Dear Kay,
We all have our holiday music traditions. Growing up, my family had exactly one Christmas album, an LP that included Barbra Streisand singing “Jingle Bells”* at a speed that scared the socks off me.
More palatable is a juicy, brand-new playlist curated by our favorite arbiter of all things Nashville, Betsy Hindman. Betsy has dipped into a deep, rich vein of Nashville Christmosity to cook up a playlist will get you through all the light-hangin’, nog-slurpin’ good times ahead. “Your bulbs are burned out and your tinsel don’t shine”: Loretta Lynn for president!
We clearly need a MDK City Christmas playlist to go along with this one. Thanks, Betsy!
Please point us toward any music playlists that are making your day. We have 456 potential hours to fill with holiday music ’til Christmas, just saying.
Love,
Ann
*OK, here you go, thanks to the Internet slag heap of Christmas past. Barbra blasts through “Jingle Bells” in under two minutes.
https://youtu.be/z2lRSk0MWAY
And, the best thing ever, Loretta Lynn and the Wilburn Brothers, “Christmas at the Opry”:
It ain’t Christmas at the Hawkinses until
Ray Charles’ version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is playing. A must listen.
Leon Redbone- Christmas Island album , especially Blue Christmas….
I heard Jimmy Buffett singing “Christmas Island” on Sirius radio yesterday. Normally I don’t listen to Christmas music but Jimmy can make anything sound like a Hawaiian love song.
Last year I posted a non-standard Christmas song every day in December. How about this one: https://youtu.be/2s3OiF5HMvc
I think Christmas at the Opry might be the best thing ever. Who knew?
I know! It’s precious! The precursor to the Oscars’ In Memoriam video. Made my day, Ann. At one point in the beginning it looks like LL is suppressing a laugh. “Darlin’, you have to to understand that I didn’t knit you anything for Christmas.”
Yes! “If There’s a Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven” except with the Wilburn Brothers talkin’ it all. Hubbo feels that the Wilburn Brothers overtalked. I didn’t realize there was such a thing as overtalkin’ in a country song, but he may be right. [Runs off to watch it again.]
Just saw Miss Loretta Lynn at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown NY a couple of weeks ago. She still looks and sounds amazing!!!
Bette Midler’s “Cool Yule’ CD is one of my favorites. I have an extensive Christmas CD collection. But if you grew up on Long Island/New York City/New Jersey you were blessed every year with hearing ‘Dominic The Donkey’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz0O9VBIaWU
Thanks for the earworm, Cheri. I grew up in New Jersey and don’t have to click the link, it is now in my head.
My husband plays a variety of music from Thanksgiving through Christmas, starting with Windham Hill and slowly moving from jazzy solstice to powerful horn section, full-on orchestral Christmas jubilation on Christmas Day. It’s a fun tradition, but I’d be happy with James Taylor’s Holiday CD on repeat for a month.
I am with you. We have lots of sounds in our house. I’m happier with JT on repeat too. maybe with the English Ceremony of Carols and one or two others towards the end.
You can’t beat Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree for putting you in the Christmas spirit. But it isn’t Christmas in the Hogeland household without Little Drummer Boy and the Hallelujah Chorus.
I was also going to add Leon Redbone – Christmas Island. And it made me sad to remember my Willie Nelson Christmas album that disappeared during one of my many moves in my 20’s. Yeah, not exactly yesterday, but I can still grieve, can’t I?
It’s not Christmas without daily doses of Darlene Love singing Christmas Baby Please Come Home. But you do need to add Leon Redbone to your mix.
Done! How did I miss including Leon Redbone? I added “That Old Christmas Moon”
Vince Guilardi’s jazz soundtrack from A Charlie Brown Christmas. All year ’round. And it’s not Christmas until I hear Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano. I’m loving all the music suggestions. Today is for Christmas music and knitting mittens on a foggy damp Sunday in southern Ontario.
Reading the blog every day is my favorite holiday gift this year. (Even though the blog refuses to send me notifications.) Thanks for the time and effort to send these little treasures out into the world.
When my kids were young (the youngest is 31 now), it was not Christmas unless John Denver and the Muppets were singing.
This might be my favorite Christmas playlist of all time! Thank you! I remember that Barbra Streisand carol and trying to mimic her to my mothers chagrin and, of course, to no avail.
My sister just reminded me that it’s Christmas once you hear this parody from Allan Sherman. We’ve been giggling for days:
http://youtu.be/7qoClBsZSTM
Growing up , it was the Andy Williams Christmas album that had to be played over and over. To this day it remains one of my favorites!
Just went to see Loretta Lynn a few weeks as the kick off for you my 50th birthday celebrations. She was FANTASTIC. You’ve probably already seen this and it isn’t a Christmas song but it is so, so good. P.S. Loretta was in red sequins!!! Red sequins!!! I was swooning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkXFFOOs_3g
FANTASTIC! Thanks so much for posting this 🙂
Thank you Karen! I wore that CD out but never saw this wonderful video. When Brenda pats kd!
I could watch this every hour of every day. And Loretta was at the Tarrytown Music Hall. Amazing venue.
