Album / Title
A Christmas Wish
By: Johnny Burt Orchestra with Stephanie Taylor & Doug Crosley
Origin: London, England, 🇬🇧 → Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Insight
A Christmas Wish is the Canadian Talent Library's 1971 holiday album, and it plays like a dress rehearsal for the Johnny Burt Society. Four of the six voices in its chorus (Stephanie Taylor, Lynne McNeil, Les Leigh and Vern Kennedy) were back with Burt the following year on …Come Summer.
Burt was 57 and nine years into his run at the CTL. He produced, arranged and conducted the album himself at Toronto Sound Studios, with Peter Houston engineering and Kennedy directing the chorus. Two soloists step out front. Stephanie Taylor sings 'Merry Christmas Darling' and 'Silent Night', and Doug Crosley takes 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year', 'December Time' and 'What Child Is This'.
Burt wrote two of the songs himself, with a partner credited only as LeBlanc, and one of them is the best thing on the record. 'My Christmas Wish' gives the album its title. The CTL also paired it with the other Burt and LeBlanc song, 'Ik-Ta-Tuk (Santa's Cook)', on a 1971 single, and the song turns up again on the label's Joyous Noel EP. Around them, the song list puts centuries-old carols next to the newest music of the season. 'Merry Christmas Darling' had been a Carpenters hit just one Christmas earlier, 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year' and 'Home for the Holidays' were modern standards, and 'If You Can Sing a Happy Song for Christmas', 'December Time', 'Christmas Is Here Again' and 'Bells' fill out a programme of 14 songs. Like everything the CTL made, it was built for radio: most tracks run about two minutes, and only 'O Thou Joyful Day' goes past four.
The CTL made the album for its subscribing radio stations, and Pickwick Records of Canada reissued it for the shops in 1979 as PC-44005. Now Shawn Nagy's Super Oldies, a label devoted to rare Canadian recordings of the 1950s to 1970s, has brought it back, 55 years after its first release.
-Robert Williston
Gallery
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Burt, Johnny Orchestra with Stephanie Taylor & Doug Crosley - A Christmas Wish
Johnny Burt Orchestra - A Christmas Wish LABEL 01
Johnny Burt Orchestra - A Christmas Wish LABEL 02
A Christmas Wish
Media
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Credits
Musicians
Johnny Burt: orchestra leader, conductor
Stephanie Taylor: vocals, chorus
Doug Crosley: vocals, chorus
Lynne McNeil: chorus
Laurie Hood: chorus
Les Leigh: chorus
Vern Kennedy: chorus
Johnny Burt Orchestra: orchestral accompaniment
Songwriting
‘Deck the Hall’ traditional, arranged by Johnny Burt
‘My Christmas Wish’ written by Johnny Burt and LeBlanc
‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ written by Edward Pola and George Wyle
‘Ik-Ta-Tuk (Santa’s Cook)’ written by Johnny Burt and LeBlanc
‘Merry Christmas Darling’ written by Richard Carpenter and Frank Pooler
‘If You Can Sing a Happy Song for Christmas’ written by Hale and Clarkson
‘December Time’ written by Wally Grieve
‘Christmas Is Here Again’ written by Raymond Gould
‘Bells’ written by Vanderburgh
‘(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays’ written by Robert Allen and Al Stillman
‘Silent Night’ traditional, arranged by Johnny Burt
‘O Thou Joyful Day’ traditional, arranged by Johnny Burt
‘What Child Is This’ traditional, arranged by Johnny Burt
‘Angels We Have Heard on High’ traditional, arranged by Johnny Burt
Publishing
'Deck The Hall': Deer Park Music (CAPAC)
'My Christmas Wish': Deer Park Music (CAPAC)
'It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year': Barnaby Music (CAPAC)
'Ik-Ta-Tuk (Santa's Cook)': Chappell & Co. (CAPAC)
'Merry Christmas Darling': Almo Music Corp. (CAPAC)
'If You Can Sing A Happy Song For Christmas': Music of the Times (CAPAC)
'December Time': Broadlands Music (PRO)
'Christmas Is Here Again': Chappell & Co. (CAPAC)
'Bells': Canadiana (PRO)
'(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays': Roncom Music Co. (CAPAC)
'Silent Night': Deer Park Music (CAPAC)
'O Thou Joyful Day': Deer Park Music (CAPAC)
'What Child Is This': Deer Park Music (CAPAC)
'Angels We Have Heard On High': Deer Park Music (CAPAC)
Production
Produced, arranged and conducted by Johnny Burt
Executive Producer: Mal Thompson
Recording Engineer: Peter Houston
Recorded at Toronto Sound Studios, Toronto, Ontario
Technical Consultant: Bill Baker
Repertoire Consultant: Arthur Collins
Choral Director: Vern Kennedy
Artwork
Front Cover Photography and Design: Allan Matthews
Release
1971, Canadian Talent Library, CTL 477-5154, Vinyl LP, Canada
1979, Pickwick, PC-44005, Vinyl LP, Stereo, Canada
A Canadian Talent Library Production
Previously released on Canadian Talent Library
Distributed by Pickwick Records of Canada Ltd., Ajax, Ontario
Copyright © 1979 Canadian Talent Library
Broadcast rights held by Canadian Talent Library Trust, Toronto, Ontario
Audio Restoration
Audio Transfer/Restoration by Shawn Nagy, released Oct 29, 2026
Super Oldies
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