Top 20 Christmas Albums
...er, better make that 40
This was a tough list to make. Choosing
the best twenty Christmas albums from among over 1000 Christmas albums I own
was a bit like choosing which of my children I love best (if, of course, I
had any children). While almost all of those thousand-plus platters have their
flaws, every single one of them has at least one reason why I cherish them,
reasons
why they make my life (or at least my Christmas) a little better.
So, I cheated. Below, you'll find two lists spanning forty albums - twenty recorded by individual artists and twenty compiling songs by various artists - the latter of which, I must admit, reads like a love letter to Rhino Records. In the end, though, I believe I was very democratic and consumer-oriented. These are records I know you'll be happy you bought (assuming you act on my recommendations), and they contain a preponderance of my Top 100 Christmas Songs. About five are flawless - indisputable masterpieces - and the rest come very, very close to that mark. No doubt, however, I left off some of your favorites. Drop me a line...
Randy Anthony
Top
20 Christmas Albums (individual artists)
1.
Elvis Presley, If Everyday Was Like Christmas (RCA, 1994)
I'm not sure I'd call Elvis' original Christmas albums perfect, but
this reissue - compiling every track from both records - sure is. From 1957's
strangely conflicted Elvis'
Christmas Album (mixing tawdry burlesques with reverential gospel) to 1971's
more measured and mature Wonderful
World Of Christmas, it's all on If
Every Day Was Like Christmas - brilliantly remastered and copiously annotated...
[read more]
2.
The Ventures, Christmas Album (Dolton, 1965)
The Ventures were the most popular instrumental group of the early 60's, and
their guitar-driven rock was ideally suited for the holiday season. Christmas
Album rocks along in a jolly mood - not too hard, not too soft, just right
for making spirits bright. What elevates the record to immortality, though, is
the gimmick: each track integrates a hit song into the arrangement of a time-honored
standard... [read more]
3.
The Beach Boys, Ultimate Christmas (Capitol, 1998)
While not the hardest rocking stuff, the Beach Boys' Christmas music is some
of the warmest and most heartfelt you'll ever find under your tree. Ultimate
Christmas compiles every holiday track the group ever recorded, including
all of 1964's classic Beach
Boys Christmas Album and a variety of tracks recorded over the next decade
for a never-released followup... [read more]
4.
James Brown, Funky Christmas (Polygram, 1995)
No disrespect to the Godfather, but James Brown's Funky
Christmas is a side-splitter. In the name of peace, harmony, and relevance,
he bends over backwards musically and lyrically, twisting his songs and logic
till they resemble a funky pretzel. Despite his contortions, Brown succeeds in
making Christmas "mean something this year" - no small accomplishment
during the turbulent sixties... [read
more]
5.
Emmylou Harris, Light Of The Stable (Warner Brothers, 1979)
Even Nashville's best and brightest often sleepwalk through a few hoary old holiday
chestnuts and pick up their check. Light
Of The Stable, on the other hand, earns its keep - a mixture of traditional
mountain music and hippie country hoedown, exuding a warm Christmas glow. Many
great Christmas records evoke a curious combination of melancholy and joy, and
Harris' album captures this feeling perfectly... [read
more]
6.
Jackson Five, Christmas Album (Motown, 1970)
When the Jackson 5 burst upon the scene in the early 70's, they appeared to be
the salvation of Motown. Turned out, they were the label's last hurrah. Nevertheless,
the J5's Christmas
Album is a fine example of why people looked to them with such hope. The
album brims with energy and inventiveness, and the group's reinterpretations
of hoary old Christmas classics are still being imitated... [read
more]
7.
Charles Brown, Sings Christmas Songs (King, 1961)
The unofficial king of Christmas music, mellow singer/pianist Charles Brown earned
his crown on the basis of just two songs: "Merry Christmas Baby" and "Please
Come Home For Christmas." Brown simply had an affinity for Christmas music,
and his 1961 long-player, Charles
Brown Sings Christmas Songs, is filled with the same seductive, charming
groove that makes those two big holiday hits so great... [read
more]
8.
Booker T. & The MG's, In The Christmas Spirit (Stax, 1966)
Booker T. & The MG's walk the perfect line between easy listening and soul.
The MG's southern stew is in abundance on In
The Christmas Spirit, but their treatment of these traditional Christmas
carols never traverses the boundaries of good taste. The MG's were too just cool
for school, and listening to their fresh take on these old standards is like
a refreshing breeze on a hot, sticky Memphis day... [read
more]
9.
