Don Campbell has just released his holiday CD A Don Campbell Christmas Volume 2, and it is certain to hit the emotional soft spot for those who love Christmas and those who love good music. Aside from the holiday themes, this CD also succeeds on the talent level of Campbell and his band. Each number, using a specific genre or by focusing on a specific instrument, makes a strong impression with an individual personality.
There are elements of pure country, folk, and rock and roll throughout, as if Campbell wants to put as many goodies as he can inside our auditory Christmas stockings. Campbell also shows his serious singer-songwriter side on his two originals, and he has an edgy, rocked up version of “Little Drummer Boy” to boot.
Campbell opens with “Jingle Bell Rock,” his smooth, mellifluous low tenor caressing the words with affection as a sweet guitar melody makes for good ear candy. Andy Happel’s fiddle makes the first of many joyful appearances on this CD and keeps it melodically perfect and country authentic.
“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” finds Campbell nailing the playful spirit of the song with his chirpy delivery. Sumner McKane’s electric guitar melody gives the tune plenty of grit and Happel’s fiddle pleases the ear with its country-fried phrases. “Sleigh Ride,” in Campbell’s hands, is a country pop crossover that captures the happy, jaunty playfulness of the tune with a fresh, warm interpretation.
Campbell reaches into the lower end of his handsome tenor on “The Christmas Song.” This mellow, down tempo holiday number gets a solidly new interpretation that still reminds of Frank Sinatra’s 1940s classic. The charm in this piece is found in Campbell’s steady vocal inflection, heart-felt, serious, and pensive. The take your time acoustic picking gives it a smooth flowing back up and Happel’s fiddle melody makes you feel the mood.
Believe it or not, Campbell turns “Frosty The Snowman” into a serious song. The country singer-songwriter delivery makes you feel a loss when Frosty leaves the yard and promises to come back some day. Bouncy electric guitar melody and the swaying country fiddle can actually make you picture the jolly snowman playing with the kids in the town square.
Campbell’s “Christmas Lights” gently presents its emotional overtones while Happel adds an additional texture of holiday vibe. We all remember how our neighbors and local business owners used to decorate their buildings with multi-colored light bulbs. Campbell turns those lights into metaphors of memories, and you will feel what he was likely feeling when he wrote this.
The time-honored classic “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” sails along with an easeful lift of rhythm underneath Campbell’s mellow delivery. This singer has one of those voices that can envelope the listener in its wide warm tone and carry you through its happy grooves. Bass player Tonya Shevenell( Campbell’s wife) teams with drummer Sean Daniels to put a lot of wind under the wings, keeping Campbell’s smooth honey flow voice aloft with palpable strength.
“Mary’s Boy Child” gets the serious acoustic treatment from Campbell’s delicately picked guitar notes and Happel’s tenderly pressed fiddle. The beauty of this song is in the careful vocal phrasing Campbell uses to wring out the fulsome meaning. Spiritual ebullience abounds between the softly sung lyrics as Campbell, backed by Happel’s fiddle voicing, fills in the depth with solid emotive vocal lines.
“Little Drummer Boy” comes complete with hefty opening chants, edgy guitar, stinging fiddle notes and Campbell’s persistent emphasis on the rhythmical lyrics. Drummer Sean Daniels keeps the meaningful snappy beat full of life as it lifts the flinty guitars and bass into a space somewhere between rock and spiritual. This one should be played on WOKQ and WODS immediately. It cries out for that kind of recognition.
Campbell wisely utilizes Dan Fogelberg’s “Same Old Lang Syne” as a melancholy view of the holiday season. Focused on a chance meeting with a former girlfriend, Campbell sings this one for its all its worth. The chorus is beautifully swelling with true feeling, and Campbell brings to life the reality of the disconnect between the two. The imagery of snow turning into rain is striking in Campbell’s rendering. Played as a mellow mood piano ballad, Campbell’s vocal here switch beautifully from lead to chorus. His steady, earnestness wrings the bittersweet emotion out of this tune with gratitude and respect for the memory of the past relationship.
“It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” sweeps the listener up in its warm, wide, take your time vibe. Campbell guides you through this peaceful song while Happel gives it a tender melody to sail you through the emotional content. Guitars here seem to hum the fulsome melody with their hearty notes. “O Christmas Tree” lives on as an appealing instrumental, with solemn piano tinkling and moody fiddle melody stretching this traditional holiday tune into universally beautiful and serious music. Again, you don’t necessarily have to appreciate these songs as holiday numbers to find the tremendous musicianship in them.
Campbell closes out this Christmas CD with his touching, patriotic composition “The Snow At Arlington.” Campbell reflects on the troops recently lost overseas from a unique perspective. A truck driver travels the highways between Maine and Arlington cemetery to delivery new Christmas wreaths to those who didn’t make it home for the holidays. His voice is full of feeling as he marks these years of loss at such an emotional time of year. Truly gifted, this singer-songwriter from Maine can make you feel what his song is all about.
A Don Campbell Christmas Volume2 will make a positive impression on any music fan during any time of year. It was recorded with honest tenderness and should be listened to with those you love.