The debut vinyl release of Natalie Cole’s bestselling, 1994 holiday album, Holly & Ivy is now available., Holly & Ivy has been remastered by George Horn and Anne-Marie Suenram at Fantasy Studios and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. A CD reissue will be released on the same day. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the acclaimed album—which was the first of several holiday outings in Cole’s career.
Cole was inspired to record Holly & Ivy after a call from longtime friend and prolific songwriter Michael Masser. Collaborating with the legendary lyricist Gerry Goffin, Masser had written an original holiday song entitled \"No More Blue Christmas’\" with the singer in mind. From there, Cole decided to make an entire album of Christmas music, following in the footsteps of her father—singer Nat King Cole—whose LP, The Magic of Christmas, was the top-selling holiday title of the 1960s, and whose rendition of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” is one of the most famous yuletide recordings in history.
Co-Produced by Tommy LiPuma, Holly & Ivy offers an R&B twist on holiday favorites and features several songs which Cole’s father had made popular decades before, including “Caroling, Caroling,” “The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot,” and, of course, “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).” Also of note is an exuberant, gospel rendition of “Joy to the World,” featuring the choir from the Los Angeles Friendly Baptist Church, as well as Cole’s take on the bluesy “Merry Christmas Baby.” Accompanying the singer are a host of talented players—jazz pianist Cedar Walton, drummer Harold Jones, and R&B artist Patrice Rushen on keyboards—among them.
