Staff Picks: Merry, Merry Holiday Songs and Albums
As you’re opening presents and enjoying your coffee this morning, you’re probably spinning your favorite holiday songs (or watching 24 hours of A Christmas Story). Here are our favorite yuletide tunes and albums that light up our proverbial tree or menorah every year.
1) A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, Darlene Love, The Ronettes, The Crystals, Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans (1963)
Picked by: Rick
I know I just did a piece extolling the virtues of The Ventures Christmas Album not long ago, but I had to go with this selection because it’s not only a great album, but it also contains my all-time favorite Christmas song, Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” There are a number of classics here redone in Spector’s “Wall of Sound” style, and although all of the contributions by the Ronettes, Crystals, and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans are great, it’s Love who steals the show. In addition to “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” she does “White Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland,” but it’s her version of “Marshmallow World” that really kills. While I realize Target has done the Karen O version of this song to death in their ads this Christmas, Love’s is a great rendition and well worth hearing.
2) “I Believe in Father Christmas,” Greg Lake (1975)
Picked by: Jim
The song gets a lot is flack for what’s considered cynicism — it’s serving as an anti-Christmas piece — but that’s an unfair criticism. Lake himself discusses that he was singing against rampant commercialism that had crept into the holiday, which compared to today’s practices of putting Christmas ads up before Halloween would make a 1975 Christmas seem as quaint as a Victorian celebration. That said, the effort of the piece to find the spirit of the holiday despite the distractions we embed it in is what makes the song as enduring as it has become.
3) “Light One Candle,” Peter, Paul and Mary (1983)
Picked by: Susan
Written in 1983, this is one of the best contemporary Hanukkah songs around, originally composed to bring attention to the plight of Jews in the Soviet Union. Rather than dwelling upon the strictly religious aspects of the holiday, the song uses more secular imagery to remind all people, regardless of background, of the light in the darkness, and the ethical imperative to engage in “tikkun olam,” or repairing the world.
4) “Merry Xmas Everybody,” Slade (1973)
Picked by: Sarah
I know it’s a predictable choice, as one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time, but I just love it. No other song puts me in the Christmas mood quite like this one, and it also turned me onto more of Slade’s music. The song was written with the intention of cheering people up at a time when Britain was in the middle of an economic crisis. It seemed to work, topping the charts and becoming Slade’s biggest selling single. It has continued to perform well in the Christmas charts ever since.
5) A Christmas Portrait, The Carpenters (1978)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTzbqUyI3sc
Picked by: Erika
Timeless and gorgeous, this album is Christmas to me. Karen Carpenter’s inimitable voice was made for Christmas songs, and the duo’s characteristic schmaltz creates the perfect holiday mood. Karen’s brother Richard is a master arranger, alternating vocals with orchestral and choral arrangements that seamlessly create a 50-minute medley (to get the full effect, listen straight through from beginning to end). A Christmas Portrait also includes the Carpenters’ signature holiday song, “Merry Christmas, Darling,” composed by Richard and first released as a hit holiday single in 1970.
6) I Wanna Be Santa Claus, Ringo Starr (1999)
Picked by: Pam
OK, so maybe none of the tracks on this overlooked Beatle Christmas album could ever hope to touch “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” but they do make a nice seasonal companion to “Wonderful Christmastime” (sorry, Paul). Ringo injects new life into old yuletide standards and delivers original Beatles-esque tunes to create an admirable Christmas record. From the percussion-driven opener, “Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On” to the George Harrison-inspired closer, “Pax Um Biscum (Peace Be With You)” the album gets punctuated by Ringo’s trademark sense of humor. You could just tell he had a blast making this record. He also gets a little guitar help from one of his friends, Joe Perry, on two of the tracks. Peace and love, peace and love.
7) “A Christmas Together,” John Denver and the Muppets (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt3wPl7bdFQ
Picked by: Emma
What better way to celebrate Christmas than with the Muppets? And their buddy John Denver is there for some original Christmas tunes, too. This album (which has been released with two slightly different track lists) has it all. It’s family-friendly and fun. Also check out the Electric Mayhem’s cover of “Little Saint Nick.”
8) “Little Saint Nick,” The Beach Boys (1964)
Picked by: Allison
Speaking of “Little Saint Nick,” there’s really no modern Christmas classic that compares to the Beach Boys’ original for me (maybe excluding Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” but I would hardly put them in the same category). It’s even hard to describe why I love it, though maybe it doesn’t need describing: it’s the warmth of the harmonies from the first refrain after the opening xylophone run, the simplicity of the tune and lyrics, and its playful car/sleigh lingo that makes it a holiday staple. Though the same could be said for any of the early Beach Boys recordings. It’s indicative of an era, but still remains a Christmas radio mainstay. If that’s not the definition of timeless, I don’t know what is.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays from all of us here at REBEAT!
