For their
Christmas
album,
the Everly Brothers
opted for the most traditional approach possible, enlisting the help of
the Boys Town Choir
and the Boys Town organ in Omaha, NE. The 33-member choir gets co-billing on the disc, and they earn it. They have two songs,
"Away in a Manger"
and
"Angels, From the Realm of Glory,"
entirely to themselves, and they sometimes dominate the tracks they share with
, who often seem to check in during the middle of the song for only a chorus.
Don Everly
is heard without his brother on
"What Child Is This?,"
then leaves the spotlight to
Phil Everly
for
"O Little Town of Bethlehem."
But
backs them up regardless. One might have hoped for something livelier in a
holiday
collection from
, but that does not detract from a release that takes a "choir boy" approach in more ways than one. [The 2005 reissue adds one bonus track,
"The First Noel."
] ~ William Ruhlmann