Archer & Gile - The Wonder of Christmas

Those of you who like your Christmas music unadorned will appreciate this 1961 album from the duo of Archer & Gile.

That's unadorned - not unsophisticated. Soprano Frances Archer and alto Beverly Gile were fine artists who worked in a folk vein, and the chamber orchestra accompaniments here are well suited to their style.

Frances Archer and Beverly Gile

Archer & Gile were discovered by none other than Walt Disney, singing at a Palm Springs party. (The women were singing, not Walt.) He signed them up for the Mickey Mouse Club television show and had them record the first LP ever issued on his Disneyland label, A Child's Garden of Verses.

The artists stayed with Disney for about five years and then moved on to Eleanor Steber's St/And Records, where they produced this holiday LP and at least one another. Greg Ehrbar's book on Disney records says that they later moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and retired from the business.

This particular LP was not especially well recorded, placing the singers at opposite ends of the stereo spectrum and plopping the band in between in a dry acoustic. I've done my best to compensate. But the sound is not a major distraction, and the album is worth your time if you like Christmas music.