Need some better Christmas music to get in the holiday mood? Help is here.
We get it. Really. You’ve been subjected to holiday music on the airwaves and in especially hungry dens of commerce since, what, August? It’s gotten to where if you hear one more version of “Winter Wonderland” you’re apt to head to the South Pole simply because it’s the furthest point from the North Pole. You know, where all that elf business is headquartered.
Then again, maybe you’re in full-on Scrooge mode not because you’ve been subjected to Christmas songs for so long, but because you haven’t had a chance to hear the right Christmas songs. So, in this last week before St. Nick makes his rounds, give yourself a seasonal attitude adjustment with a treat or two from this holiday playlist divided evenly between newly released seasonal music albums and favorites from Christmas past.
From Louie and Lizzo, from to Mavericks and McPherson, here are the sounds to make spirits bright this Christmas.
The new (five 2022 collections of holiday music)
Louis Armstrong: “Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule”
The great Satchmo’s holiday recordings – most notably a series of 1950s singles for the Decca label – have appeared on numerous albums and surface again on this new compilation. But there is a major bonus here. Shortly before his death in July 1971, Armstrong recorded a spoken word version of the popular Yuletide poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (“The Night Before Christmas.”) Its album debut, with a newly cut New Orleans piano bed from Sullivan Fortner, concludes this especially festive outing.
Alicia Keys: “Santa Baby”
Everyone from Madonna to Taylor Swift to Arianna Grande has cut “Santa Baby,” although the definitive version of the seductive gold digger classic, by far, remains Eartha Kitt’s original version from 1953. Listening to Alicia Keys purr her way through the song’s Christmas wish list (a sable, a yacht, a ’54 convertible) is pretty stunning, too. So are her takes on the bluesy “Please Come Home for Christmas” and the Vince Guaraldi gem “Christmas Time is Here.” Four Keys originals round out the set.
Backstreet Boys: “A Very Backstreet Christmas”
A lot of Central Kentuckians will flock to this as Lexington natives Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson remain at the heart of the Backstreet Boys lineup. The group’s harmony singing has aged well over the last three decades and is best exhibited when the songs are familiar and the production slickness is scaled back (as on “Silent Night”). But a less obvious entry like Dan Fogelberg’s “Same Old Lang Syne,” demands sentiments the Backstreeters never fully grasp.
Chris Isaak: “Everybody Knows It’s Christmas”
For his second holiday album, retro-referencing rocker Chris Isaak enlisted A-team producer Dave Cobb (whose client list includes Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell) to cut a batch of roots-savvy Christmas songs with a surprisingly wide emotive reach. On the fun side is his update of Chuck Berry’s ultra-cheery “Run Rudolph Run.” Those in a holiday funk, though, can cry in their egg nog to the vintage country despair of the Isaak original “Wrapping Presents for Myself.” Ho-ho-ho to that.
Lizzo: “Someday at Christmas”
You better watch out, I’m tellin’ you why. Lizzo’s coming to town. Well, she is this spring, anyway (April 22 at Rupp Arena.) Until then, cheer on this grand holiday treat. Sadly, it’s just a single, but Lizzo sounds regal on an update of Stevie Wonder’s still-topical 1967 holiday gem “Someday at Christmas.” None of the usual seasonal camp or excess sentimentalism is embraced here. Instead, the song is a prayer for peace. What an extraordinary concept for the holidays.
The perennials (five sets from past holidays worth a fresh listen)
The Mavericks: “Hey! Merry Christmas” (2018)
Fasten your sleigh belts because the genre mash-up music of The Mavericks is heading our way next month (Jan. 28 at the Opera House.) Until then, dig into this set of predominantly original tunes that toss together sleek blues, festive Tex Mex, Jerry Lee Lewis-worthy rock ‘n’ roll and even a shade of the country colors that brought the Mavericks to prominence 30 years ago. Favorite tune (and title): “Santa Wants to Take You for a Ride.”
Raul Malo: “Marshmallow World & Other Holiday Favorites” (2007)
Malo is the Roy Orbison-caliber vocalist for The Mavericks who released this and several other fine solo albums during one of the band’s extended break-ups. “Marshmallow World” has the same stylistic breadth as his music with the Mavericks, but its jazz, blues and root-savvy serenades are more traditional in execution. Well, mostly traditional. Malo transforms “Silver Bells” into a tango and whistles “Winter Wonderland” to the strum of a ukulele. Out-of-print, but worth the hunt.
J.D. McPherson: “Socks” (2018)
This is one of the most refreshing and joyously rocking albums of original Christmas-themed music to surface in ages. The songs are artfully clever, from the leather jacket Santa trolling of “Bad Bad Kid” to the jubilant holiday charge of “Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights.)” But what sets this soiree in motion is McPherson’s encyclopedic command of vintage pop and rock inspirations and the ability to forge them into a fresh new holiday sound.
Joel Patterson: “Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar” (2017)
A guitarist possessed with incomparable jazz and roots music chops, Patterson plays mostly in his home base of Chicago but introduced himself to Lexington audiences last holiday season by way of a sublime opening set for McPherson’s “Socks” show at The Burl. “Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar” is full of warmly paced, Chet Atkins-flavored instrumental takes on seasonal standards. Retro in design, but not in terms of performance vigor. Available digitally through bandcamp.com.
David Grisman: “David Grisman’s Acoustic Christmas” (1983)
Here’s a way to literally pull the plug on the electric excess of the holidays. Over the last four decades, mandolin great Grisman has built a bridge from bluegrass to a blend of acoustic swing, jazz and gypsy soul he has dubbed Dawg Music. “Acoustic Christmas” is a collection of intimate and distinctively Dawg-driven takes on seasonal tunes from Grisman and an all-star crew of instrumentalists that includes Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall and Darol Anger.
