For some reason that I cannot really answer, I have a modest collection of Christmas music. I am not some of those people who scour thrift stores and record shops for off-the-wall holiday songs. But, I do look for rock and roll Christmas music. I remember back in the Eighties, when I was working as a clinical laboratory scientist in a hospital in Ohio, we were at a Christmas party when someone asked me if I knew of any rock artists who recorded Christmas music. I told him that I knew of some singles and had a list in my first edition of The Book of Rock Lists of some critics favorite Christmas albums. Much to the chagrin of our wives, we spent the next hour or so writing up a list of songs by contemporary artists. That was 1987 when the first A Very Special Christmas album was released.
Since that fateful night, I have kept an eye open for Christmas music that piques my interest. I tend to purchase compilation albums and CDs since I enjoy making mixtapes and now playlists of Christmas music. First, Napster was my best friend in the Aughts for finding obscure music. But now, my friend is streaming. Currently, I have only purchased one Christmas album for my collection, which was a somewhat difficult to find import compilation.
Christmas music releases can be hit and miss over the years. It seemed as though a whole couple of generations of artists were making Christmas albums throughout the 21st century, at least until the pandemic. Still, some more albums trickled out up until this year. I understand that several C-list artists released new Christmas music, but not like the previous two decades.
The first Christmas albums I ever received were recorded by The Ventures and some Snoopy-inspired Christmas compilation led by the great “Snoopy’s Christmas” by The Royal Guardians. Boy, did I ever play the hell out of those two albums. Even during the summer. For years! But, as my tastes changed, so did my Christmas music. By the mid- and late-Seventies, I was into songs by The Kinks (“Father Christmas”), Greg Lake (“I Believe in Father Christmas”), Bruce Springsteen (“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”), Eagles (“Please Come Home for Christmas”) and Elton John (“Step Into Christmas”), not to forget Cheech & Chong’s brilliant comedy bit “Santa Claus and His Old Lady.”
When the Seventies were closing into the Eighties, it seemed as if everyone was releasing Christmas songs. Hell, even Paul McCartney gave us “Wonderful Christmastime” in 1979. And a what sounded like a pop song that has grown into a Christmas classic, Dan Fogelberg rode “Same Old Lange Syne” into the Top 10 in 1980. Finally, all of those here-and-gone rock popsters of the moment New Wave artists dropped Christmas kisses all over the scene.
Since the early-Eighties, the holiday music market has grown until Mariah Carey blew up the whole damn thing when she released her Christmas classic album Merry Christmas in 1994. Since then, she has made millions of dollars every year based solely on that album and her ubiquitous hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” After that, every artist went searching for a perennial Christmas classic. And that all often leads to some fantastic music and some real clunkers.
With that said, I am listing my 15 favorite Christmas albums by artists, in addition to my five favorite Christmas compilation albums. If you own these twenty, you can keep a Christmas party rockin’ all night long. I am listing these albums in alphabetical order by artist.
The Beach Boys – The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album (1964). One of the grandfathers of Christmas albums, people should NOT have been surprised by the sound of Pet Sounds after listening to this album.
James Brown – James Brown’s Funky Christmas (1995). Technically a compilation of James Brown’s funky take on Christmas standards and his own additions to the Christmas music book.
Mariah Carey – Merry Christmas (1994). This is the big one!
Carpenters – An Old-Fashioned Christmas (1974). Nothing beats Karen Carpenter voicing the dark side of the yuletide.
Cheap Trick – Christmas Christmas (2017). Just because the Rockford, Illinois, power poppers are one of my favorites.
Bob Dylan – Christmas at Heart (2009). You never know if Bob is serious or not, but he was really on a creative roll at the time he recorded this album. I believe that Bob was in the middle of his exploration of Frank Sinatra’s catalog when he decided that he needed to do some Christmas standards.
Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965). A jazz soundtrack to a cartoon Christmas special that has Biblical scripture read? You bet! And, it was a perfect storm.
Daryl Hall & John Oates – Home for Christmas (2006). Take arguably the greatest white soul singer of the rock era and turn him loose on some R&B takes on some Christmas standards and you get pure gold.
Emmylou Harris – Light of the Stable (1979). Leave it alt-country pioneer Emmylou Harris, the ex-partner of the late Gram Parsons, to tell the story of Jesus’ birth in a beautifully written, played and sung setting. This album can truly make a believer out of you.
