Christmas
Lynda Randle
Lynda Randle is best known for her appearances on the Gaither Homecoming videos. Christmas is her first seasonal project for Gaither Music Group. Her last release for the label was God On The Mountain.
Fans may be surprised when they pop this CD in and hear a male voice instead of what they expected on several tracks. Although Randle's younger brother Michael Tait (of dc Talk and Tait fame) is merely listed as a producer, he's featured as a vocalist on several songs. In fact, Christmas is practically a duet project. Tait is the primary vocalist on "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "Cradle In Bethlehem," while getting considerable exposure vocally on "Winter Wonderland," "I Pray On Christmas" and other tracks. The outside packaging of the CD doesn't bring any of this to the buyer's attention, which is a strange omission considering Tait's genre crossing potential.
Christmas is made up entirely of standards, but I was pleased to note that Randle and Tait went for a stylistic blend that gave the project it's own unique tone. "Go Tell It On The Mountain" combines a cool piano intro with a walking bass guitar line and syncopated vocals. "Children Go Where I Send Thee" comes next with a droning banjo loop setting the tone while the Isaacs provide background vocals.
My favorite track is the cover of "I Pray On Christmas," written and recorded originally by Harry Connick Jr. on When My Heart Finds Christmas (1993). An uncredited piano player does an outstanding job approximating Connick's style while Randle's soulful alto vocals help set her version apart from Connick's choppier delivery. I'm guessing the piano player is Gordon Mote. Although not credited for piano, he's credited for playing "strings" and is known to be capable of playing this style.
I'm also impressed by Randle and Tait's version of the Nat King Cole tune "Cradle In Bethlehem" (written by Alfred Bryan and Larry Stock). Uncredited musicians provide a soothing backdrop to Tait's smooth vocal delivery. On "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," Randle demonstrates how she could have been a major pop music contender if she had been born 60 years earlier and given the opportunity to perform during the heyday of singers like Billie Holliday. The track is steeped in nostalgia, and the vocal is nigh perfect. "Sleep My Little Jesus" is a pleasing lullaby that would have been a great closing song. "Amen" feels tacked on and out of character musically with the rest of the CD, though Tait and Randle do a fine job presenting it in a traditional black gospel style.
I won't belabor the point about the printed CD info further, other than to say whoever was responsible at Gaither Music Group simply didn't do their job adequately. Background singers' names, engineers' names and locations where it was recorded are listed, and Gordon Mote and Eric Darken are listed for "strings" and "percussion" respectively, which is great. But who played guitar, bass, piano, etc.? This lack of information is minor beside the fact that Tait, who sings a major portion of this CD is only listed as a producer. OK...maybe I did belabor the point, but GMG is considered to be a top label. They ought to have their act together better than this.
That complaint aside, the sound of the CD is what fans are mostly interested in knowing about, and this is a very good Christmas CD. Although you won't get any new songs, you will get unique performances and musical arrangements from Tait and Randle. Although the recording has a few drawbacks, it's considerably above average overall and contains a few moments of musical brilliance that fans of traditional seasonal music should appreciate.
by David Bruce Murray
Rating: 4 STARS
Label: Gaither Music Group
Producers: Lynda Randle and Michael Tait
Song Titles: "Go Tell It On The Mountain," "Children Go Where I Send Thee," "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "I Pray On Christmas," "Silent Night," "Cradle In Bethlehem," "Winter Wonderland," "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," "Sleep My Little Lord Jesus," and "Amen"