Favorite Christmas Music

[JIMSOULS]

I'm spending my Christmas Eve making a Christmas mix tape for my wife. When It's finished it will have 20 songs (I am still choosing). Included is the dozen below, which stand as my favorite 12 Christmas recordings.

These are my favorites. What are yours?

12 SONGS OF CHRISTMAS

WHITE CHRISTMAS - CHARLIE PARKER (1948)
Recorded live on the radio on Christmas morning, this inventive yet playful performance is the perfect soundtrack for those few minutes when the kids are tearing open their presents.


SILENT NIGHT - MAHALIA JACKSON (1950)

Jackson was at the height of her powers when she cut this astonishing rendition of this traditional classic. All hail the greatest female voice of the 20th Century.


CHRISTMAS TIME'S A-COMIN' - BILL MONROE (1951)

Written by Tex Logan (still alive and residing in New Jersey), this bluegrass standard has been a personal favorite of my wife and I since we moved to Southern Appalachia 15 years ago.


RUN, RUDOLPH, RUN - CHUCK BERRY (1958)
Berry's original version of this John Marks composition rates as my favorite Christmas rocker.


PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS - CHARLES BROWN (1960)

One of blues piano's brightest lights is soothing and soulful on this chestnut. It's my own holiday tradition to make this my first listened-to Christmas record every year.


JESUS CHRIST, THE BABY - MAGGIE INGRAM & THE SIX TRUMPETS (1961)

Blessed with a light soprano that was a precursor to Dionne Warwick's, Ingram takes gospel music into the stratosphere on this heavenly gem.


ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU - CARLA THOMAS (1966)

The Soul Queen of Memphis melts hearts with an arresting performance.


IF WE MAKE IT THROUGH DECEMBER - MERLE HAGGARD (1974)

One of country music's towering figures offers a reminder that Christmas time isn't joyous for everyone.


BEAUTIFUL STAR OF BETHLEHEM - RALPH STANLEY & THE CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS (1977)

With the incomparable Keith Whitley on lead vocals, Stanley and his group serve up one of Christmas music's truly transcendent performances.


FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK - THE POGUES FEATURNG KIRSTY MACCOLL (1987)

This one started out as a wager between Pogues leader Shane McGowan and the band's producer, Elvis Costello, who bet McGowan that he couldn't write a Christmas hit. McGowan not only won the bet, but created an all-time classic.


MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE FAMILY - ROBERT EARL KEEN (1994)

A dysfunctional family gathering is the backdrop of this piece of Texas songwriting genius.


BALSAM FIR - CAM PENNER (2008)

During the 1984 Christmas season, I worked two whole days on a tree lot. My main sales pitch was, "It's cold out here, so hurry up and decide so I can go back inside where it's warm." This modern gem revolves around a tree-lot worker and a waitress at the local diner. Lovely story; It's my favorite Christmas song of the 21st century.
This post was edited on 12/24 6:51 PM by JIMSOULS

 

[JIMSOULS]

AND A HALF-DOZEN ALBUMS


YULETUNES - VARIOUS ARTISTS (1991)

Assembled by the power-pop band Shoes, this jangly effort is one of those Christmas albums that can be played year round. Favorite tracks are many, and include Material Issue's rollicking "Merry Christmas Will Do," Matthew Sweet's lovely "Baby Jesus," and the Cavedogs' wooly "Three Wise Men and a Baby."

GOOD NEWS - KATHY MATTEA (1993)

With this recording, Mattea supplanted Emmylou Harris' 'Light of the Stable" as my go-to country Christmas album. The key to it's appeal is the fresh material: nine of the 10 songs were fairly new, with a handful written expressly for the project. Highlights include "New Kid in Town," "Mary, Did You Know?," and an exquisite reading of Steve Earle's "Nothing But a Child."

JAMES BROWN'S FUNKY CHRISTMAS - JAMES BROWN (1995)

Culled from material recorded for three earlier albums, the Godfather of Soul's in-print Christmas album is guaranteed to liven up any Christmas party. Essential listening, especially "Let's Unite the Whole World at Christmas," "Hey America," and "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto." Get it and get down.

OLD TIME CHRISTMAS - BROTHERS FIGARO ORCHESTRA (2002)

Youthful veteran session/backing musicians Bill Bonk and Phil Parlapiano were unlikely candidates to create a Christmas classic. But that's exactly what they did on this album, which finds the duo tackling 11 yuletide perennials on a disc that sounds like it was recorded in the 1930's (complete with "megaphone" vocals). Invigorating stuff, bolstered by jubiliant versions of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," "Jolly Old St. Nicholas," and "Good King Wenceslas."

TIS THE SEASON FOR LOS STRAITJACKETS - LOS STRAITJACKETS (2002)

Building on the legacy of the Ventures' Christmas album, Nashville's favorite instro-rockers serve us a buoyant collection of wordless holiday tunes that will find you pushing down on the gas peddle. Few Christmas albums can match it for sheer fun.

CHRISTMAS - BRUCE COCKBURN (2009)

Widely unknown in America, the Canadian singer-songwriter has a Christmas album that deserves a spot in every holiday music collection. Including just one Cockburn original among its 15 tracks, the disc is centered on imaginative interpretations of Christmas standards, including some that are generally ignored by mainstream artists. Highlights include "The Huron Carol," "Mary Had a Baby," and a wondrous take on "Go Tell it on the Mountain."



This post was edited on 12/24 7:00 PM by JIMSOULS