Virgil Fox's First Christmas Album

Virgil Fox was a much applauded and much derided organist who was known both for his technique and his flamboyance. Scorned as the "Liberace of the organ." he also had quite a following and made some great recordings, this among them.

"Christmas Carols on the Organ," one of RCA Victor's 1954 holiday offerings, is the first of Fox's four seasonal LPs, and one of his first of any repertoire.

I am no organ expert - and in general avoid pop organ records - but this is extraordinarily well done, both in performance and recording.

Fox in 1954

In 1954, Fox had been the organist at New York's Riverside Church for eight years, and would remain there until 1965. Here he is performing on the church's Aeolian-Skinner organ, which I believe had been newly installed to his specifications.

Fox had a reputation for being slick, loud and sentimental, but you will find little of that here. His playing always remains well within the bounds of good taste, yet he also injects considerable life into this well worn material through his remarkable control, which he uses to inject a dance-like lift to the contours of these simple tunes.

The sound has an ideal balance of resonance and presence, with just enough church reverberation for my taste.

RCA issued this material both as a 12-inch LP and in abbreviated form as a double EP, with a different and preferable cover (below) by the American regionalist painter Adolf Dehn. I admire Dehn, but why is it that these nostalgic scenes always feature a sleigh and someone waving from the front porch?