Simultaneous to the release of the single-disc Johnny Mathis anthology Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration, Columbia is offering Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration, which culls from the generous handful of holiday records that the velvet-voiced Mathis tracked over the last half-century. As one of the smoothest, least-smarmy vocalists of the classic pop era, Mathis was ideally suited to Christmas music, since he could serve the simple needs of a song like "Silver Bells" or "O Holy Night" without forcing anything uncomfortable—like personality—on listeners who just came to relax and reflect.