Gary's Christmas Music Awards

Here are the favorite versions of my favorite Christmas songs (in no particular order). I include the version because sometimes that makes all the difference.

Stille Nacht (Manheim Steamroller)
For Unto Us (Glad)
Christmas Bride (The Ray Conniff Singers)
Do You Hear What I Hear (Martina McBride)
Away in a Manager (Acappella)
The Night Before Christmas (Amy Grant)
O Holy Night (Collin Raye)
Jingle Bells (The Ray Conniff Singers)

Best Christmas album ever: the original Ray Conniff Singers Christmas album

Current favorite Christmas album to listen to: Mercy Me's "The Christmas Sessions"

Most underrated Christmas carol: The First Noel

Favorite instrumental that's really not about Christmas but is on a Christmas album: Highland Cathedral (on Amy Grant's "A Christmas to Remember" album)

Favorite Christmas song that nobody knows that was written for a movie: "Somewhere in My Memory" from Home Alone (written by John Williams)

Favorite Christmas song that few know because only one group (that I'm aware of) ever recorded it: Christmas Bride from the Ray Conniff Singers (in the right hands this could be a number one hit for someone today)

Coolest Christmas album: Chicago XXV

Most moving instrumental version of a Christmas song ever: Stille Nacht by Manheim Steamroller

Neat songs about Mary and Joseph: "One Quiet Moment" (Glad), "Joseph's Lullaby" (Mercy Me)

Underrated carols that few people sing: "Bring Me a Torch, Jeannette Isabella", "Still, Still, Still", "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", and "The Holly and the Ivy"

Best duet of a Christmas song that I heard on a TV special but have never found on an album: "The First Noel" (Boyz II Men and Kenny Rogers)