A Christmas Yuleblog

This was my final gift from Jeff, the lovely and talented guy behind Jeffco Productions (did I mention he's got FREE album downloads at his site?) This CD was totally unexpected since I'm a pure, die-hard, in-the-wool, old school country music lover (Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, George Jones, anything pre-1980) and absolutely loathe most contemporary country music. I didn't know anything about Brad Paisley before receiving this CD (with the exception that he's married to that cutie Kimberly Williams-Paisley from "According To Jim"). Paisley hails from West Virginia and received his first guitar at the age of eight from his maternal grandfather. By the age of 12, Brad had written his first song and began appearing onstage as the opening act for the likes of Ricky Skaggs and George Jones! After graduating from high school in the early 1990s, he attended Belmont University in Nashville on an ASCAP scholarship no less! Between studies, Paisley took in the ...

Several weeks ago, my friend Mason lent me his DVD of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival to peruse. This amazing DVD has some of the finest guitar players assembled in one sitting. Name 'em and they were there: Carlos Santana, Steve Vai, Joe Walsh, and B.B. King. Want more? How about Robert Cray, a young-up-and-comer named Robert Randolph (a mean pedal steel guitarist who I hope and pray will record a Christmas album one day!), ZZ Top, Buddy Guy, David Hidalgo (from Los Lobos), Jimmie Vaughn, and James Taylor. JAMES TAYLOR? Doesn't quite fit, huh? Two things you should know about this CD: 1.) this was one of my final purchases of the 2006 holiday season. 2.) I reviewed this at FaLaLaLaLa.com last December. To quote: "I've never been a big fan of James Taylor. However, I slipped this into my stack of CDs while checking out at Best Buy the way a man would try to hide a Playboy magazine among Newsweek and Time. "After listening to this ...

If you haven't visited FaLaLaLaLa.com , you're missing out on a great community of Christmas music lovers who offer their picks on great holiday music, web links you have to see to believe, and new and unusual albums or CDs. This CD was first brought to my attention in the Forums at FLLLL (be warned: once you enter the Forums, you may not come out!). KCMike first told us of this CD back on November 21 of last year (thank you sir!). I quickly ordered a copy the same day and waited for my copy to show. And waited. And waited. And waited. Two weeks had passed. This might be normal if I had sent in a check or money order but I paid with PayPal! I dashed off a quick e-mail asking where my copy was. One quicker reply later I got my answer: "Sorry for the delay. Your order slipped through the cracks. The disc was sent today." Lesson learned? Never order anything online before the long Thanksgiving day weekend. About ten years ago, the retro lounge culture was re...

In early December of 2006, I was searching April Winchell 's delectable selection of Seasonal Favorites and came across an MP3 of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by someone named Fay McKay. I downloaded it and took a listen. It turned out to be the famous "drunk lady" version that has floated around cyberspace for years. I was grateful that this always hilarious tune finally had a proper credit (Thanks April!). From there I went to FaLaLaLaLa.com where I typed the following post on December 7, 2006: "'The Crazy Drunk Lady - The 12 Days Of Christmas'. "If you've ever surfed a file-sharing program and entered 'Christmas', there's a good chance this song popped up. I'm guessing about 1/2 of the people reading this know about this Internet favorite (or downloaded it like me). "If you don't, this song begins with indeed a lady who begins to sing 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas' while getting progressively...

It seems like every three or four years, there is a brand new Dean Martin Christmas album. The last release came two years ago when Collectors Choice released " A Winter Romance ". I grant you that this is not a full Christmas album but this was Dean's only holiday release during his entire time at Capitol Records in the 1950s. Three years ago, we got ANOTHER Christmas album entitled " Christmas With Dino " strangely enough! That CD takes the best tracks from "A Winter Romance" and "The Dean Martin Christmas Album" from 1966. I never purchased that version because I already owned the 1998 Capitol release " Making Spirits Bright " and thought I owned it all - how wrong I was! This is why I broke down and purchased this new release from last Christmas (it didn't hurt Wal-Mart lowered its prices on holiday music about two weeks before Christmas). I then learned that this "new" CD has pretty much the same lineup ...

This is the second of two CDs that I chose in place of one Billy Idol Christmas CD (see yesterday's post for more details). I was quite astonished when I found this among the bargain bin racks at the Virgin Megastore - $7.00! I was also surprised like crazy - I never knew the Everly Brothers recorded a Christmas album (I know... I know...). It's little surprises like this that rev up my adrenaline at Christmas. Phil and Don Everly hailed from Kentucky and were excellent musicians even before getting into the music business. When they began moving through the ranks in the late 1950s, rock-n-roll acts like Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry were the top draws. The duo signed with Cadence Records in 1956. Their first single ("Keep A' Lovin' Me") was produced by Chet Atkins and was immediately flopped. They returned to the studio and found a song that had been kicked around Nashville many times. 30 artists passed on the tune...

Last month, my family and I made the trek from Fort Wayne to Chicago for our annual Christmas weekend getaway . We stayed at the Chicago Marriott - Magnificent Mile , located right on Michigan Avenue. We've stayed at this hotel many times thanks in large part to its proximity to the landmarks, shopping, and location to the Virgin Megastore (in the same building - sweet!). Over the past three years, some of the titles I have purchased during these trips have been Jo Stafford , Barenaked Ladies , Happy Holidays V4 , and the Ultimate Christmas Cocktails box set. During my most recent trip, I was determined to find a copy of "Happy Holidays: A Very Special Christmas Album" by Billy Idol . Virgin had many copies in stock; all imported copies from Germany. Their asking price was a whopping $25. I debated, put it back, picked it up, debated some more, and finally decided that was too much to pay for any CD. I figured I could buy two CDs for that price and that's ...

