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Elvis Presely, "Elvis' Christmas Album"For years, I've made the argument that Elvis Presley was at his purest (not best necessarily) when singing the gospel. That was the closest we ever got to seeing inside Elvis' heart, past the ambition, the adolescent needs for identity, recognition, and validation that watermarked even his best music. When singing to the Lord, Elvis would open a door to the unbridled longing that drove him simply to sing - not show off. If this passion was hopelessly mired in the Freudian nightmare of his relationship with his mother or his futile, latter-day quest for redemption, it wasn't any less real because of it. Since Christmas music is first cousins with gospel, the feeling Elvis conveyed when he sang about the holiday was nearly synonymous with the uncluttered fervor the brought to the church. That said, Elvis cut his best Christmas music when his two worlds collided - when his trademark rock 'n' roll bump-and-grind ran full speed into the holiest of seasons.

The most convincing evidence of my theory is Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," a salacious blues that finds Elvis lewdly declaiming to his (presumably female) listener, "Santa Claus is coming down your chimney tonight!" The song is among Elvis' best performances - seasonal or otherwise - and it is the centerpiece of the King's first Christmas record, Elvis' Christmas Album (RCA, 1957), a case study in the dichotomy between the sacred Elvis and the profane Elvis.

Rockers like "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)" sit side-by-side with reverential meditations like "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" - not to mention four actual gospel numbers originally released on Elvis' Peace In The Valley EP earlier the same year. Packaged as a glossy gift for the fans (intimate 12x12 portraits included), Elvis' Christmas Album was a masterpiece of marketing and a triumph of bad taste, but it still stands as one of the best rock 'n' roll Christmas albums ever made.

Elvis Presley, "Wonderful World Of Christmas"A Blue Christmas

Even casual listeners know that "Blue Christmas," another track from Christmas Album, is the holiday song for which Elvis is remembered. The tune was originally recorded by Ernest Tubb in 1949, and he took it to #1 on the Country charts (#26 Pop). Tubb's rendition is straight and mournful, but in Elvis' hands, "Blue Christmas" is pure burlesque. Just the way Presley hiccups his way into the song is enough to send it over the edge, but then drummer D.J. Fontana begins bashing away like he's moonlighting at a striptease joint, and background singer Millie Kirkham starts trilling wordlessly like she's singing a different song altogether. It's awful, or it's perfect, but for better or worse, "Blue Christmas" became Elvis' signature Christmas track.

Uncharacteristically, RCA initially demonstrated some restraint and only released "Blue Christmas" as a promotional single for disc jockeys. When the label finally released the single to the public in 1964 (b/w "Wooden Heart"), it zipped to #1 on Billboard's Christmas chart. The next year, RCA reissued "Blue Christmas" (b/w "Santa Claus Is Back In Town") and it charted again - then repeated the feat nearly every year through 1973.

In his entire career, Elvis only charted one other Christmas single, when he recorded "If Everyday Was Like Christmas" (written by his childhood friend Red West) in 1966. Musically and philosophically, the song is a little heavy-handed, taking a sanctified gospel approach to what is essentially a secular, utopian plea. But, Elvis delivered it with his usual aplomb, and the single scaled #2 on the Christmas charts, and then reached #12 in 1967.

Elvis Presley, "If Every Day Was Like Christmas"A Wonderful World

Except for "If Everyday Was Like Christmas" (and a raw stab at "Blue Christmas" during his 1968 NBC-TV Special), Elvis didn't record any more holiday music until 1971. The resulting album, Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas, is not quite the tour de force that Elvis' Christmas Album was. Still, it is superior in certain ways, and it can certainly be considered a more measured, mature effort. The Elvis who recorded Wonderful World was an adult, and he cast the album in the same soulful, southern sound (a la Tony Joe White and Joe South) that he developed after his aforementioned "'68 comeback" TV special. Exemplary songs from this period include "Suspicious Minds," "Separate Ways," and "In The Ghetto" (see The Memphis Record, 1987, or Suspicious Minds: The Memphis 1969 Anthology, 1999)

Wonderful World doesn't rise to those levels, but it contains a number of remarkable vocal performances - especially "If I Get Home On Christmas Day" by noted British songwriter Tony Macaulay ("Build Me Up Buttercup," "Smile A Little Smile For Me"). The album's undisputed highlight, however, is the largely improvised take of "Merry Christmas, Baby," a rhythm & blues classic first recorded by Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers way back in 1947. With James Burton's guitar and Charlie McCoy's harp punctuating Elvis' aggressive phrasing, the song just plain cooks. Elvis grunts ("haw haw!"), goads the band ("dig in, James!), and makes smart-ass asides ("wake up, Hut!"), proving that not only was he engaged, he was having a good time. It shows.

Taken from a jam session stretching nearly nine minutes, "Merry Christmas, Baby" was trimmed to less than six minutes for the LP. A less-severely-edited version that pushes past seven minutes was released on Memories Of Christmas, 1982), but the complete, unedited master wouldn't see the light of day for 50 years. And, for those keeping score, the 1971 single release of "Merry Christmas, Baby" was spliced and diced down to less than three minutes and featured overdubbed strings and guitar. Very different, and kinda cool, but it's never been reissued on any album - ever.

