As is my wont, I picked up another boatload of Christmas CDs again this year. Favorites were:
#1. We Three Kings – Reverend Horton Heat
Christmas tunes done in Southern Rock style – wow! Highlights include Frosty the Snowman, as well as instrumental versions of Jingle Bells, We Three Kings, and Winter Wonderland. But best track would have to be What Child is This – a bizarro musical cross between Greensleeves and Ghost Riders in the Night.
#2. Dig That Crazy Christmas – Brian Setzer
There’s no dishonor in placing second after the Rev. Great jump blues versions of Angels We Have Heard on High, Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!, My Favorite Things, and Jingle Bell Rock. In addition, Gettin’ in the Mood (for Christmas) has some very fun lyrics set to Glenn Miller’s In the Mood.
(Didn’t much care for Setzer’s version of You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, but on the other hand, his ‘Zat You, Santa Claus? hits the spirit of the song a bit more precisely than Louis Armstrong’s.)
#3. The Venture’s Christmas Album
Instrumental Christmas music – 60’s surf style. Nice versions of Sleigh Ride, What Child is This (titled Snowflakes on the album), Blue Christmas, We Wish You a Merry Christmas as well as White Christmas.
#4. Cool Yule – Bette Midler
Pretty good stuff. The title track bops along cheerfully – but it’s Midler’s very fun Mele Kalikimaka that really knocks me out.
Taken as a whole, this album is far too slow for my taste, so it’s stretching things to call this a favorite. However, some tunes will sound great on my compilation CDs, including Christmas Dream, My Favorite Things, (There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays, Here We Come a-Caroling and O Holy Night.
Postscript: Purchased A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra at the last minute, and only had time to listen to it once – so I can’t honestly rate it. Only mention it at all because there was this interesting bit of trivia in the liner notes:
The stirring music [to Hark! The Herald Angels Sing] is by composer Felix Mendelssohn, who originally had it written as part of a choral work commemorating the Tercentenary of John Gutenberg’s invention of printing.
Wikipedia confirms the melody was never intended for Christmas use. Well, I’ll be!
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas this year. And if you’re living in Taiwan and you didn’t get any turkey, cheer up. Your local 7-11 might still have some of this DELIGHTFUL poultry-flavored substitute in stock:
(Photo by The Foreigner)
UPDATE: There were other Christmas CDs I could’ve said good things about, but I’d hardly consider them favorites. (While at the opposite end of the spectrum, The New Andy Williams Christmas Album was just about the only purchase I completely regretted. Sorry – didn’t do anything for me.)
One final note: am I the only one greatly disturbed by the sight of Billy Idol singing Jingle Bell Rock?
i-1
Want to make a plug for the Carpenters’ “Christmas Portrait”, a vinyl copy of which I bought at a local thrift store (not in Taiwan!) just before Christmas. It almost brought tears to my eyes (seriously!)