It’s Christmas time! In our house, and even back when I was a kid, the Christmas season started early on Thanksgiving morning, when the first strains of Frank Sinatra’s version of Jingle Bells, would sound throughout the house.
I Love those J-I-N-G-L-E Bells, Oh!
I Love those J-I-N-G-L-E Bells, Oh!
I Love those J-I-N-G-L-E B-E-DOUBLE L-S
I Love those J-I-N-G-L-E Bells, Oh!
In our little house in Pennsauken, Sinatra rang out like the opening bell on Wall Street, signaling the start of a season of crazy fun and holiday cheer. Back then, it seemed like our house was full of Christmas music from Turkey Day, all the way up until Christmas morning. Of course there was Frank, but we also listened to Johnny Mathis’ two Christmas albums - Merry Christmas and Sounds of Christmas. One year, my parents ordered a Christmas collection from Reader’s Digest. It had about 6 or 7 albums in it. On Thanksgiving Day, we would stack up the records on the record player and let them play all day, flip them over and then start again, over and over every day until Christmas. That collection had some great songs, including a comedic version of Rudolph, a great version of Go Tell it On the Mountain and some classical selections from the Nutcracker. I wonder if my Mom still has those records? Those records became part of my Holiday traditions.
Until recently, you wouldn’t hear Christmas music on the radio all season long. I think WPEN or the station that had Sid Mark would switch up on Christmas Eve and go play carols for 48 hours, but that was about it. Of course, at the Malls, you could expect to be bombarded with Muzak versions of holiday tunes for about a month, but not on the radio. In the 1970s and 1980s, when a rock musician or group recorded a Christmas song it was a BIG DEAL. Back then, you usually didn’t get entire albums, but maybe a Christmas song that was put out on a b-side of a single. Sure pop acts like the Carpenters or John Denver might give you an entire album of Christmas songs, but who really wants that? And don’t even get me started about Barbara Streisand and Barry Manilow recording Christmas albums.
Through the years, Rock and Roll’s forays into Christmas music have been somewhat hit and miss. Of course there are great classics, but there are some clunkers in there, too, even among the songs that still get played on my iTunes playlist. In the mid 80’s when I finally had a good stereo, turntables and tape deck, I started my quest for compiling a great rock and roll holiday mix tape. On one side, I had the great crooner songs from the 40s and 50s. Frank and Johnny, Bing and Nat King Cole - I’m sure you know the songs I mean.
On the other side I wanted the quintessential Rock and Roll mix, so off I went to record store after record store, looking for the songs. And they were hard to find! Eventually I would get lucky and I found a few great CD compilations, but some songs remained elusive and others slipped through my grasp. But here are some of my favorite Rock and Roll Christmas Songs!
Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
The granddaddy of Christmas Rock, this song features a jazzy/swing chord progression that bridges the gap from the big band era to the Rock and Roll Era. Sure it’s over played now, but this one has a lot of sentimental value!
Rocking Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
The sister song to Jingle Bell Rock, this one was penned my Johnny Marks, who also wrote all the songs for The Holiday classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It also has the exact same chord progression as both Rudolph and Holly Jolly Christmas!
Little Saint Nick - Beach Boys
Okay, I’ll admit this song has one of rock and roll’s greatest DUH moments with the lyric “Christmas Comes this time each year”. But it’s a fun tune and one that I never seem to get tired of hearing.
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
If you like Elvis, I recommend Peter Guralnick’s Elvis bio, Last Train to Memphis. Elvis admired the great entertainers like Sinatra, and Crosby and with his Christmas album, that admiration shows through. His cover of Blue Christmas, while a bit kitschy, (those background vocals!) is still a playful romp and a bit of a hint at how rock and roll could remake some of the classics into something new and unique. I also really like his version of Santa Claus is Back in Town - more of a blues tune, tough, but The King rips it up good.
A Christmas Gift for You - Phil Spector’s Christmas Album
With Holiday hits from Darlene Love and the Ronettes as well as the rest of Phil’s roster of stars, this collection rocks on just about every tune. Of course, it’s worth picking up the collection just for Darlene Love’s It’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).
After Phil’s ego satisfying tromp through the holidays, there was a bit of a drought through the 60’s and seventies for good rocking Christmas tunes. I’ll make an exception for The Royal Guardsmen’s Snoopy’s Christmas.
Step into Christmas - Elton John
It seems like Elton is channelling his inner Phil Spector, with this big Wall of Sound number, but I’ve always liked this one.
