My ultimate Christmas CD

It’s hard to find a great Christmas CD with songs that everyone likes.  People want the well known version of songs, not Michael Buble trying to cover the Drifters’ White Christmas.  Due to legal issues and the music industry not being able to play together nicely, I decided to make my own mix CD.  I have gotten a lot of compliments on it, so I’m going to do one of my famous “track by tracks” and share it with my readers as an early X-mas gift.  All these songs have been selected and sequenced in this order.  The compilation fits on a standard 80 minute CD-R with 5 seconds to spare! 

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree sung by Brenda Lee is the quintessential feel good song from the rocking guitar part to the background singers. 

Jingle Bell Rock sung by Bobby Helms. 

What Christmas Means to Me by Little Stevie Wonder.  He really sings his heart out here.  You can actually hear distortion in the vocal track (as was the case in the 60’s) that shows how powerful his voice is (was).

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was made popular by Gene Autry.  With his simple melodic approach to singing, it’s easy to see why he was so popular and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame under each category (I think he’s the only one, by the way, correct me if I’m wrong).  Also, it’s a shame that this song only exists from a record, I could not find a version that didn’t have record noise. 

Run Run Rudolph sung by Chuck Berry (but not written by him).  There is an interesting story about this song.  Chuck Berry is listed as writer, but he didn’t write it.  The writer is actually Johnny Marks but the publishers gave C. Berry credit to cover up that J. Marks wrote it.  I like Chuck Berry, but he is a bit conceded and a lot of his songs sound the same, just in different keys.  This, like a lot of other songs has grown in popularity because it was used in numerous films, like Home Alone.

The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) was written and recorded in 1958.  It won three Grammys® that year including one for best engineered record.  It is still a secret how Ross Bagdasarian did the recording trick, but he is singing all three voices and is Dave Seville.  I would like to say that it is a piece of cake to do something like that now with digital and pitch correction, but in the 1950’s you had analog tape and no such thing as pitch modification.  Ross was a genius and a true pioneer.

Holly Jolly Christmas  Burl Ives had such a distinctive voice.  He also voiced the snowman in the ‘Rudolph’ TV special from 1964.  The guitar part on this song is crazy.  It has some delay but the riffs are outstanding.  It sounds like an old archtop. 

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas  There are just some singers that make you think of Christmas.  Bing Crosby does this for me, maybe because White Christmas is my top 5 favorite films of all time?  He did record the original White Christmas, the smash hit from the 1940s. 

Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  I didn’t want to OD on Andy Williams.  He is very talented, but he and Johnny Mathis start to get on my nerves after a while.  I took his most famous song and put it on here.  There is too much reverb and echo on his vocal, take a headphones listen and you’ll hear what I’m talking about.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow  Dean Martin was very talented.  This is his trademark holiday classic.  He has a very deep and powerful song.  He sings this as only he can, he even has inflections during some parts that makes it sound like he has a girl in the vocal booth with him for inspiration (just saying).

Pretty Paper  Roy Orbison had such control of his pitch.  The song was written by Willie Nelson.  It sounds like an Orbison penned dark brooding song.  Like most of his songs, he is the underdog that most people pass by and not give a second thought to.  Earlier this month, I read that Barbara Orbison (his wife, manager etc) died on the same day as her husband, 23 years earlier. 

Here Comes Santa Claus sung and co-written by Gene Autry.  Made popular by National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.   

Sleigh Ride  This is one of the best songs from Johnny Mathis’ Christmas album.  It’s lush orchestral arrangement and stereo separation is no too distracting as some recordings from the 1960’s (read my blog about the Beatles) can be.

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer  What can we say about this song?  It is a great campy song to get you in the mood.  It also makes you think twice about how jolly St. Nick can be.

Getting Ready for Christmas Day  Leave it to Paul Simon to write a Christmas song and not really be a Christmas song.  I get a lot of people wondering why I put this on here, but I love this song.  It’s sort of a bitter sweet view on Christmas and shows the other darker side of the holiday. 

Christmas Vacation sung by Mavis Staples.  Who doesn’t love National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  It is the best ‘Vacation’ movie.  Mavis was the perfect choice; she has a lot of soul in her voice and belts it out.  I could have done without the 1980’s production values, synthesizers and the weird vocals of the background singers, and it’s clearly a drum machine.  It was a great way to open the film. 

Feliz Navidad  Jose Feliciano is one of the most underrated guitarists ever.  He is amazing and he’s blind!  He really a shredder on that guitar, and his electric skills can’t be beat.  He has such power in his voice that he deserves to be better known and more appreciated than he is.  This is one of his commercial hits from the 70s. 

The Original White Christmas by Bing Crosby.  Thanks to Irving Berlin for this one.  Bing makes this song, there should be an act of Congress against colorizing films and covering this song, no one should be able to do it, besides the Drifters!

Santa Baby  Eartha Kitt makes this song.  The production of this song is simple and background singers only add to Kitt’s performance.  Her demands are quite un-realistic.  And if interpreted in a different way than was meant in 1953, it is a dirty song.

