Songs for the Christmas Season 29

Let's keep the Christmas music going, ay? First up today is The Band doing their song, "Christmas Must Be Tonight," featuring the lead vocals of Rick Danko.





To follow that up will be another one from my own channel, The Dellacroce Sisters doing "Who is Santa Claus?" Definitely a fun tund and in the Christmas spirit.

Songs for the Christmas Season 28

First up today is another great one from Smokey Robinson & The Miracles called "It's Christmas Time" from 1970.

We'll follow that one up with a very old recording. It's called "On a Christmas Day" by Lead Belly from 1942.

Songs for the Christmas Season 25

A couple of less-familiar holiday songs today. First up is Chris de Burgh's "A Spaceman Came Travelling" which tells the story of the Christ child. Great song from 1975!





Next is one by Edd "Kookie" Byrnes from 1959. Very cool sounding and jazzy, like something you might hear during a film noir flick or perhaps some Peter Gunn. It's basically the tale of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" told in a very 'hip' style.

Songs for the Christmas Season 22

As we get into the final week before Christmas, I will continue to post some of my all time favorite holiday recordings, sans any type of theme to tie the songs together. First up is one of my all-time favorite versions of "What Child is This" by Vanessa Williams. Such a haunting version with some jazzy guitar.




Next is Perry Como with a unique Christmas tune which may be considered obscure these days. Shame though because the song really embodies the spirit of Christmas from the gentle melody to the children's choir and the European style of the music.

Songs for the Christmas Season 21

Today's selections feature some well-known pop/easy-listening crooners doing their own interpretations of Christmas songs. First we have Ed Ames doing what is probably my favorite version of "Some Children See Him" from 1970.





And next is Jack Jones from his 1969 Christmas album with an uptempo Gospel version of "Little Altar Boy."

Songs for the Christmas Season 17

Some of that early 1970's pop/rock sound for our selections today. First, we have The Osmond Brothers with "Sleigh Ride." No, not the familiar holiday tune but an original from them.






And next is The Partridge Family with their take on "Winter Wonderland." Just in case you didn't know, The Partridge Family did not really play anything on this song. Keith Partridge, aka David Cassidy, did sing the lead though.

Songs for the Christmas Season 13

Today we'll go with some classic rock Christmas tunes that are true holiday staples. First we have Elton John's "Step Into Christmas" from 1973.






Next is a blues number that The Eagles made even more popular than the original by Charles Brown. The song is "Please Come Home for Christmas."

Songs for the Christmas Season 12

Today we'll feature some songs by a couple of really great pop vocal groups. First up is The Anita Kerr Singers who sang background on many hit songs and also did their own albums. This song is called "Hurry Home for Christmas" from 1969.






Next we have a group called The Free Design. My first experience with this group was hearing this original Christmas tune called "Close Your Mouth, It's Christmas" from 1970. After hearing this I had to research their non-holiday music and it was equally amazing. These pop vocal groups had such a unique and pleasant sound and the arrangements were so innovative and it's so sad there isn't anything like this anymore.

Songs for the Christmas Season 11

How about some blues for Christmas? Up first today will be Elvis' version of "Merry Christmas, Baby" from 1971. His version is so good I had to share the unedited, nearly 8 minute version.






Let's get even more bluesy now with a classic by Sonny Boy Williamson called "Santa Claus" from 1966.

Songs for the Christmas Season 9

How about a couple of more rockin' Christmas tunes today? First we have from 1968, "Christmas is My Time of Year" by The Christmas Spirit, featuring the familiar vocal of Howard Kaylan of The Turtles fame.






Next we have popular English band Slade doing their timeless holiday song, "Merry Xmas Everybody" from 1973.

Songs for the Christmas Season 7

A couple of Motown holiday tunes today. First up is one of my all-time favorite versions of "Jingle Bells" as done by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles from 1970. Such a fun & great take!






The next selection is not exactly a familiar, classic Christmas favorite. It is, however, an instrumental by Marvin Gaye called "Christmas in the City" featuring the Moog synthesizer and it's from 1972. So funky!

Music for the Thanksgiving Season 3

First up today we have Brenda Lee thanking someone for breaking her heart, sarcastically of course.





Next we have Vince Guaraldi's contribution to the tiny world of actual Thanksgiving Day music. This is his "Thanksgiving Theme" from The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving cartoon.

Songs for the Thanksgiving Season 2

So I sidetracked a bit and didn't get to my daily postings of 'thankful' songs. So here are a few a couple days before Thanksgiving.

First up we have John Denver thanking God he's a country boy (which I don't think he really was. Mountain man maybe. Oh well, it's all just semantics).





And next we have Neil Diamond being thankful for the night.

