Over the past decade, we here at TSD have happily partnered with Real Gone Music on an array of Christmas releases from such evergreen artists as Johnny Mathis, The Supremes, Chet Atkins, Connie Smith, and Robert Goulet.  But our newest yuletide title is from our biggest ever group - bigger than Mitch Miller and His Gang or Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra!  On November 22, we're proud to reissue the very first Christmas album from a group numbering 360 members: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Today known as The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has long provided the soundtrack of Christmas.  The all-volunteer choir's lush and majestic sound is one of the most distinctive in American popular song, and that's in no small part due to the group's legacy of Christmas albums.  That legacy, which is still going strong today, began in 1957 with the Columbia Masterworks release of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols.

Though the Choir made its first recordings in 1910, Christmas Carols was their first seasonal set, and quickly became a beloved perennial in the Columbia catalogue.  Eight years later, with stereo sound having all but taken over, the album was re-recorded, and the original LP disappeared...until now!  Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are proud to celebrate the season with the first-ever authorized reissue of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols in all its gorgeous mono splendor.

Christmas music has never sounded so stirring and inspirational as on this set of fifteen classic carols and hymns, backed by the monumental 11,623-pipe organ at the Salt Lake Tabernacle.  The choir performed under the direction of J. Spencer Cornwall, with the organ played by Alexander Schreiner and Frank W. Asper.

We've added four rare period bonus tracks originally released between 1957 and 1959 (in stereo) to this essential package.  It's all been newly remastered from the original Columbia Masterworks tapes by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, and a 12-page booklet contains new liner notes from TSD's Joe Marchese which explore The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's history of Christmas music.  The most wonderful time of the year has just gotten a bit more wonderful with the authorized CD premiere of this lost classic from "America's Choir" that's sure to enliven your Christmas morning.

Look for The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols on November 22 from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records.  You'll find pre-order links and the track listing below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols: Expanded Edition (Columbia Masterworks ML 5222, 1957 - reissued Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records RGM-1880, 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

1. Joy to the World
2. When Jesus Was a Little Child
3. Away in a Manger
4. A Boy Is Born
5. There Shall Be a Star from Jacob
6. Come, O Come, Emmanuel
7. Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains
8. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)
9. What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)
10. Beautiful Savior (The Crusader's Hymn)
11. Carol of the Nativity
12. Tell Us, Shepherd Maids
13. The Holy City
14. I Heard the Bells
15. Silent Night
16. The Three Kings (from The Lord Is My Shepherd, Columbia Masterworks MS 6019 1958)
17. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - with The Philadelphia Orchestra (from The Beloved Choruses, Columbia Masterworks MS 6058, 1958)
18. Hallelujah Chorus - with The Philadelphia Orchestra (from The Beloved Choruses, Columbia Masterworks MS 6058, 1958)
19. For Unto Us a Child Is Born - with The Philadelphia Orchestra (from The Lord's Prayer, Columbia Masterworks MS 6068, 1959)​