Christmas in July

North Cape May, NJ (PRWEB) July 18, 2007

With the sun blazing overhead and temperatures soaring, it's time to turn thoughts away from the dog days of summer to something more timeless: Christmas. The holiday is only six months away, making this is the perfect time to obtain a copy of a true masterpiece that is now available - American Christmas Classics - an all-embracing collection of some of the most beloved holiday songs, sung by the original artists and compiled into a beautifully detailed hardbound book and CD collection compiled by lifelong Christmas aficionado Ronald J. Clancy.

American Christmas Classics contains well-loved standards such as "White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby, "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole, "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry, and "The Little Drummer Boy" by the Harry Simeone Chorale, as well as the hard to find original mono single version of "The Little Drummer Boy."

"I thought it would be a great idea to combine great recordings of holiday songs with richly illustrated books containing complete lyrics and the stories behind the songs," said Clancy, who spent more than 12 years researching and obtaining copyrights for these extraordinary anthologies.

With American Christmas Classics you can:

• Read the richly illustrated history about American Christmas music and hear how carols and seasonal favorites sounded from the Revolutionary War era to the 20th century.
• Relive America's "Golden Age of Christmas Music" from 1934-1958 when the finest holiday songs, still popular today, were first released, and enjoy the wonderful images of America's Christmas past, including Christmas cards from the Victorian Age, illustrated covers from The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Scribner's, McCall's, and LIFE magazine.
• Reflect upon the spiritual heritage of the American Christmas with world renowned carols, including O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away In a Manger, We Three Kings of Orient Are, and It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.
• Experience the wonders of The Carol of the Bells, its tune of Ukrainian origin, and the soulful Mary Had A Baby or its spiritual cousin Go Tell It On the Mountain, both of African-American roots, and the folk classics, Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head and I Wonder As I Wander, from the hills of Appalachia.

American Christmas Classics is part of The Millennia Collection series which, when complete, will be the most comprehensive history of Christmas songs ever assembled, with each containing historical perspective, art, song lyrics and music CDs. Carols are performed by legends such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Vienna Boys Choir and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, while the artwork is by masters who include Norman Rockwell, Rembrandt, Botticelli, N.C. Wyeth and Grandma Moses. Each volume arrives in a color, hinged box containing a lavishly illustrated hardcover book and the lyrics to each song that are included on the enclosed CD. Volume I is Best-Loved Christmas Carols; Volume II is American Christmas Classics and Volume III is Children's Christmas Classics.

Future volumes include Sacred Christmas Music, which will be published in 2008 through Sterling Publishing; Christmas Carols From the British Isles; German Christmas Music; Worldwide Christmas Classics; French Carols & Noels, and Golden Musical Ornaments.

The Millennia Collection series are available from http://www.christmasclassics.com or by calling 1-866-552-7742.

"Even if none of the others were any good (The Millennia Collection), this would stand out as one of the greatest assemblages of Christmas music ever done."

• Tim Neely,

American Christmas Classics    
ISBN: 0615115071
Author: Ronald M. Clancy
Publisher: Christmas Classics Ltd.
Editor: William Studwell
Book Designer: Adrianne Onderdonk Dudden
Suggested retail price: $39.95
Web Address: http://www.christmasclassics.com Christmas Classics

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