A surprising holiday album from
Linda Ronstadt
, who has chosen to include just a handful of standards and only one song in Spanish. The remainder of the tracks are traditional old English and Welsh Christmas songs, sung in
Ronstadt
's familiar warm voice. Highlights include a brassy duet with
Rosemary Clooney
on
"White Christmas"
and the contemporary
"River,"
which sounds almost like the singer has been listening to a lot of
Sarah McLachlan
. On the whole,
A Merry Little Christmas
is a warm window into what
considers to be her favorite songs of the season. ~ Zac Johnson