The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole is a holiday staple.  He has a silky smooth voice that ‘helps to make the season bright.’

Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.  Such a cool and campy song, and might have been forgotten about if not used in Christmas Vacation. 

All Alone on Christmas written by Little Stevie and sung by Darlene Love and backed by the E Street band.  It’s clear that Clarence is on sax.  It just sounds like him.  Darlene can really belt it out.  She still sounds really good for being in her early 70’s. 

Frosty the Snowman  I used to have the Jimmy Durante version on the CD, but recently switched to the ‘Wall of Sound’ Phil Spector version.  Ronnie does a great job, the stereo is a bit forced, but it’s a cool track none the less.

Winter Wonderland  The last Johnny Mathis song we have on the mix.  His is the definitive version.  It is also skillfully orchestrated. 

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy  Bowie’s and Crosby’s voices blend like Simon & Garfunkel.  It was like one industry giant “handing over” the reigns to the new generation.  Crosby died about a month after recording this.  Wikipedia has some fun facts about it.  It seems that Bowie bitched and moaned the whole time. 

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)  This song needs no commentary.  It’s a shame that the sound is so distant though, might have been an affect of the Wall of Sound.

Wonderful Christmastime  The one and only Paul McCartney closes out the set.  This song is infectious.  It’s so dated with the synths opening the song and throughout the song.  Technically this is not a Wings’ song but was released before the band broke up.  The B-side is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae.  According to accounts, McCartney recorded this song on his own during the McCartney II sessions.   

Merry Christmas to all my readers and Happy Holidays.  All thoughts and statements are mine, so don’t take anything personally.  See you in 2012! 

Year In Review

Its been a busy year, so lets try to wrap it up in a few pages.  I went to many concerts this year and I shot a movie.  First, a little about the movie.  We wrapped on principal photography for my film, THE RELUCTANT DETECTIVE.  That’s a fancy way of saying we finished it, it’s in the can.  Since there is no “can” anymore, it’s in the hard drive.  It was a cathartic experience that makes me want to explore that avenue again someday, in the far distant future though.  I could not have done it without my support system, my mother and aunt.  My friend Erik helped a bit too. Check out the website for the film, http://reluctantdetectivemovie.com/

On to the concert reviews, because after all, I know that’s why everyone reads this thing.  It wasn’t my best year, but I went to 16 big concerts and a few smaller ones too.  I saw a taping of a late night show and I attended two concerts that have wound up released on DVD!  The first concert of the year was Elton John at Mohegan Sun Arena.  I always bring my mother to see him, she loves Elton!  Even though he has the range of a speaking voice, he still puts on a great show.  With Nigel at the throne again, he has that old sound back with him and it sounds like Elton John, 40 years on.  I got floor tickets from Elton’s fan club.  Always good seats, check out the Rocket Club membership.  He sells his allotment of tickets to a show to fans, so we can get great seats.  My mother was Crocodile Rockin’ all over the place.  The next show was Elton John at Madison Square Garden.  I took Austin for his birthday (I’m such a good friend, right?  I hope he appreciates the little things).  It was such a let down.  The sound, the performance everything.  It’s his favorite place to play in the whole world, but it was a let down.  After seeing Leon Russell come out for the second time in a week and do a 40 minute mini set, I was getting kind of tired of it.  Their album, The Union was fantastic and should win a Grammy®. 

The next stop in my pilgrimage of concerts was winning band bench tickets to see Paul Simon on Jimmy Fallon.  You can read the post about that, but was a great experience to see how a ‘live on tape’ show gets put together.  After that, there was a surprisingly low key offbeat performance by Colin Hay.  I got my tickets for his show next year, back at the Ridgefield Playhouse, he always sells out, and it’s always a great intimate show. 

I saw Paul Simon at the Beacon, back to back, feel free to read the posts. A week or so after, I was seeing Crosby-Nash, although, they didn’t play a lot of hits, the set list was well balanced and the concert was airing live from little old Stamford CT and being recorded for a live DVD.  The DVD doesn’t look all as good as I’m sure it did in HD.  Graham if you’re reading this, we need a Blu-Ray!  Speaking of which, I would love a Blu-Ray concert DVD of CSN in recent years, maybe next time you come to the Beacon, I can shoot it for you. 

I sort of OD’d on Paul Simon this year, but I love his music and how he approaches making a set list.  The fact that he is doing a lot of songs he has never done before, is even better.  The Webster Hall show was recorded for a DVD for PBS.  I already donated all my money to PBS for the DVD, I am getting his new CD too, but I already own 2 copies, so the first reader to contact me, gets it for free! 

I took my mother to see Paul McCartney at Yankee Stadium and she fell asleep during Hey Jude!  I think Paul has a lot of chutzpah to charge as much as he does for such a formulaic show.  Would it really kill him to learn a few new songs?  Junior’s Farm was a welcome change and I was in the audience for the first time, The Night Before was performed in public, kind of cool, but 46 years too late! 