Thrift Store Record Treasures

I've been finding a good selection of LP's at the thrift store lately. Now mind you I am no vinyl purist nor am I a collector of lp's. I only look for records from the 1960's and 1970's that look good enough for me to convert to wav files & mp3 so that I don't have to purchase them on cd. Many of these records I will attempt to sell at either a garage sale or on eBay after I've converted them. To me lp's are just big and bulky and take up more space than I can afford to spare. Additionally, I don't want to keep things around that I don't use much. After converting them they just sit there gathering dust, never to be used by me again. As I said I am not a collector. I just want the music. There are certain lp's I will keep, however, such as the brand new ones I have bought over the years and ones by artists I really like. But the used ones I have been buying at thrift stores have no emotional attachment for me.

Here is the most recent batch of records I found which was just last week. First up is "2 Hot" by Peaches & Herb from 1978:

The 5th Dimension "Reflections" from 1971:

"Soft & Soulful" by Bill Medley (1969):

Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra "Gone is Love" (1970):

Bobby Goldsboro's "Greatest Hits" (1970):

Various Artists "Family Portrait: 16 Outstanding Selections Rrom A&M Records" (1967)

And finally, "Close To You" by The Carpenters (1970):

More findings to come!

Some of My All-Time Favorite Christmas Albums

It's officially Christmastime and I'm going to list a few of my all-time favourite Christmas albums. Now mind you, I'm not one of these collectors of obscure holiday music nor do I have an extensive collection of Christmas albums. I have plenty of mp3's of shows I have recorded over the years on radio stations and special podcasts that people have put together. But I really don't spend time shopping around for them, especially since the best stuff is from the 50s, 60s and 70s and nothing made recently or nowadays will ever compare.

So here is a short list of some of my favourites and ones definitely worth checking out if you're not familiar with them. In no particular order:

The Anita Kerr Sings - Spend this Holiday with Me (1969)

This is a wonderful album. The music arrangements are very typical (and great) late 60's/early 70's sounding for pop music of the time. Sounds very much like The Free Design from the music to the vocals. I caught two songs off the radio many years ago from this album--the title track and Jingle Bell Rock--and was never able to find out who the artist was until a few years ago when I ordered a copy of this album on cd from Brazil! Anyway, this is a 5 star album and it stays on my iPod all year round.

Glen Campbell - That Christmas Feeling (1968)

Another hard-to-find album. And another I keep on my iPod all year long. This one is very mellow and some may even consider it a bit too melancholy for the festive season. But I love it cause Glen sounds so good on it and the arrangements are top-notch. His rendition of Roger Miller's "Old Toy Trains" is my favorite and I've never heard a better version yet. Other standout tracks include "Little Altar Boy," "Christmas is for Children" and "It Must Be Getting Close to Christmas."

The Partridge Family - A Partridge Family Christmas Card (1971)

If you like the sound of the Partridge Family--aka L.A. studio musicians known as 'The Wrecking Crew'--then you'll love this album. Ok, we all know the Partridge Family was not a real band. They were just actors with a storyline based upon a real band known as The Cowsills. But 'Keith Partridge' and 'Shirley Partridge' really did sing and they contributed their vocals to this album. The rest of the fictional family did not contribute at all to the music and albums. That being said this is a great early 70's pop/soft rock offering featuring the West Coast sound. Most of the numbers here are upbeat and you can't go wrong with any that Keith sings on.

                        

Elvis Presley - Elvis' Christmas Album (1957)

This is not only one of my favourite Christmas albums of all time, but it's one of my favourite albums period. This was the first time Christmas music met rock & roll. Oh sure, Elvis kept the traditional songs modest and low-key but he totally rocked out on the contemporary ones. The arrangements here are very simple and basic. Nothing more than piano, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, double bass, organ and background vocals. Just like his non-Christmas music of the same era. Standout tracks include all of them, but in particular 'Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me,' 'Santa Claus is Back in Town' and 'I'll Be Home for Christmas.' This album happens to be the best selling Christmas album of all time and for good reason.

                         

Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

This is a jazz album that has transcended its exclusive genre to become a pop smash. The music is wonderful. Simple arrangements. Playful melodies. Tunes that stay in your head. Mostly instrumental but a few with children's choirs. Probably the most memorable and recognizable tune, 'Linus & Lucy,' has become a Christmas staple even though the song itself has little or nothing to do with the holiday, other than having been featured in the animated classic. Other than 'Linus & Lucy,' my faves on this excellent album include both versions of 'Christmastime is Here,' 'Skating' and Christmas is Coming.'

                            

Kenny Burrell - Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (1966)

Another jazz Christmas offering. This one definitely not as well-known as the Vince Guaraldi one but equally essential. Burrell is a master guitarist and surely my favourite player of the genre. The arrangements here include piano, bass, drums, horns and strings. He mainly plays his hollowbody electric but there are a few songs where he plays a nylon string acoustic. This album is timeless and his playing is effortless and spellbinding. It is bebop jazz at its finest during a wondrous era of recorded sound. The most remarkable tracks include 'My Favorite Things,' 'Little Drummer Boy,' 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen' and 'Children Go Where I Send Thee.' Gotta love that 60's album cover, too.

So there are 6 of my favourite Christmas albums of all time. I don't want to make this post super-long and it's getting late so I may do a part-two at a later time.