The Temptations, Christmas Card (Motown, 1970)
All of Motown's Christmas music is pretty great, but the mighty Temptations cut
the merriest, mellowest LP of them all. On Christmas
Card, the Temptations soulful command of their material is staggering. The
group's impossibly smooth "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" really has
to be heard to be believed, and their take on Jimmy Webb's "My Christmas
Tree" delivers an emotional knockout punch... [read
more]
10.
John Fahey, The New Possibility (Takoma, 1968)
The prickly heart of folkie John Fahey seemed to grow three sizes when faced
with the true meaning of Christmas. His Christmas
Guitar Soli versions of holiday favorites are achingly honest and emotionally
naked while retaining only a hint of his usual misanthropy. Fahey lends subtle
new interpretations to tired old yuletide tunes, and they blow away any superficially
similar "new age" albums... [read more]
11.
Vince Guaraldi, A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy, 1965)
I enshrine A
Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) here not because it's a jazz classic - it's
a fine example of post-bop piano trio, particularly on the Vince Guaraldi originals.
I mention it, rather, because it conjures the Christmas joy of my
childhood better than any album I own. If you, like me, watched the annual "Peanuts" Christmas
TV special with rapt awe, you'll understand... [read
more]
12.
Gene Autry, Complete Columbia Recordings (Varese, 2004)
Finally, every precious Christmas song this famous singing cowboy cut for Columbia
comes home to roost in one spot! Previous compilations were excellent, but they
overlooked songs as essential as "Merry Texas Christmas, You All" and "Thirty-Two
Feet - Eight Little Tails." Beautifully mastered, annotated, and packaged, Complete
Columbia Recordings is perfect! [read more]
13. Brenda
Lee, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (MCA, 1999)
If Charles Brown is the unofficial king of Christmas,
Brenda Lee is the unofficial queen. She recorded just one preeminent hit (the
title track), but it's a song that defines the golden age of Christmas rock.
All of Lee's early Christmas recordings are compiled on Decca
Christmas Recordings, from the quaint "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus" to
the effervescent "Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day"... [read
more]
14.
The Miracles, Our Very Best Christmas (Motown, 1999)
Only a handful on Christmas albums came out of Motown during their "Golden
Decade" from 1962 to 1971. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, however,
chalked up two full holiday platters, including the label's first-ever seasonal
release. Both of those records were quite good, and Motown's compilation, Our
Very Best Christmas, does an expert job of excerpting just the right tracks...
[read more]
15.
The Beatles, Ultimate Christmas Album (Vigotone, 1998)
Among the thousands of records I own, there resides but one bootleg - The
Ultimate Beatles Christmas Collection. Released on the storied Vigotone
imprint, it is a CD package that would put Rhino Records to shame, containing
each the band's annual fan club flexi-discs; top-quality copies of several
solo Christmas singles; and about two dozen rare tracks - radio greetings,
live snippets, rough mixes, etc. Nearly 20 years later, Capitol finally released the flexi-discs commercially, but only as a 7-inch vinyl boxed set, The Christmas Records. [read
more]
16.
Louis Armstrong, What A Wonderful Christmas (Hip-O, 1997)
Part shrill exploitation, part joyful noise, What
A Wonderful Christmas is a case study in modern seasonal marketing. On one
hand, it's a various artist package masquerading as a Louis Armstrong album.
Plus, it doesn't even have the song it is named after - one of Satchmo's signature
tunes. On the other, the music is incredible - the brightest lights in jazz celebrating
the season... [read more]
17.
Ray Charles, Spirit Of Christmas (Columbia, 1985)
I wasn't prepared to like The
Spirit Of Christmas, nearly as much as I did. It was cut well after Ray's
50's and 60's prime, and I figured it would have a middle-of-the-road feel. Not
so. While it isn't as funky as it would have been if recorded in, say, 1959,
it percolates with the big band energy and stately grace that have come to characterize
Ray's best later work... [read more]
18.
Dwight Yoakam, Come On Christmas (Reprise, 1997)
Imbued with the qualities that made Dwight Yoakam so important to modern country
music - his musicianship, his inventiveness, his humor, and his insatiable thirst
for the next cool sound - Come
on Christmas has all the swagger and adventurousness of Yoakam's very best
work, from the ambient title track to a cajun romp through "Silver Bells" to
some slammin' twang-core on "Run Rudolph Run"... [read
more]
19.
Huey Smith, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas (Ace, 1962)
Like a personification of New Orleans itself, Huey "Piano" Smith and
his Clowns sound as if they could withstand a hurricane with their irrepressible
good humor intact. When they grafted their trademark sound onto the wonderful
world of Christmas, the results were merry indeed. The ten songs on 'Twas
The Night Before Christmas seem to flow from one to the next with nary a
break in the fun... [read more]
20.
