Some Christmas records do more than soundtrack the season, they reset the whole mood the second the needle drops. The ’50s and ’60s were packed with those kinds of albums, and plenty of them still ...

The song begins with a Christmas-y chime. It's the sound of a celesta — an instrument featured in Tchaikovsky's Christmas classic “The Nutcracker.” Carey’s hit also uses the sleigh bell, which became ...

Holiday playlists change every year, but a handful of Christmas records from the 1950s and 1960s still feel like the season’s default soundtrack. These albums mix lush orchestration, crooner warmth, ...