The Monkees – Christmas Party (2019). The Monkees were down to a trio by the time this album was being recorded, which coincided with their comeback album from the previous year. Around that time, we lost Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith after having lost Davy Jones long before. So, this album has added poignance. There are a couple of great yuletide originals by the likes of Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie to help the 60s band stay current.
Kacey Musgrave – A Very Kacey Christmas (2016). Musgrave is arguably the best current artist in country music. And she was just reaching her songwriting peak when this terrific pop/country Christmas classic was released. The best song is a smoldering original called “Present Without a Bow” that Musgrave sang with the very underappreciated Leon Bridges. This is the sexiest holiday song released since the 60s soul heyday.
Willie Nelson – Pretty Paper (1979). 1979 was one helluva year for the country outlaw movement of which Willie was a leader. So, it made sense that Willie would record a bunch of classics in his characteristic manner and kill it. His version of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Paper” just might be the definitive one.
Elvis Presley – Elvis’ Christmas Album (1957). The success of Elvis’ album of his rock take on Christmas standards started this whole thing.
Sufjan Stevens – Songs for Christmas (2006). This relatively unknown neo-folk artist created five years worth of Extended Plays (EPs) of Christmas music done in his unique manner. He eventually released these in a box set, and it is terrific. The originals are outstanding while Sufjan breathes new life into old holiday classics.
The Ventures – The Ventures’ Christmas Album (1965). This is the first rock and roll Christmas album I ever listened to, thanks to my babysitter in my preschool years during the Sixties. Eventually, my parents purchased my own copy so I’d quit driving the other kids up a wall at the sitter’s home. Instead, I blared that album year round off the front porch of our house up until I got an Alice Cooper album in 1973.
Various Artists – A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector (1963). This is not just the greatest Christmas album of all-time, but it is quite possibly one of the greatest pop/rock albums of all-time. Phil Spector was at the height of his producer’s powers when he produced this album of his artists (The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love, etc.). Unfortunately, the album was released on the day President Kennedy was assassinated, so initially the American public was reluctant to celebrate. Yet, this album has become a Christmas classic thanks to the timelessness of the songs, performances and production, all of which had a profound effect on Brian Wilson who would soon release his magnum opus Pet Sounds.
Various Artists – A Motown Christmas (1973). Throughout the Sixties, Motown was a hit-making machine including releasing several Christmas classics of their own. So, it made great sense to compile the best of the best and release this compilation of Christmas classics covered by their biggest stars like Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops and all the rest. What a fantastic album!
Various Artists – New Wave Xmas: Just Can’t Get Enough (1996). The late-Seventies and early-Eighties took the punk aesthetic combined it with Sixties kitsch, some Motown, synthesizers, glam rock, pop and disco to birth this thing called New Wave. During this era, these artists were not afraid to record Christmas songs, from The Waitresses now classic song “Christmas Wrapping” and The Pogues’ reality hard-hitter “Fairytale of New York” to lesser fun songs like They Might Be Giants with “Santa Beard” and “Christmas Day” by Squeeze, with all kinds of stuff in between. This compilation is part of Rhino’s Nineties-era 19-CD collection of New Wave songs entitled New Wave Hits of the Eighties: Just Can’t Get Enough.
Various Artists – Soul Christmas (1968). Motown wasn’t the only label attempting to cash in on the Christmas market. In 1968, this mostly Stax artist compilation was released for the world to catch onto soul artists’ original Christmas music. You will find the original versions of “Backdoor Santa” by Clarence Carter, Joe Tex doing “I’ll Make Every Day Christmas,” “Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas” by Carla Thomas and Otis Redding’s moving take on “White Christmas.”
Various Artists – A Very Special Christmas (1987); A Very Special Christmas 2 (1992); A Very Special Christmas 3 (1997). The 1987 release heralded a return of the rock Christmas album after several silent years outside of a bunch of singles that barely received airplay during their time. The first album was loaded with stars of the day including Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, U2, Run-DMC, John Mellencamp and others. The second and third albums had a smattering of great new songs, especially Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ now-standard “Christmas All Over Again.” On the second and third volumes, you will find Christmas music by artists from Sinead O’Connor and Extreme to Smashing Pumpkins and No Doubt. These three are all now classic compilations whose original intention was to raise money for the Special Olympics.
There are hundreds of great Christmas albums out there, all you have to do is dig a little. There are albums by Andy Williams and Bing Crosby to Twisted Sister and Billy Idol, not to mention an Eighties rap Christmas compilation called Christmas Rapping and a Death Row compilation for the Nineties that is interesting to hear how the gangstas celebrated the yuletide. Merry Christmas Everybody!!!
If My Records Could Talk 