Chet Atkins, Christmas With Chet Atkins (RCA, 1961)
If you appreciate the artistry or the craft of Chet Atkins, you'll understand
why this is one of my Christmas favorites. Compared to many of my choices, however,
this is a pretty tame record. That does little to dampen my enthusiasm for this
gentle album. Easy listening? Sure. Memorable? You betcha. Heart warming? Absolutely,
and I'd recommend this for any Christmas party - hip or otherwise... [read
more]
Top
20 Christmas Albums (various artists)
1.
Soul Christmas (Atco, 1968)
Whoa, baby, this is the real thing - every cut is a bona fide classic, from
Clarence Carter's nasty "Back Door Santa" to Joe Tex's sanctified "Make
Every Day Christmas (For Your Woman)" to Otis Redding's stark reinterpretation
of White Christmas." Soul
Christmas is a classic of soul and Christmas - and one that belongs
in the collection of anyone who claims to know anything about either... [read
more]
2.
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector (Philles, 1963)
Über-producer Phil Spector never topped his 1963 LP, A
Christmas Gift For You. He made better singles (barely), but he never released a full-length album
with the power, majesty, and humor of this widely acknowledged classic. While all collectors should experience
first hand this album that has influenced so many, Spector's Christmas
Gift is indispensable for aficionados of Christmas rock... [read
more]
3.
A Motown Christmas (Motown, 1996)
What a deal! Remastered, expanded, and budget-priced, A
Motown Christmas is an updated version of a 1973 two-LP set containing highlights
from six albums by the Supremes, Miracles, Temptations, Stevie
Wonder, and Jackson 5. People forget
that Motown was an incredibly inventive and prolific hit factory for more than
a decade. Do yourself a favor - rediscover "The Sound Of Young America"...
[read more]
4.
Doo Wop Christmas (Rhino, 1992)
There was no form of rock 'n' roll more pure than doo wop. Performed simply for
the joy of it, it is the closest thing rock n' roll has to sacrament. When doo
wop met the similarly pure world of Christmas music, good things were bound to
happen. The performances on Doo
Wop Christmas range from ecstatic (the Penguins) to destitute (the Orioles),
illustrating why doo wop fans are such a devoted bunch... [read
more]
5.
Punk Rock Xmas (Rhino, 1995)
Compiling 18 chunks of yule noise, Punk
Rock Xmas is the one record on my "Top 20 Albums" list that is
undoubtedly not for everyone. Loud, irreverent, and occasionally scatological,
it nevertheless captures the joy of Christmas - just in reverse. These are songs
for people who love to hate Christmas, and there's room for them, too, in our
winter wonderland... [read more]
6.
Hillbilly Holiday (Rhino, 1988)
Now sadly out-of-print, Hillbilly
Holiday mines the rich vein of Christmas gold running though the golden age
of country music - when hillbillies still made hillbilly music. The eighteen
songs herein barely begin to tell the story (no Gene
Autry, for instance), but they serve as an excellent introduction for neophytes
and function as an adequate summary for casual fans... [read
more]
7.
Hipsters' Holiday: Vocal Jazz And R&B Classics (Rhino, 1989)
Rhino Christmas CD's summarize subgenres of Christmas music about as well as
can be expected when limited to 18 tracks: nearly all admirably representative
of the form, and all but a few rise to classic status. Hipsters'
Holiday does just that, presenting odes to a new kind of Santa Claus, one
who "done got hip," who does the boogie woogie, dances the mambo, and
lives a crazy be-bop lifestyle... [read more]
8.
Christmas Classics (Rhino, 1988)
While lacking a certain focus, the sheer brilliance of the individual tracks on Christmas
Classics overcomes Rhino's scattershot programming,
making it as close to an "instant record collection" as any Christmas
album available at the time. Surveying rock's golden era, Christmas
Classics includes nearly all the widely-accepted classics plus a few choice
rarities: a fine place to begin collecting Christmas music... [read
more]
9.
Blue Yule: Christmas Blues & R&B Classics (Rhino, 1991)
Blue
Yule leans towards obscure recordings, and its down 'n' dirty blues are not
for the faint-of-heart. This is a rough crowd, as the hapless revelers herein
are as likely to spend Christmas drunk, in jail, or dead (or all three) as they
are to be safe in the warm hearth of home. A strange and captivating record, Blue
Yule is full of weird, wonderful moments that will make record collectors
hyperventilate... [read more]
10.
