy.