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Mannheim Steamroller is one of the most popular Christmas tours STILL ON A ROLL
By John Benson
Prior to conceiving Mannheim Steamroller decades ago, visionary Chip Davis admits he was trying to create a music genre that appealed to both idiots and snobs.
“Back in that era, you either liked rock and thought classical music was a bunch of snobs or you were a classical fan and thought rock was a bunch of idiots,” said Toledo native Davis, calling from Orlando, Fla. “I liked the idea of bringing the two mediums together and coming up with an eclectic blending that would allow people on both sides to say there’s common ground here.”
That common ground began with Mannheim Steamroller’s Fresh Aire series. However, it wasn’t until the act’s 1984 effort “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas,” which combined the group’s signature mix of Renaissance instruments with rock ’n’ roll beats, that the game changed. The group became the biggest-selling Christmas-music act in history, as well as one of the top-50 biggest-selling musical acts ever with almost 40 million albums sold.
It’s also around that time that Mannheim Steamroller’s annual Christmas tours became widely popular. This family tradition continues today with the group, scheduled to perform Friday at Covelli Centre, now supporting its latest holiday effort, “Christmas Symphony.” Already No. 1 on the new-age charts, the album finds Mannheim Steamroller performing with the world-renowned Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
“One of the things I’ve always done with the albums is use just the core group of Mannheim Steamroller and some studio musicians,” Davis said. “So to expand it to a live, 80-piece orchestra, it gives it a completely different vibe to the sound. You’ll recognize the tunes, some of which are from earlier albums and are no long available, but it’s done now with more of a symphonic kind of sensibility.”
Something else that is relatively new regarding Mannheim Steamroller is Davis’ role with his outfit. It was about three years ago when Davis decided to end the craziness involved with the act’s incessant holiday concert schedule by dividing it up into West Coast and East Coast tours.
Davis said he scoured the music scene for the best players and ensures fans the Mannheim Steamroller experience, which is a state-of-the-art, multimedia affair, hasn’t changed.
Invariably, by splitting up the group, Davis, who no longer performs live, also is preparing audiences for a day when he’s not around. Just as the Glenn Miller Orchestra continues to play the music of the great bandleader decades after his passing, Mannheim Steamroller will remain in the mainstream for future generations.
“Absolutely, the Mannheim Steamroller legacy will be able to continue on whenever I can’t keep up with it,” Davis said. “If you get something that heavy — like a big piece of heavy equipment such as a steamroller — and you give it a nudge, it has a lot of momentum. And now 32 years later, it’s still growing. It’s crazy.”