The Best Of Cool Yule (Rhino, 1989)
It's the obscure, insane records on Best
Of Cool Yule that make Christmas music so fascinating. Thrill to the Marquees'
jungle hijinks in "Christmas In The Congo"! Witness Tina Turner rip
the guts out of "Merry Christmas Baby." Travel down the bayou with
Brenda Lee in "Papa Noel," then hop over to New Orleans where Huey "Piano" Smith
celebrates "Silent Night" like it was Fat Tuesday! [read
more]
11.
Dr. Demento: Greatest Novelty CD Of All Time (Rhino, 1989)
The novelty record has had a long love affair with Christmas. Many of the best-selling
Christmas records have been novelties, and most great holiday rockers bear an
element of the ridiculous. Dr. Demento, high priest of the novelty record, exposes
the best of this rarified genre with his Greatest
Christmas Novelty CD Of All Time, and the results range from hilarious to
crazy to annoying to just plain weird... [read
more]
12.
It's Christmas Time Again (Stax, 1982)
Stax Records' It's
Christmas Time Again (1982) is the neglected younger sister of the belle
of the ball - Atlantic's Soul
Christmas (see #1). There's no arguing with the pure
brilliance of the latter album, but Stax's entry in the soul sweepstakes has
much to offer rhythm & blues enthusiasts, including grittier music and a
more worldly view of the holiday season... [read
more]
13. New
Wave Xmas (Rhino, 1996)
After rock got serious in the late 60's, Christmas records were deemed crass,
commercial, and resolutely unhip. New wave artists, though, embraced the genre
with great abandon and little reverence. Many such platters have been lost, but
17 of the best have been happily preserved on New
Wave Xmas. Ranging from sublime to ridiculous, these songs consistently
portray Christmas with a difference... [read more]
14. Mambo
santa Mambo (Rhino, 2000)
Despite appearances, this CD isn't about Latin music, per se. Rather, it's
about the Latin music craze (think Ricky Ricardo) that gripped American pop like
a tropical fever during the 1950's. Several of these artists are Anglo, and most
sing mainly in English. That said, Mambo
Santa Mambo is a riot, alternating slinky grooves with goofy novelties while
spooning up some salsa muy authentica... [read
more]
15.
Rockin' Little Christmas (MCA, 1998)
What makes Rockin'
Little Christmas great isn't the wonderful vintage music. Rather, it's the
way it communicates what makes Christmas rock 'n' roll special - the energy,
humor, and damned optimism in the face of harsh reality. These songs made our
of lives brighter and our trials easier to bear. And that - not flying reindeer
or decorated evergreens - is what Christmas (and rock 'n' roll) is all about...
[read more]
16.
Natty & Nice: A Reggae Christmas (Rhino, 1998)
To a white boy (and pop fan) like me, reggae music often sounds a bit, well,
foreign. Perhaps that's why reggae covers of well-known pop songs have always
been popular in England and America, and it may also explain why Natty
And Nice: A Reggae Christmas sounds so familiar and friendly. We are treated
to a variety of original and traditional songs surveying over 25 years of Jamaican
music... [read more]
17.
A Christmas Record (Ze, 1981)
Most ZE Records were, by their own admission, mutant disco - twisted or tortured
perhaps, but celebratory and kinetic at their core. Hence, A
Christmas Record sounds like a party - the strangest shindig ever thrown
in honor of Old St. Nick. Happily, this long out-of-print album has finally been
reissued on CD, albeit in a strangely reconfigured format... [read
more]
18.
A Boston Rock Christmas (Boston Rock, 1983)
I hesitated to include this rare, raucous slab of vinyl on my list, because I
didn't want to taunt you, dear reader, with a brilliant record you'll probably
never find. But, I did, because it's that freakin' good. Just five songs long, A
Boston Rock Christmas (1983) smokes from start to finish, covering everything
from lubricious roots rock to techno pop to shambolic punk to blistering hardcore...
[read more]
19.
Swingin' Christmas (Rhino, 2001)
The treasures of Swingin'
Christmas are manifold, representing a variety of genres lumped together
under the umbrella of swing. Beginning with the big band stomp of Woody Herman,
the disc encompasses post-war boogie, suave 60's exotica, sub-Sinatra
crooning, and no less than three Louis Armstrong cuts including "Cool
Yule" -
virtually a manifesto for guys like me... [read
more]
20.
Bummed Out Christmas (Rhino, 1989)
Though slightly imperfect and a tad skimpy on track selection, Rhino's Bummed
Out Christmas! (1989) is the first and best album album about how Christmas
can really suck. Experience a dozen uniformly depressing, frequently comical
yuletide laments addressing divorce, incarceration, murder, several cases of
drunk driving, and "Viet Cong all around me." The weather outside is,
indeed, frightful... [read more]