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Christmas in Scandinavia (Axel Stordahl and his Orchestra and Chorus; Decca LP). An engaging collection of carols from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The album comes without translations, but it manages to make considerably fresher comments on the season than most of the competition.
Christmas Carols (The Randolph Singers, conducted by David Randolph; Westminster Stereo). The serious collector of carols could scarcely do better than this album. The Randolph group sings with sensitivity and precision, and the selections are ones that the listener is not likely to stumble across in a month of Christmases: Patapan; Saint Staffan; Quid Petis, O Fili; Bring a Torch, Jeanette.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Warner Bros. Stereo). An unlikely collection of 15 "Christmas favorites" by TV gumshoes, including Efrem (77 Sunset Strip) Zimbalist Jr. (Adeste Fideles), and cowpokes. notably Clint (Cheyenne) Walker (Silver Bells) and Ty (Bronco) Hardin ("It came upon ah mid-naht cleah"). Edd ("Kookie") Byrnes recites, to a cool jazz beat, a ditty called Yulesville: "'Twas the night before Christmas/ And all through the pad/ Not a hipcat was swingin'/ And that's nowhere, Dad."