I listen to a lot of Christmas music between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have an iPod Classic that I load with my holiday music playlist. There are a handful of albums in my collection that should be a requirement for anyone serious about Christmas music. What Christmas playlist would be complete without Elvis and The Chipmunks? I have a few Christmas albums in my collection that may not be in yours that I think you should at least know about. I have put them into 3 categories: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. This week I focus on The Good.
BOOKER T AND THE MGS – IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
Booker T and the MGs was the primary band that played for all the singers at Stax records during their glory days. You may not know the name of their band, but you have probably heard their instrumental hit, Green Onions. This album contains their simple but powerful arrangements of familiar Christmas songs. It is an album that doesn’t get a lot of attention that I think more people would like if they ever had a chance to hear it.
FERLIN HUSKY – CHRISTMAS ALL YEAR LONG
Ferlin Husky is a country music singer who rose to fame in the 1960’s with a song called Wings of a Dove. He is also the star of a odd film called Hillbillys in a Haunted House. In that film, I became familiar with his odd style of singing and bizarre songwriting. These unique talents are on display on this Christmas album. He butchers the classics but it’s on his original where he really shines. The title to the song Christmas Don’t Seem Like Christmas Anymore shows you what kind of songwriting skills we are dealing with here. The song Christmas is Holy has the line, “Christmas is Holy, not a holiday”. The lyrics would suggest that calling Christmas a holiday is to somehow cheapen it. But the word holiday means “Holy day”. This train wreck of an album has performances by skilled musicians and Ferlin doing his best, which is entertaining but not in the way it was meant to be. This album is a treat for anyone willing to seek out music that falls short of lofty goals.
HANDEL’S MESSIAH: A SOULFUL CELEBRATION
Handel’s Messiah is a staple of the Christmas season. In 1992, several African American artists recorded an album this music in varying modern musical styles associated with black culture. The opening song is called Overture: A Partial History of Black Music which sets the tone for the album. The Hallelujah Chorus usually gets all the attention in a performance of Handel’s Messiah and this album is no exception. Hallelujah! is a moving performance by an all-star choir including Andre Crouch, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Johnny Mathis among many other familiar artists.