The next night, I went to see Peter Frampton perform the complete Frampton Comes Alive! album.  It was billed as a 3 hour long rock extravaganza, but we got the casino show, he did the album and closed with While My Guitar Gently Weeps.  So it only took 90 minutes for him to earn my $65.50 for balcony tickets.  He did a great job, he is an amazing guitar player and I got to take the show home via Abbey Road Live, about 10 minutes after the show, which was really cool.  Didn’t care for the mix, I would have rather had a board feed with some audience mics and called it a day, like David Crosby did.  It will never compare with the lush Mark Knopfler simfy recordings from his tour last year. 

I was pretty focused on the movie in the summer, so there weren’t any concerts to distract my focus.  I did my annual James Taylor show at Tanglewood.  It was a crappy show with a crappy set, and he brought out Amy Grant and Vince Gill.  They did a mini set and it’s a good thing they shed has dirt floors, since I vomited.  At the end of August, CSN was doing 2 shows at the Beacon, but due to delays in flights, they had to postpone the first show, but the second show was fine.  You can read the post.  Stephen Stills should get more credit than he does.  I own a Stephen Stills White Falcon signature series guitar and it is big and bulky and the Bigsby tremolo is really cool.  It’s like the one he played in Buffalo Springfield. 

In October, I went to see Jackson Browne at the Palace Theatre in Waterbury.  We had nosebleed seats in the balcony and the sound was a bit weak and Jackson had something in his throat for the first half of the show.  He had 17 guitars lined up and ready to play any song people might want to hear.  It was great, he was taking requests and did not have a set list.  He started playing one song, then someone yelled out another, so he would switch guitars.  It was very cool.  Someone wanted to hear Shaky Town, an old Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar song.  He is a great guitarist and lives in CT by the way.  Jackson said that he spoke to Danny today, he was down at Wall Street.  Said he’s been protesting his whole life.  Jackon’s tech brought out the words so he wouldn’t screw them up, but then Jackson said “now I need my glasses.”  It sucks getting old, as evidenced by the fact that it was his 64^th birthday the next day.  He was very rough the first half, but he must have steamed his throat or something, because the second half was an hour and thirty minutes and he sounded like our Jackson again. 

October was Stephen Stills month.  I saw him at the Wolf’s Den at Mohegan Sun and at the Tarrytown Music Hall in the quaint little town in Westchester.  He opened the Wolf’s Den 15 years before and it was their big anniversary weekend.  I took my friends Austin and Marcin (his first appearance on the blog).  And to clear the questions, he has not had a stroke or anything like that, he is hard of hearing though.  He made a joke about his hearing aids, that “at a restaurant, he could hear the bus boys making horse bets, but couldn’t hear a fucking word that the people he is dining with are saying.”  I wish the CN would let him talk more, he really is funny.  Also, it’s really weird, but when he’s not with Crosby and Nash, he sings really well.  I think when it’s just him, he can relax and doesn’t have to worry about harmonizing and doing the “Stills” part.  At Mohegan Sun, the Wolf’s Den is free.  You have to line up and they let you in.  The problem is that they saved all the tables for the high rollers, so they only let about 4 people in from the line of 1500 to see the show.  The rest of us had to stand outside the open air venue to see the show.  Stephen was on fire.  And on the way home, we were driving with his tour bus down I-95.  He was supposed to be in Long Island the next night, so we followed it from the casino for like 50 miles.

In November, my neighbor talked me into going to see CSN at the Beacon.  They ended up adding a third show, so I got tickets for the third show.  Knowing me, I have to go to all of them.  So I found that CSN was selling charity tickets, where they charged a few extra bucks and anything over face value goes to the Guacamole Foundation and you get to meet CSN after the show!  I took my Aunt to this show.  We went to Ruth’s Chris Steak House and had some serious beef beforehand.  We went to the show, it was great, and we were about 10 rows back from the stage in the center.  We got commemorative lanyards with the date embossed on them.  After the show, Tom our liaison, directed us to the location and said he was going to go get the ‘boys.’  A few minutes later, David Crosby and Graham Nash came out.  I was waiting for Stephen to come out.  Finally someone asked, and Tom said that Stephen wasn’t coming out he was unwinding in the bus and probably wouldn’t come out at all.  He was on fire that night, he was doing like Chuck Berry moves while doing his guitar solos.  I was a bit disappointed because I really want to meet Stephen.  And I have hard stories about David Crosby being a mean SOB.  Before I lose you, he was very pleasant and shook my hand and we spoke for a few minutes.  Everyone got a picture taken, it was very nice.  They had a very nice spread of nuts, cheeses and drinks for the reception. 

The following night my neighbor and I went to see them again, they were a bit off.  The harmony just wasn’t there and when Stephen is the most “on”, we’ve got trouble.  Helplessly Hoping actually made my ears bleed.  For the really good shows I have seen by these guys, this wasn’t at the same level, but I forgive them, as they do have a combined age of 205 years. 

It was a heck of a year for concerts, saw so many good shows by so many great performers. 

Elton John (2)

Jimmy Fallon-Paul Simon

Colin Hay

Paul Simon (4)

Crosby-Nash

Paul McCartney

Peter Frampton

James Taylor

CSN (3)

Jackson Browne

Stephen Stills (2)

See you in 2012!

CL