I Believe in Father Christmas - ELP
Almost an anti-Christmas Christmas song for the non-believers among us. It’s cynicism appealed to me as a teenager and now as we face an ever increasing tide of Holiday Consumerism, its seems apt again. I love the lines about finding out his Dad was playing at Santa and of course the ending line, “The Christmas we get we deserve” is great as well. This is one song, though that I have always had trouble finding in it’s original version. I have a nice, stripped down version by Greg Lake, but the original radio version in it’s full bombastic glory still eludes my collection, to this day!
Father Christmas - The Kinks
What’s the deal with the Brits? Maybe they’re just following in the Dickensian tradition and revel in pointing out the hypocrisy and dark underside of the Yuletide, but it seems like our brethren across the pond don’t mind taking a poke at some sacred icons. Father Christmas is full of Ray Davies’ tongue in cheek humor and a great song, that even my kids enjoy.
Santa Claus and His Old Lady - Cheech and Chong
I can’t tell you how excited I was to find this on iTunes last year. If there is one song I truly missed hearing every year, it was this one. WMMR used to play it all the time, but I’m note sure if any one else still does, but this is a true lost classic. If you’ve never heard it, I highly recommend it. My kids love it (Along with The Twelve Pains of Christmas). I know it’s not really a “song” but what the heck.
Please Come Home for Christmas - The Eagles
Don Henley’ voice is at it’s most plaintive in the Eagles’ take on this soul classic originally released in 1960 by Charles Brown. I always liked hearing this one on the radio back in the late 70s when it was released. There have been a few more good covers of this one as well, especially by Aaron Neville. I also noticed a version by Southside Johnny as part of the Home Alone soundtrack - but the soundtrack must be out of print.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Bruce Springsteen
This song, recorded sometime around 1975 wasn’t actually released until it showed up on the b-side of My Hometown about 10 years later. Until then, you could only hear it on the radio, and I’ll tell you - I didn’t consider it to be Christmas until I heard this song. Of course, now I can hear it whenever I want, so it takes a bit of the magic out, but still it’s one of my favorites. It wasn’t until I picked up the Phil Spector album and heard the Crystals’ version of Santa Claus that I realized where Bruce got the inspiration for his arrangement of this tune.
Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
This song may polarize some opinions, but I’ll always have a sentimental place in my heart for this little piece of Christmas cheer!
Rock and Roll Christmas - George Thorogood
I’ll end this abbreviated list with this jolly rocker from Lonesome George. I’m not sure how much airplay this one gets anymore, but I like the song’s malt-shop sentiment and straight ahead delivery.
I the 1980’s various artists teamed up to put out the first “A Very Special Christmas Album” - There were some memorable cuts off of this one, but some true clunkers as well, like Madonna’s shaky and off-key Santa Baby and Stevie Nicks bleating her way through Silent Night. This was where Bruce officially released Merry Christmas Baby, though I still prefer Santa Claus... Run DMCs Christmas in Hollis, makes up for the rest of the collection though! Around that same time IRS records put out a Christmas Sampler with songs from bands like Squeeze and Wall of Voodoo and Dread Zeppelin, but the songs were just okay and never really clicked with me.
Between Frank, Johnny and the Collection, that was enough for a lifetime of wonderful Christmas memories. When CDs came out, The Sinatra and Mathis records were among the first ones I bought. I used to have Pioneer CD player that had interchangeable cartridges that held 6 CDs. I loved filling them up with Christmas musical and just hitting shuffle. Now, I’ve accumulated so much Christmas music, I have to clear everything else off of my iPod to be able to fit it all on come the Holiday Season.
Over the years, there have been some new additions to my Holiday music collection, but few hold up as well as the great songs my parent’s used to listen to. I have enjoyed Aaron Neville’s Christmas Album, as well as Jimmy Buffett’s and Chris Isaak’s. A while back, like in the early 1990s, I found a great collection of Rock and Roll Holiday songs that had John Lennon, McCartney and Band-Aid on it, but it also had some great songs like Wizzard’s I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day and Lonely This Christmas by someone called Mudd - which I can’t find any where!
Any way, I could go on and on. There’s so much nostalgia from holiday memories and music, like the time I was kicked out the choir by Sister Roseanne in 5th grade at Saint Pete’s or the year I got my guitar that I’ll have to save it until next Christmas and post a sequel!
Well, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Keep on Rocking in 2011!
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