And, that was it. Elvis never again forsook Graceland for the North Pole, and he rarely again took such pleasure in his work. But, he left an indelible mark on the genre of Christmas music.

Elvis Presley, "Wonderful World Of Christmas" Textbook Perfection

That impact is exhaustively documented on If Every Day Was Like Christmas (1994), compiled by noted author and Elvis maniac Ernst Jorgensen. This textbook-perfect reissue collects every non-gospel song from Presley's two holiday albums and tosses in a few rarities - including the otherwise non-LP title track - for a total of 24 songs on one compact disc. I think If Every Day Was Like Christmas is the best Christmas album ever made - and it gets even better if you pick up the limited 6x12 gatefold edition with the Graceland-at-Christmas fold-out, pop-up diorama!

After If Every Day Was Like Christmas, you might think that RCA would've called it a day. How can you improve on perfection? Well, that's not how the Elvis marketplace works, and RCA has been cranking out Presley Christmas "product" ever since - often with perfectly pleasing results. For instance, White Christmas (2000) is nearly identical to the 1994 set. It compiles the complete contents of both original LP's (no rarities), the 1966 single "If Everyday Was Like Christmas," and "Mama Liked The Roses," a song RCA frequently drops into budget-oriented Elvis Christmas albums. Christmas Peace (2003) is a 2-CD set spotlighting both seasonal and gospel music (20 tracks each, 40 songs total), and Elvis Christmas (2006) is simply the complete contents of both albums - no extra anything.

Any of them is a steal at any price, however, and no Christmas collection is complete without one. The King loved Christmas (all those Cadillacs to give away), and it shows on every single track. But, beware: there are many, many other Elvis Christmas discs (see below), all of them inferior to those recommended above. Perhaps none, however, is more distasteful than Christmas Duets (2008), a rank exercise in necrophilia wherein a bevy of mildly talented country babes (Leanne Rimes! Anne Murray!) sing along with Elvis thanks to the miracle of modern technology. Later, dead Elvis crooned with a complete symphony orchestra on Christmas with the Royal Philharmonic (2017). Ugh.

Elvis Presley, "Christmas"Postscript

Almost every holiday season arrives with fresh Elvis product, and I've mostly stopped paying attention - though I try to at least keep track of it all. For instance, The Classic Christmas Album (2012) is pretty good - except for a couple of those execrable duets. It's sort of like "Elvis' Gold Christmas Records" with highlights from his whole career. But, I have to ask: With packages as consummate as If Every Day Was Like Christmas, White Christmas, and Elvis Christmas, why bother?

Well into the 21st century, however, some really interesting things happened, initially issued by the Follow That Dream (FTD) label, an offshoot of the official Elvis fan club charged with essentially emptying out the Presley vaults. In 2014, FTD issued an expanded CD edition of Elvis' Christmas Album. Cool stuff, but not a huge deal - multiple alternate takes of two of the gospel tracks, plus three non-Christmas songs cut during the same sessions. FTD's 2011 reissue of Wonderful World Of Christmas, however, was truly impressive. Expanded across two compact discs, it included a dizzying number of alternate takes plus one outtake ("The Lord's Prayer") and a completely different version of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day" recorded a month later, but not used on the album.

In 2021, the undubbed master takes from the Wonderful World sessions were released on Elvis Back In Nashville, a four-disc boxed set documenting Presley's 1971 sessions at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. Stripped of strings and other overdubs added by producer Jarvis Felton, the tracks range from interesting to revelatory - including the unedited, nearly nine-minute jam that yielded "Merry Christmas, Baby." Back In Nashville was a sequel to From Elvis In Nashville (2020), a similar boxed set collecting Elvis' 1970 Studio B sessions.

Next, digital technology was applied to the mono master tapes for Elvis' Christmas Album, magically turning it into a stereo recording. Released by the Memphis Recording Service (exclusively through the fanclub website), From Elvis At Christmas (2024) smacked of exploitation - including super cheesy, computed-generated cover art. While digital stereo is certainly a different animal than the old "reprocessed" stereo - which usually sounded more like echo - it still seems like retouching the "Mona Lisa." I generally prefer stereo, when possible, but I value authenticity above all. Hard pass. [top of page]

Albums Albums

SongsEssential Songs

  • Blue Christmas (1957)
  • Here Comes Santa Claus (1957)
  • Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees (1971)
  • I'll Be Home On Christmas Day (1971)
  • If Every Day Was Like Christmas (1966)
  • If I Get Home On Christmas Day (1971) Top 100 Song
  • It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You) (1971)
  • Merry Christmas, Baby (1971)
  • Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me) (1957)
  • Santa Claus Is Back In Town (1957) Top 100 Song
  • Winter Wonderland (1971)

Further ListeningFurther Listening

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