Holiday Earworms, vol III

Okay, here's the list for the iPod set, i.e., those who want SONGS, not albums... In no particular order:

• White Christmas, Bing Crosby. I mean, really... Is there any version that does more to say what needs to be said about the importance of snow at Christmastime?
• Jingle Bells, Brian Setzer Orchestra. This would be the instrumental version, found on Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas. Who needs a horse-drawn sleigh when Brian is driving this musical hot rod? Awesome.
• Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. When I was young and Springsteen was at the height of his powers I didn't get it. Now that I'm a "professional" musician approaching 38... I TOTALLY get it. There's tangible joy in this performance, something that is present in nearly every Springsteen show, and it is one of the finest examples of the E Streeters' capabilities.
• Ave Maria, Perry Como. This is so good it'll make you weep. The finest piece of music ever written, sung exactly how it should be sung; with a sweetness and tender conviction that Como's understated and underappreciated voice is perfect for.
• Silent Night, Mannheim Steamroller. Before M.S. became the holiday juggernaut it is today, there was their first Christmas release in the late 80's. This may well be the best and clearest interpretation of this perennial holiday favorite... Completely without words.
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Judy Garland. Most interpretations of this song have happier lyrics that completely gloss over the context in which the song was originally performed in the movie "Meet Me in St. Louis." I have never seen the movie, but when I listen to this original recording I can imagine a scene that one day I may get to compare with the original. A song of resignation, one that makes me think that we need to accept Christmas blessings no matter how big or small they are.
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, John Denver and the Muppets. If you need to have the more "accepted" version of the lyrics, I think this is the best alternative. A duet between Mr. Denver and Rowlf the dog (aka Jim Henson) is simultaneously funny, uplifting and sentimental. Surprisingly excellent.
• Run Rudolph Run, Dave Edmunds: There are a zillion versions of this, and all are pretty good (goode?). But this one is most enjoyable for me due to the drive and the chunk of the guitars. Cool.
• The Christmas Song, Mel Torme. He wrote the damn song, first of all. Second of all, "The Velvet Fog" is perfect for conveying its simple sentiments and spot-on imagery. Mel Torme is killer on this.
• Winter Wonderland, Tony Bennett. Tony. F***ing. Bennett.
• Christmas in Prison, John Prine. OK, a little dark for most tastes, but damned if this tune just doesn't make me want to pick up a guitar and write a song from the hip. If it could only be as good as this one. Willie Nelson also covers this one very well.
• 12 Days of Christmas, Bob & Doug McKenzie. This song, in general, shouldn't ever be recorded. It's a party song, one that begs audience participation in order to work. The best way to enjoy this song otherwise is to completely poke fun with/at it. Bob & Doug never fail to make me laugh on this one, citing with deadpan certainty the far more appropriate gifts of 20th century mankind... At #1? A beer. In a tree.

How am I doing so far? More earworms to come later...

Holiday Earworms, vol. II

Okay, so here's one of my all-time favorites: "The Chieftains: Bells of Dublin."

Stop here if you don't like traditional Irish music or if your prefer your Christmas Carols on the more "Santa Claus-y" side.

The Chieftains, as you may know, are Ireland's traditional music Beatles; they rock out tradional Irish ditties with a semi-modern flair on traditional Irish folk instruments. Decades old, this band of minstrels holds the torch for Irish folk, yet is known for collaborating successfully with the likes of Sting, the Rolling Stones, Roger Daltrey and superstars from across the globe. They are always a favorite of mine, and this album of old traditional and newly minted seasonal carols is exactly why.

The tunes are strong and evoke a specific mood from the start; the bells of Dublin pealing on Christmas Eve giving way to the strains of a small band of revelers. There are voice choirs here and there, small Welsh vocal ensembles and spoken word deliveries over haunting flute and pipes. There are pop stars contributing their singular talents for modern carols, from Elvis Costello's hilarious "St. Stephen's Day Murders" to Jackson Browne's thoughtful "Rebel Jesus."

But it's the last 20 or so minutes of the album that sends me dreaming of holiday cheer. A suite of carols recorded live in a party setting truly transports me to a snowy evening on a quiet street where the last house down is throwing a simple holiday shindig. There's dancing, singing, drinking and merriment that quietly leads into what I imagine to be the musical selections of a small local church's midnight Christmas Eve mass. There's a choir and a massive organ mixed with the sounds of the Chieftains bringing us home and welcoming the Child of Christmas.

This is music that makes me dream about the treasured moments of the season, the things that I hold dear at Christmas. The Bells of Dublin reminds me of wonderful Christmases past, while gently prodding me to bring those traditions into the future holidays. And that's FAR more than music is obligated to give to us.

Give it a try!

Holiday Earworms, vol. I

Okay, so I like Christmas music. In fact, I like it alot... If it's classic or at least arranged well. I'll never listen to Britney Spears doing "Christmas" (or any other) music... Again... Yep, I've probably heard it before if it's out there, and some things you just can't avoid. The best you can do in those situations is try and supply yourself with an arsenal of your OWN holiday earworms and tunes.

To that end, this week has brought me to one of my favorite Christmas standbys of all time: "Tuck Andress: Hymns, Carols and Songs About Snow."

Forget that the guy MUST have a third hand in order to play all of the stuff he does... On ONE guitar... Live in the studio... With NO OVERDUBS OF ANY KIND... Forget that he is a true one-man band with talent fairly dripping off his fingers...

Yeah, forget all that and just listen to these jazzy gems, instrumentals on solo guitar that coax the listener into a soulful groove, begging you to just chill... These are some of the greatest jazz arrangements I've ever heard, with pulsing, swinging rock-solid basslines rooting familiar yet fresh melodies that ring purely and with joyful clarity. This stuff makes me happy on the highest level. Tuck's renditions of "Winter Wonderland," "The Little Drummer Boy," and "Deck the Halls" are pitch-perfect and swing like crazy, while his Nashville-influenced "Jingle Bells" evokes memories of sleigh rides taken and dreamed of alike... But it's his "Ave Maria" that is the true earworm here. Building from the classical foundation, it climbs to a sublime jam that is as understated as possible, yet impossible to forget, likea gift from Andress to the listener: The feeling, long after the record is over, that even the least "musical" of us can hum, swing or even improvise with his easily rendered melodies.

See you soon! Oh, and go buy this album.