Christmas songs you like

[Mr. Kaplansky]

I went through all the christmas cd's released this year on www.allmusic.com, and one tile was "The 100 greatest Christmas Songs".
Most of them were lousy.  One of my favorite christmas songs isn't even on the list:

[the Scribe]

Published on Dec 3, 2006

Christmas tree lightning


This song is on that list but not by Josh Grobin who sings my favorite version live. I like the buildup.

Mr. K do you have a favorite on Linda's Christmas album?

[erik]

Well, for starters:

PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS--The Eagles; Aaron Neville
MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY--Elvis Presley
HAPPY CHRISTMAS (WAR IS OVER)--John Lennon
CAROL OF THE BELLS--Mannheim Steamroller
GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN--Mannheim Steamroller
CHRISTMAS CANON (PACHELBEL: CANON IN D)--Trans Siberian Orchestra + Chorus
LITTLE ST. NICK--The Beach Boys
I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS--Greg Lake
AVE MARIA--Aaron Neville
CHRISTMAS IN CALIFORNIA--America

...and, for an encore, "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses, from 1981:

[Tony]

Ever since it was released, my favorite Christmas song has been "White Christmas" sung by Rosemary Clooney and Linda Ronstadt. As a whole, that album does not thrill me, but that version is perfect.

[rick]

I have a few others, but I love Vince's version of this song the most.. His voice is gorgeous --

[Mr. Kaplansky]

I like most of the songs on Linda's Christmas album. My favorite is: River. I introduced her christmas album to a fundamentalist Christian who does not listen to secular music or contporary Christian music, only traditional christian music. He bought Linda's cd because he loved herversion of: I wonder As I Wonder.

[Mr. Kaplansky]

Let's not forget David Cassidy's christmas release:

"The Partridge Family Christmas Album"

[sliderocker]

A little late, but my favorite Christmas songs are:

Silent Night, by Linda, her performance says more about her spirituality and what she may truly feel. I have never believed the claim that Linda is an atheist. Nor an agnostic, I believe Linda keeps what she feels about God to herself and believe she remains a Catholic in spirit. With her parents, older sister and younger brother dead, it becomes harder to believe there's nothing after death. You don't want that to be true. Linda's own health problems are the kind that also make you rethink what you believe.

Silent Night, by the Bee Gees in a very brief live performance; their impeccable three part harmonies are sorely missed.

O Come All Ye Faithful, by Elvis - majestic, sad, heartfelt and otherworldly. One cannot listen to this song without reaching for the handkerchief. Elvis recorded this song (and various alternate takes of the song) in 1971 and one can hear the ache in his soul for somewhere better. How could those around him not have seen or heard the misery he was in and what it was doing to him?

Merry Christmas (War Is Over), by John Lennon and Yoko Ono - this was strictly not just a John Christmas song, but a song that also featured Yoko as both co-vocalist and co-writer of the song. It's a classic, although I still wish John would've reworked the "War is over" lyrics. As for John's part of the song, it's the kind of melody one would've expected from Paul McCartney. That was John's gift. He could go one minute from writing classic rock songs to writing songs so sentimental that would've made Paul green with envy. Paul, for his part wrote "Having a Wonderful Christmas Time," which was the kind of song one would've expected from John. So, they were a pair of perfectly matched bookends, each complimenting the other, even when they were not working together.

If We Make It Through December, by Merle Haggard - hard to get into the Christmas spirit when one is dealing with hard financial times because jobs are gone and money likewise is gone, and wishing and wanting change. This song still resonates 44 years it was first released!

Little Becky's Christmas Wish, by Becky Lamb - this spoken piece tune from 1967, by a young girl named Becky, was about wanting to see her older brother Tommy, a young man who is in the military and who gets shipped off to Viet Nam. Becky asks Santa to bring her brother home for Christmas, although she doesn't understand her brother will never come home anymore. The postman delivers a letter which causes her mother to cry, and then her dad. They move Tommy's things to the attic and his girlfriend stops coming around. It was kind of hokey and cloyingly sentimental. The innocence of a child who can't connect the reasons for her parents crying, Tommy's things being put away and his girlfriend no longer coming around and the faith of a child who hopes Santa will bring her brother Tommy home for Christmas, this should've been a big hit during Christmas 1967. However, a story claims the record was killed by the more conservative pro-military elements who took the song as an anti-war protest song. I remember hearing this song in 1967 but had forgotten about it. Because of youtube, the tune was deservedly resurrected.

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by Gayla Peevy - this song was sung by Gayla, who was all of 12 in 1952 and who wants a most unusual Christmas present: a hippo! She gets the usual "you'll shoot your eye out" warning from her mother - the hippo will eat her, but Gayla informs her mother a hippo is a vegetarian. This song was not a big hit at the time but has gained in popularity over the years. Many were surprised that Gayla (of Oklahoma City) was only 12 when she recorded this song. Many thought she was an older woman voicing as a child, but no, Gayla was truly only 12.

Riu, Riu Chiu by the Monkees - this song is like Linda's version of "Silent Night," sung with no instrumentation. It was featured in their 1967 Christmas episode on TV but as none of the lyrics are sung in English, I'm not sure what kind of Christmas song it is. But, in 1967, it was the only song by the Monkees to feature all four of the Monkees singing together - with a fifth additional voice from the song's producer, Chip Douglas. The Monkees actually harmonized pretty well together. It was odd that under the recordings "supervised" by Don Kirshner, on most of the Monkees' recordings, they were relegated to lead vocals only. No backing vocals, despite their natural harmonies.

Rusty Chevrolet by the Dayoopers - this one ranks as my favorite Christmas novelty tune: a man digging his rusty Chevrolet out of the snow to get to the IGA to buy some Christmas cheer, and experience white knuckle panic as to whether he's going to make it as the car is falling apart on him. Does he make it? The song doesn't give a clue.

[erik]

More X-Mas as we close out 2017:

SLEIGH RIDE--The Ventures: This oft-covered Leroy Anderson classic is given the West Coast treatment by the biggest-selling instrumental band in rock and roll history, amusingly starting and ending like their 1960 hit "Walk Don't Run". This was recorded for their 1965 Christmas album.

IF EVERY DAY WAS JUST LIKE CHRISTMAS--Elvis Presley: The King recorded this Christmas ballad, written by one of his longtime friends Red West, in Nashville in 1966; and it very much presages later spiritual classics of his like "If I Can Dream" ("For if every day could be just like Christmas, what a wonderful world this would be.")

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER--Ray Charles: Brother Ray recorded this funky version of the Gene Autry classic in 1985 in a way that you could never mistake for anybody else, which is pretty much the story of the Genius' life.

THE MAN WITH ALL THE TOYS--The Beach Boys: Though not as frequently played as "Little St. Nick", this song is as much a part of Christmas here in Southern California as that one, by the very band that helped to put our corner of the world on the musical map in the first place.

HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS--Elvis Presley: From the King's 1957 Christmas album, still the biggest-selling album of its kind in recorded history (fifteen million-plus), he took this Gene Autry classic into the rock and roll lexicon, with a goodly amount of help from his favorite backing vocalists The Jordainaires.