Around here it’s Barenaked for the Holidays (by the Barenaked Ladies, doh). Best Jingle Bells ever. We also put A Leroy Anderson Christmas (the Boston Pops) on repeat. Sleigh bells! Those are the two favorites, with a Canadian Brass Ensemble carol collection in the mix too.
Oh and Emmylou Harris, Light of the Stable. It’s four-part a cappella song: Emmylou/Dolly Parton/Linda Ronstadt/Neil Young. Yowza.
Also, in certain moods, Merry Axemas #1 — all electric guitar.
Adding Emmylou. Didn’t know about that song!! its a perfect fit- thanks!
Whoops, it’s The First Noel that’s a cappella, with Dolly Parton and Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Ronstadt and Young and Parton are background vocals on the title track. Still gorgeous.
I love Christmas music and have a wide variety that I have collected over the years. A little bit of everything. Some good, some okay. All are on an iTunes playlist and play on shuffle. I tell the family if you don’t like this song, you might like the next one. My faves though are Bette Midler, the soundtrack from Elf, Chris Isaac, and She and Him.
If we weren’t going to be watching football today, I like to think I’d play the music and get around to putting up the decorations.
I’d like to share our holiday favorite, from my guilty pleasure radio show “Hillbilly Hangover” hosted by DJ Hound. The Hound had a show on Sundays on WFMU that we listened to in those sleeping in, brunch eating child free days of the late 80’s in NYC East Village. I don’t think The Hound was a knitter. Here’s an old playlist I found, and you can click on “Entire show” to listen to it in one stream.
http://thehound.net/19881224/
We’re alternative here, so our oldie-but-goodie is The Roches We Three Kings (speaking of a capella their Hallelujah Chorus is unmatchable – and their Good King Wenceslas as country twang is the only way I ever hear it in my head). Newer is Annie Lennox – love her neo-medieval bent. But then again, The Holly and The Ivy and Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming are my favorites so I lean toward that ancient Celtic thing.
Barbara Streisand singing Jingle Bells reminded me of my favorite Christmas band–The Klemonauts singing Oy to the World. Take a listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsi_kxXCeK4&list=PLUSRfoOcUe4YP63qBW3nPDJ_SVNjJqqGn&index=1
Growing up outside Philly, the city’s rock station played “The Top Five at Five” every day, and for almost all of December, I was guaranteed to hear Bruce Springsteen playing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” nearly every day. My love for Mr. Springsteen still burns bright. We play The Roches Christmas album a lot, and Judy Garland’s messy but charming album. )”Liza’s out skating with her beau!”) Who knew “Steam Heat” was a Christmas song? Andy Williams gets some time in the CD player (the old one, not the Bransonified version), as does Shawn Colvin. A Charlie Brown Christmas, of course, gets regular rotation. Ella’s Swinging’ Christmas is a staple, too. And those are just a handful of the CDs. There’s also the iTunes playlist. In fact, it’s time to put them on and heat up a mug of glogg!
Ella Fitzgerald sings “Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney.” We heard this one on the radio years ago while driving south for Christmas. Practically had to pull the car over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGWAgoRbgrg
I grew up with Perry Como’s Christmas album, and it’s still one of my favorites. Also, the Carpenter’s Christmas (Karen singing I’ll Be Home For Christmas…) and Amy Grant’s Christmas album are traditions at our house. Eartha Kitt’s Santa Baby. Andy Williams has some good ones–reminds me of my childhood Christmases. Gotta listen to some of these while I decorate the tree today!
I was trying to explain to my husband just last night that it isn’t actually a Christmas carol unless it was on the Goodyear Christmas albums my parents had while I was growing up. I even made a cassette of them when I moved out the first time. Now there are others, Charlie Brown and Manheim Steamroller also make the grade.
We saw Jerry Granelli, the drummer on the original Charlie Brown Christmas album, when he was touring with a trio last December. he’s the only one still living, he can still play an awesome drum set, and he was backed by excellent piano and bass players. It was a marvellous evening and made me love the album even more.
The Streisand fpr edition is insane. Ridomg with Famny Brice! Priceless!
*A Tejano Country Christmas*: Freddy Fender sings “Frosty the Snowman” with Flaco Jimenez on accordion, and much much more. It’s not available new anymore, but used copies are for sale from various vendors.
I need to have Betsy or Ann show me what a playlist is and how to set one up. I want to hear all of these every day.
It’s not Christmas around here until we here Goofy on Disney Christmas belt out “Five onion rings”….!!
We can’t start to open our presents until Take 6 He Is Christmas is playing in the background. Sets the jazzy relaxed vibe for the morning.
I’m sorry to say that Christman music gives me hives. Only Elvis Presley’s “Santa Claus is Back in Town” makes the cut of holiday music for me. The King got it right when he cut that record!
John Denver and the Muppets is our favorite.
My new favorite is the Pentatonix “That’s Christmas to Me” album released Xmas 2014. I could listen to their version of “Mary, Did you Know?” all day long…
Thanks for this! My daughter-in-law and I will be baking cookies tomorrow (with the help of my 2 year old grandson). This playlist showed up just in time!