CD Review: Ruth Manning – Christmas Feeling
by Ritchie Ritchison for Country Music News International
- Angels Sang Hallelujah
- Honky Tonk Christmas
- The Gift
- Good Old Fashioned Country Christmas
- Pretty Paper
- Christmas on the Farm
- All Because of a Baby Boy
- What Child is This
- That Christmas
- Christmas Feeling
- Silent Night
Ruth Manning’s newest release is her second Christmas offering and it is a good one. Eleven tracks mixing the sacred and the secular, the classic and the new.
The album is solid with only one or two drawbacks so let’s get those out of the way first. For the most part the music selected for this album is excellent and the originals are well written. But I must say that choosing to include yet another version of Willie Nelson’s Pretty Paper was not a great choice. There is nothing wrong with Ruth’s version it is just that there are a dozen or more versions just as good or better. And it is not the classic that everyone makes it out to be.
The range of material on this album is great though. Honky tonk, Bakersfield, and ballads give the album something for everyone. I especially like that Ruth chose one of Buck Owens’ classics Good Old Fashioned Country Christmas because I have rarely heard anyone cover this song in recent years and she does a great job on it.
The originals That Christmas, Christmas Feeling, Christmas on the Farm and the opening track Angel Sang Hallelujah are all well written compositions and should be added to your Christmas playlist for years to come.
As I mentioned this is Ruth’s second holiday offering and it is a gift worth opening!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
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