Merry Merseybeat Christmas, Frank Lee Sprague (Wichita Falls Records)

I would assume there's a lot of love for the original British Invasion among the folks who visit here, some gleaned from original experience and some from determined fandom among the younger visitors. So I'd expect Sprague would have a strong constituency here for an album such as this one, released in 2006. He hits a fair variety of Merseyside readymades in these 11 songs -- you'll hear bits of the arrangement from "And I Love Her" in "My Love Will Grow," for example, and a taste of the original bands' love for period R'nB in "Christmas Time." Frank, however, sounds most to these ears like Gerry and the Pacemakers, which is not a bad thing but it contributes to the whole album sounding a bit samey-samey throughout. Several of the later tunes on the album tend more toward Christian rock done Mersey style, for what that's worth to you as a listener. There's a 12th song, "For the Wings of a Dove," which is his lyrics over a Felix Mendelssohn melody accompanied only by organ, followed by three hidden tunes, two of which are the same song, one as a solo guitar demo and the other a Merseybeat version, none of which have much to do with Christmas. A bit of a mixed bag overall, but there are plenty of good mix disc opportunities on here. In 2007, Frank came back with another Christmas album, Merry Christmas: Traditional Carols Arranged as Traditional Rock Songs, which sets antique carols to mostly Merseyside arrangements, except "Joy to the World," which borrows liberally from The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."