Another random browse through the depths of my holiday music library....
Dobie Gray - Welcome Home (1981)
Really nice, jazzy soft rock effort that I look forward to sampling each season.
Jazz For Joy - A Verve Christmas Album
Mid- 90’s offering from jazz label Verve featuring vocals from Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Horn, and Betty Carter. Not my first choice in the jazz category but quite nice nevertheless.
Kelly Finnigan - A Joyful Sound (2020)
An excellent soul-filled effort that sounds as if it’s just been plucked from a time capsule, a lost r&b gem. Featuring an amazing array of support personnel, Finnigan channels the great soul stars of the past while retaining his own unique sound. First rate and one of my faves from lasts year, and one of a tiny handful being carried over to this years list.
Darius Rucker - Home for the Holidays
This is one of those albums that tend to fall between the cracks - I hear the “hits” (Candy Cane Christmas, You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch) a few times each year on the radio/streaming playlists and forget this was a pretty good album beyond just those tracks.
Ralphie's Red Ryders - You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out
If Jean Shepherd had ditched the radio booth and joined The Ramones, this is what A Christmas Story might have sounded like. Well, no, it’s not as good as that probably would have sounded but it is the closest we’ll ever get.
The Oak Ridge Boys - Christmas Cookies (2005) / Christmas (1982)
Christmas Cookies: One of many holiday releases from the lads, this one hails from 2005 and it’s a very decent entry.
However, I much prefer their inaugural holiday release - Christmas, which, while definitely a product of its time (much like yours truly), has so much more personality, starting with the opening track Jesus is Born Today, which channels The Village People (!), and the Sing-esque Christmas is Painting the Town.
Ansel Adam Sounds of Christmas Celebrate the Season
Perfectly fine, if rather generic, collection, of sparsely arranged Christmas standards, makes for lovely background music. The only connection to Adam’s I could find is that he loved classical music and was an accomplished pianist, though he, obviously, doesn’t appear on any of these recordings.
Warner Bros. Stars- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Promotional compilation of seasonal ditties from the stars of various Warner TV shows at the time.
Hawaiian Eye (Connie Stevens, Poncie Ponce and Bob Conrad), and The Alaskans (Ray Denton, Dorothy Provine and Roger Moore) have the greatest representation with three stars each while 77 Sunset Strip (Efram Zimbalist Jr. and Connie Stevens) has two and Bourbon Street Beat (Eddy Cole), Cheyanne (Clint Walker) and Bronco (Ty Hardin) have but one golden voice each on display.
Highlights include Connie Stevens’ Away in a Manger, Ed “Kookie Burns’ novelty hit Yulesville, Eddie Cole’s Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Dorothy Provine’s Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!.
The McKamey’s - Gifts
Old fashion country gospel. Not my thing.
