Song of the Day 12/21: Mannheim Steamroller, “Good King Wenceslas”
Mannheim Steamroller sounds like the name of a Krautrock outfit, but it’s really mostly one guy, composer/producer Chip Davis, who would have a footnote in music history even without the Steamroller. He was the composer of the music for “Convoy,” the trucker anthem that swept the nation and helped kick off the CB radio craze in 1976. But his real interest was the combination of classical, New Age and rock he recorded as Mannheim Steamroller (Mannheim, the German court where Mozart was employed, lent its name to a number of musical terms; a “Mannheim roller” is a kind of extended crescendo).
Davis, with a big assist from pianist Jason Berkey, started releasing albums of what one critic called “a mix of medieval prog and mawkish piano melodies” in 1975. Four more Fresh Aire LPs followed, but sales were relatively modest – none reached the Billboard album chart – until 1984, when Davis released “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas.” The LP sold nearly 7 million copies; the 1988 follow-up, “A Fresh Aire Christmas,” sold even better. They still rank No. 5 and No. 6 in all-time Christmas album sales, and two others rank a little further down in the top 20, making Mannheim Steamroller the all-time Christmas LP champion by a wide margin.
“Good King Wenceslas” was on the first Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album, and it gives you a fair idea of how Davis’ compositions combine their various influences. Davis called it “18th century rock,” but that’s too confining – it’s more like 500 years of the European musical tradition run through a synthesizer.
The highlight of 2001’s “Christmas Extraordinaire” included a version of “O Tannenbaum” that featured vocals by Johnny Mathis, whose 1958 album “Merry Christmas” just missed the all-time top 10.
