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
Linda Ronstadt considers to be her favorite songs of the season. ~ Zac Johnson