Christmas Songs part 7: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Now, I know that there are many, many versions of this song (and I think Eddie Cantor even recorded the original version), but this one is my favorite. Why?

a) It's Bruce. BRUUUUUUCE!

b) His version rocks the house. The opening monologue, where he asks the audience and the band if they were good boys and girls all year slays me! That, plus the fact that the band sounds as if they're having the time of their lives, just does my heart good.

c) My favorite moment of the song is when "Santa" apparently comes onstage and for whatever reason, Bruce can't sing the song without cracking up with laughter. I can't find any reference online as to what caused this, but whatever it was, it just tops the cake o' fun that is "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town".

Recommendation: Listen when driving, particularly when going down the interstate. The closer you are to Jersey, the better!

Christmas Songs part 6: Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth

Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth-Bing Crosby/David Bowie

I was going to write down the story of the recording of this particular song, but I actually found a site that explains it quite well. Click here.

A particularly interesting bit of trivia about this song was that Bing and Bowie recorded their duet on September 11. Ironic that 24 years after the fact, America would be plunged into a well of war and terror.

The song itself is absolutely lovely. Whatever reason that they had for making this a counterpointed duet, the two songs mesh well together, and it's amazing to hear the merging of the voice of the old crooner with that of one of rock's legendary chameleons in his prime.

Sometimes I miss the old celebrity Christmas specials. Back in the 70's and early 80's, you could count on seasonal appearances by Bing, Perry Como, Bob Hope, and many others. Now they're all gone. I know Nick Laschey and Jessica Simpson tried to resurrect the format a couple of years ago, but it just didn't seem right. Maybe I need to shop around a "Clint McGuire Christmas". :)

Recommendation: find the "Bing Crosby Christmas" DVD, watch this segment over and over until you can sing the "Peace On Earth" part, and duet with someone.

Christmas Songs part 5: White Christmas

White Christmas-Bing Crosby

I believe this song once held the record for biggest selling single of all time. For all I know it still does. The fact of the matter is, for me it just isn't Christmas without hearing Bing Crosby sing "White Christmas" It was composed by Irving Berlin back in 1942 for the movie "Holiday Inn", and won an Academy Award for his writing efforts. It was successful enough to inspire a movie called "White Christmas" several years later. Since then, many have tried, but no one has been able to equal the original. Rest in peace, old crooner. We'll be talking more about you in another song.

Christmas Songs part 4: Merry Christmas From The Family

Merry Christmas From The Family-Robert Earl Keen

I believe this will be the most recently released (in its original form) song on my list. I first heard "MCftF" on the John Boy and Billy show back in the mid 90s, and I lved it from the first time that I heard it.

It's basically a redneck Christmas song, complete with trailers, kids from multiple marriages, chain-smoking and trips to the Stop 'n Go. It hits close to home, or at least to the home I grew up in. If the Eagles' "Please Come Home for Christmas" is Don Henley lounging by the pool alone on 12-24, this song is Keen in a dirty resin chair at the trailer park tellin' his nephew "Go gimme a beer; and not one of them sissy 'Sam Adams' holiday brews, neither!"

Just to show you what I mean here, I'm gonna include the lyrics to this one, and if you don't have this song, go and seek it out.

Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk
At our Christmas party
We were drinkin' champagne punch
And homemade eggnog
Little sister brought her new boyfriend
He was a Mexican
We didn't know what to think of him
'Til he sang Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad

Brother Ken brought his kids with him
The three from his first wife Lynn
And the two identical twins
>From his second wife MaryNell
Of course he brought his new wife Kaye
Who talks all about AA
Chain smokin' while the stero plays
Noel, Noel, The first Noel

Carve the turkey turn the ball game on
Mix Margaritas when the eggnog's gone
Send somebody to the Quik-Pak store
We need some ice and an extention cord
A can of bean dip and some Diet Rite
A box of tampons and some Marlboro Lights
Hallelujah everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the family

Fran and Rita drove from Harlingen
I can't remember how I'm kin to them
But when they tried to plug their motorhome in
They blew our Christmas lights
Cousin David knew just what went wrong
So we all waited on our front lawn
He threw the breaker and the lights came on
And we sang Silent Night
Oh Silent Night

Carve the turkey turn the ballgame on
Make Bloody Marys cause we all want one
Send somebody to the Stop 'n Go
We need some celery and a can of fake snow
A bag of lemons and some Dite Sprite
A box of tampons and some Salem Lights
Hallelujah everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the family

Feliz Navidad.

Recommendation: Play it at a party, when everyone is good 'n drunk. Better yet, learn to play it on a guitar, and play it at the party!

Christmas Songs part 3: Please Come Home For Christmas

Please Come Home For Christmas-Charles Brown/The Eagles

This was a pretty important Christmas song for me. When I was growning up and listening to the local rock station, the Eagles version was one of the songs they would play most often. When I was 17, it became especially crucial to me, and in my development as a young man.