I was first alerted to the existence of this album by my good friend Jeff at Jeffco Productions (psst... Jeff's posted a NEW Christmas album to download at his site!). Thankfully, I was able to beat Jeff to the punch this time and this was one of the CDs I sent him for Christmas. This was one of the first Christmas CDs that I reviewed at FaLaLaLaLa.com last year. To quote: "All the usual suspects are back for their first Christmas CD since 1992's soundtrack to 'The Muppet Christmas Carol'. Featuring five original Christmas songs, this one has something for everyone. "Who better to record 'Zat You, Santa Claus?' than the Electric Mayhem Band? The title track belongs to Kermit and Miss Piggy and is quite charming. And every time I hear Animal in the background on 'The Man With The Bag' ("JINGLE! JINGLE!"), I break out in laughter! "Want more? How about 'North Pole Comedy Club' with Fozzie Bear, Statler & Waldorf? Mi...

It's my personal belief that the greatest Christmas album of all time is "A Charlie Brown Christmas" by Vince Guaraldi. Even if this wasn't recorded for the Peanuts gang in 1965 and released as a soundtrack to a one-off TV special, the music would still hold up on its own. It's that good. However, the strains of the Vince Guaraldi trio are forever linked with Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, and a boy named Charlie Brown. The music was a perfect marriage for the Peanuts characters and all its subsequent movies and TV specials. When this newly remastered version of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was released last year, many of us were elated, ecstatic, and excited all wrapped into one. It's no secret that the original pressings of the soundtracks on CD (1988, 2000) were not the greatest quality and fans worldwide awaited a true remastered work of art. When it comes to high fidelity, noise reduction, and the like, I am totally clueless. I wouldn't know ...

I have been a collector of Christmas music and CDs for nearly 22 years. I have close to nearly 800 CDs in my collection (with another 125+ awaiting review here throughout 2007). I'm not the brightest bulb in the box (I readily admit that). When I heard about this Christmas album for the first time two years ago (you've NEVER heard about this one?) at Ernie (not Bert)'s blog , I put it on my list and never actively searched for it (I know, I know...). Last year as the Christmas season wound down, I remembered I had about $15 left in my PayPal account and used that to purchase this on eBay . This album was released in 1959. Rock-n-roll had pushed conventional pop music off the charts for good and if it didn't have the Elvis sound, it didn't sell. Along came Ira Ironstrings. With titles like "Ira Ironstrings Plays for People with $3.98", "Ira Ironstrings Destroys the Great Bands", and "Ira Ironstrings Plays with Matches" (that...

I first learned of this album over at FaLaLaLaLa.com where The King of Jingaling posted a very nice review. To quote: "This is probably like no other Christmas album I've heard (and suffice it to say I've heard quite a few). That's because it is a 'rock' Christmas album that has the spirit and tone of a classic vocal Christmas LP of the fifties or sixties. "Mann avoids the temptation of so many modern artists to put out a Christmas album with big band arrangements that ape the classics. Instead she sticks with sounds that she knows well (provided by some of her old friends, including Patrick Warren). And the results are warm and sublime." Based on the King's recommendations, I put this one on my list of CDs to search for. On Christmas morning, it was under my tree courtesy of my beautiful wife who eagerly wanted to listen as well, being a child of the 1980s. However, I've kept the CD in its shrink wrap... until now. I tend to shy...

Chalk another surprise up to my buddy Jeff at Jeffco Productions ! He told me about this release way before it hit the shelves and then dropped my own copy in my lap... what love that man has for me! What I wrote about this album when I reviewed it last year at FaLaLaLaLa.com : "Wayne Parry of the Associated Press claims 'this is, quite simply, the best hard rock Christmas album ever made, and one of the best rock’n'roll Christmas albums period since Elvis made his. It’s THAT good.' "Maybe. "Dee Snider and the boys have cleverly taken their old songs (along with some AC/DC, Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath songs) and wrapped Christmas songs around them. Who knew that 'We’re Not Gonna Take It' and 'O Come All Ye Faithful' sounded so familiar? "Lita Ford, the fantasy gal rocker for many of my generation, duets on "I’ll Be Home For Christmas" - one of the highlights of the CD. "If you’re a fan of metal, this one’s f...

While I was picking up Halloween candy in mid-October of last year at Target , this CD (with its exclusive bonus track) called my name until I picked it up and nestled it between some Nestle's Crunch bars and Tony Bennett's Duets CD. My first reaction was: "She finally did it. It was bound to happen!" I always had a hunch that one day Bette Midler would record a Christmas album. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler grew up wanting to be a star and clearly stood out thanks to her Jewish Hawaiian descent. Midler stated later that "if she had known her differentness would have been an asset", her early life would have been more easier. She graduated Radford High School in 1963, went to the University of Hawaii to study drama but dropped out early. Bette knew that New York City was the place to go to get noticed. Before she left, she made her film debut - she was an extra on a ship in an adaptation of James Michener's " Hawaii " in 1966. Midl...

Yo yo yo... ho ho ho! This album came to me from my good friend Jeff over at Jeffco Productions . Every year we manage to surprise each other with Christmas music and this was just the first of many this year! (BTW, Jeff tells me that most of the traffic to his site came from this little yuleblog here so click on the link above and keep that going, k?) Looking over my master list, my supply of Christmas funk is dangerously low. Other funk Christmas albums I own are James Brown's " Funky Christmas ", the various artists album " Funky Christmas ", and the New Kids On The Block CD " Merry Merry Christmas ". Just seeing if you were paying attention... and don't remind me about that horrific "Funky Funky Christmas" track from NKOTB! How to remedy the funk shortage? Paging Mr. Collins, Mr. Bootsy Collins... Cincinnati - home to King Records (the legendary R&B record label). It was here that Collins was born and was influenced ...