By
Dave
Every year from midnight after Thanksgiving until
midnight on Christmas Day, the only music I listen to is of the Christmas
variety.
I love
Christmas. I love the story of Jesus. I love giving gifts. I love the colder
weather, the decorations, the tree, the holiday specific foods like candy canes
and gingerbread and egg nog, the lights, the TV specials, and of course the music.
Pretty much every genre of music has Christmas tunes available and I can enjoy any of them as long as they’re celebrating the holiday. I don’t mind funny or even dirty Christmas songs, but I hate it when shock value is the goal (this is true for most things). Dirty stuff needs to be tempered by humor, and if it isn’t done right, then I’m not interested. It’s kind of a hard thing to explain.
While Christmas music is available in abundance, there
are a few albums that I consider absolutely essential to my holiday season. These
are the ones that are the most fun, carry a lot of nostalgia, and have overall
the strongest track listings – minimal skippers.
I’ve avoided compilations with various artists, but some
of these are greatest hits collections.
On the first day of
Christmas, my true love gave to me…
The
Brian Setzer Orchestra – Boogie Woogie Christmas
I’m not gonna lie – I was huge into the big swing revival that swept the country in the late
90s. My Papaw listened to swing music all the time while I was growing up and I’ve
always loved it. Still do. Brian Setzer was and is one of the coolest cats
around, so combining his cool with swing and Christmas makes for one of my favorite
musical experiences. All of Setzer’s holiday albums are great, but this one is
still my favorite. Get the version with “Cactus Christmas” if you can.
Notable Notes: “The Nutcracker Suite”
On the second day of
Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Elvis
Presley – Home for the Holidays
Elvis is my mom’s favorite. I respect the King as a
performer, but have never really been a fan.
A few years ago, though, I felt like something was missing from my Christmas
music collection and it turned out to be this. It’s rare that I’ll recommend an
album with fewer songs on it, but
while Presley’s first Christmas album is an all-time great, but Home for the Holidays eliminates some of
the heavier-handed spiritual songs. I like that stuff sometimes, but the tail
end of Elvis’ Christmas Album gets a
little heavy for me. This one is lighter and more fun.
Notable Notes: “Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me)”
On the third day of
Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Bing
Crosby – Merry Christmas
Your mileage may vary, but to me Bing Crosby is the name in Christmas music. When I was
growing up, his voice meant it was the time for holiday cheer.
Notable Notes: “Mele Kalikimaka”
On the fourth day of
Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Twisted
Sister – A Twisted Christmas
I’ll admit to being highly dubious about buying this
album when it came out in 2006. Twisted Sister wasn’t exactly the most relevant
band at the time and my last exposure to Dee Snyder was the movie Strangeland, which was terrible. But the
cover looked great and I just can’t help myself when it comes to new twists on
Christmas favorites. Much to my surprise, the album was excellent and has
become one of my all-time Christmas favorites. It presents heavy but respectful
versions of all of the hits.
Notable Notes: “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”
On the fifth day of
Christmas, my true love gave to me…
John
Denver and the Muppets – A Christmas Together
To my generation this is probably the most revered of holiday albums. I remember watching the special
on TV when I was very young and I remember – although I don’t recall what year –
when it didn’t air. It was heartbreaking and Christmas felt slightly less.
I still had the record, though, and I still do. John
Denver is just awesome, but putting him together with the Muppets is nothing
short of pure magic. Truly, this is one of the greatest Christmas albums of all
time, made even better by the fact that it’s the audio from the special and not
different recordings.
Notable Notes: “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
On the sixth day of
Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Reverend
Horton Heat – We Three Kings
This album was a wonderful surprise. Reverend Horton Heat
is one of my favorite bands (I missed them this past Friday thanks to work),
but I’m terrible of keeping track of music nowadays. A few years ago I was in
Best Buy early in the morning on Black Friday and saw We Three Kings just on some random endcap. I don’t think it was
even a new release at that point. It features excellent
psychobilly/rockabilly/country versions of the standard classics in the way
that only the Reverend, Jimbo, and company can deliver. Heat’s original, “Santa
on the Roof” is so damn good that you don’t even realize it isn’t traditional.
Notable Notes: “Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy”
On the seventh day of
Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Vince
Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas
The soundtrack to the best-known Christmas special of all
time is ubiquitous now. You can’t escape it, but you can’t have Christmas
without it, either. It might interest you to know that I played Schroeder in an
elementary school production of the special.
Notable Notes: “What Child is This”
On the eighth day of
Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Willie Nelson – Pretty Paper
There’s something about Willie Nelson’s voice that makes him
absolutely perfect for Christmas songs. I don’t know that there’s a more
sincere, soulful sound in the history of country music. Nelson brings a
personal, unique touch to each of the songs he chose for this collection, but
his original composition – “Pretty Paper” – stands out as an all-time great.
Notable Notes: “Frosty the
Snowman”
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Mariah Carey – Merry
Christmas
Okay, so for this one you need to start with the
knowledge that in my opinion “All I Want for Christmas is You” is the best
modern Christmas song. It sounds like an updated Motown classic to the point
where I was shocked a few years ago when I discovered it was an original
composition written by Carey in 1994. As for the album, aside from the final
track (which goes on for way too long and borders on laughable) it features
great versions of traditional classics, as well as two more originals.
Notable Notes: “All I Want for Christmas is You”
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Johnny Cash – Christmas with
Johnny Cash
Lots of these selections represent emotional ties to my
family. This one is a favorite because of my dad. I grew up listening to his
country music – Johnny, Waylon, Hank, Gentleman Jim and the like; not modern
garbage – and while I didn’t like it at the time, Johnny Cash always seemed
like the coolest to me. Cash’s voice is almost like a counterpoint to Willie
Nelson’s kindly drawl – intense and insistent, even with benign tunes like “Joy
to the World”. This one has a more overall religious bent than anything else on
the list, but that fits in with it representing my dad.
Notable Notes: “Merry Christmas Mary”
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
They Might Be Giants – Holidayland
Not technically an album, as it only consists of five
songs, but Holidayland is an
essential part of my Christmas collection. TMBG are one of my favorite bands
and their take on the holidays is always a refreshing break from endless
versions of classics (as much as I do love those and could listen to variations
on “Winter Wonderland” all day).
Notable Notes: “Santa Claus”
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Mojo
Nixon & The Toadliquors – Horny Holidays!
I saved the best for last. Way back in 1992 I went all
crazy for Mojo Nixon for some reason. I can’t remember exactly why, but at the
time I thought he was the coolest person on the planet. This album is a little
(a lot) dirtier than I tend to like my holiday music, but the Toadliquors are
so damn good and Mojo is so full of enthusiasm and dumbass gusto that this
album has become my go-to for opening up the holiday season. If you’re not
easily offended, playing Horny Holidays!
loud for all to hear is the best way to spread Christmas cheer!
Notable Notes: “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”
Whatever you enjoy – whether it’s on this list or not –
plug it in, turn it up, and have a wonderful holiday season!
"Horny Holidays" is a 10 out of 10.
ReplyDeleteInches.
DeleteIn bed.
I'm not sure if Weezer is in your range of music you dig, but they put out Christmas With Weezer a few years back and they do 6 Weezerized traditional songs and hymns. It's one of my favorites, but I also really dig them a lot. Highlight - O Holy Night. Skippable - We Wish You A Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteI JUST got that one a few days ago. It's excellent!
Delete