I was living in Florida at the time, and trying to fit in as best as I could, being that I had spent the previous seven years living on top of a mountain in the backwoods of North Carolina. I was a member of a club called the "Outdoorsmen Club", which could more accurately have been called the "Field Trip Club", since most of the places we went were not exactly rugged, remote terrain.

That Christmas, we had a team scavenger hunt that would lead us to a secret location for a dance/party. Me and my team of shepherds went looking all around Daytona Beach for clues until we finally figured out that the party would be at a hotel on the beachfront. We got there, and the party was in full swing. Being that it was a sponsored event, there was no alcohol, but we all had a pretty good time anyway.

I remember the DJ was playing the hits of the day through the evening, and I was wanting to dance with someone, ANYONE before the night was over. Finally, this song played, and I got up my nerve. I went over and asked a girl I was familiar with, named Stephanie Swisher, if she would dance with me. She said "yes", and we slow danced to this and the next one ("Happy Christmas", see below). Nothing else ever happened between us, but I appreciated Stephanie dancing with me, geek that I was/am.

I don't know; I realize that Charles Brown was the first artist to make this song popular, but I really like the Eagles' version more. Maybe it's the kind of "California vibe" they put into it. Maybe it's Don Henley's plaintive voice as he sings it. Maybe it's the memories of my first ever slow dance. Sorry, Charles.

Recommendation: The Eagles version, followed immediately on your Christmas mix by "Happy Christmas (War is Over)"

Christmas Songs part 2: Happy Chrsitmas (War is Over)

I thought this would be especially appropriate today, given that this marks the 25th anniversary of the assasination of John Lennon. First, I'd like to tell my "when I heard" story, adn then I'll move on to the song.

I heard the news of his death that night, when I was staying at my grandmother's house. She was widowed, and lonely, and the three oldest kids in my family took turns staying the night at her house, which lay down the hill from ours in the mountains of North Carolina. I remmeber the day before, listeining to American Top 40 on the radio, and hoping that his comeback single "Starting Over" would reach the top of the charts. That night I watched television, and I believe it was CBS. I can't remember what was on that night; I think it was a movie.

As network programming was about to give way to the local news at 11:00, a "Special Report" graphic came up on the screen. I thought for a moment that something may have happened with the American hostages in Iran, but it was worse than that. The announcer informed me (and millions of others) that John Lennon had been shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City.

I was stunned.

I stayed up a little longer, watching the news, and went to bed around 11:30 (it was a school night). I turned on the radio, and the radio station out of Johnson City, TN was playing Beatles music. I left the radio on all night, and went to sleep with John, Paul, George and Ringo serenading me in a vain attempt to assure me that all would be right in the world.

The next day, people were talking about Lennon and The Beatles. Some were already making tasteless jokes about the shooting. I heard a couple of people ask what the big deal was; I just shook my head and kept myself focused on my schoolwork. A few days later, I went out and bought the "Starting Over" 45. I wish I still had it, but it was lost in a fire in 1990.

That's my story. On to the song.

"Happy Christmas (War Is Over)"-The Plastic Ono Band

"Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" was a single released by John and Yoko (and the Plastic Ono Band) in 1972, as part of an effort to keep protesting the war in Vietnam, but also as a general message of peach throughout the world.

Many things stand out to me in the song. First is the gently whispered "Happy Christmas John" "Happy Christmas Yoko" at the beginning. It's beautiful to hear these two people expressing their love for one another. The lyrics are pretty simple, but the joy with which they're sung carry the tune for me. Yoko is actually bearable in this song. In general, a beautiful, uplifting song, even if it's tampered a little by Lennon's fate.

War is over, if you want it.

Christmas Songs part 1: Have Yourself a Merry....

I have decided that for the time between now and Christmas I would dedicate this blog to discussing some of my favorite Christmas recordings, and why I like them so much. If I had thought of this sooner, I could have turned it into a kind of advent calendar. Anyway, on to my first choice:

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas-Judy Garland/Frank Sinatra/The Pretenders

This song is one of my favorites to sing to over the holidays, and all of these recordings just reek of awesomeness, in my humble opinion.

Judy Garland is responsible for first giving voice to this song, having performed it in the film musical "Meet Me in St. Louis." Word is she was a little uncomfortable with some of the lyrics, and changed some of them around. One she didn't change was the line "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow." When Frank Sinatra recorded his version a few years later, he changed the line to "Hang a shining star upon the highest bow." I personally have no probllem with either version, though I have to admit I will more often sing the latter than the former.

As much as I like the Garland version, however, it's the Pretenders' cover that leaves me at the point of tears. Chrissy Hynde puts so much longing and sadness in her voice as she sings, it's almost unbearable. And yet, it absolutely sets the mood of the song, which is as much melancholy as hope. As a younger man, not having found the woman of my dreams, I would often listen to this song at Christmas and daydream of She Who Would Complete Me. Unfortunately, I went through several red herrings before I found her, but that's the way it goes.

Recommendation: Garland for the Christmas party, Pretenders for drinking by the fire after the party, Frank for staring at the tree anytime.