While Fats Domino is most well-known for his 1950's hits, he did record a Christmas album. He just waited until the 1990's to do it. Still, it has the New Orleans flavor and the piano-driven fun you'd expect. No official videos that I know of, but here's a fan-made one, with his up-tempo take on "I'll Be Home For Christmas".
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Carole King put out a terrific Christmas album in 2011, and many were surprised to discover that for someone with such a rich recording and songwriting career, it was her first such effort. Well, it was her first Christmas ALBUM, anyway. In the late 1990's, she actually recorded an original Christmas song, which was sent to radio and eventually wound up as a bonus track on the deluxe version of her "Love Makes The World" CD. Maybe it's because I've had an extra decade to enjoy it that it's still my favorite Christmas song from her. Here's a nice fan-made video for Carole King's "Love For Christmas" Bruce has previously given us "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "Merry Christmas Baby". Both of those are still among the most popular, most requested and most played every Christmas season. And while there are plenty of bootlegs out there, featuring many other Christmas songs, Bruce and company did legitimately record and release a new Christmas song a couple years ago. This one is currently only available as a video bonus on "Songs From The Promise", but it's bound to see the light of day as a single or part of another collection one of these days. In the meantime, here's Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with their take on "Blue Christmas"! Those who know me will be surprised that I picked this song as the Christmas Song of the Day. My main problem with it is simply that it's not really about Christmas. It's about something that happens at Christmas, but is really unrelated. Like Die Hard. There was also a lawsuit when it was initially released, with charges of plagiarism (from the Barry Manilow song "Can't Smile Without You"). Still, it remains one of the most popular Christmas songs, year in and year out, since it was originally released almost thirty years ago. It's also quickly becoming one of the most covered Christmas songs of all time, with versions by artists as diverse as Taylor Swift, Jimmy Eat World, Florence and the Machine, Carole King and the cast of "GLEE". Here's the original video from 1984, Wham with "Last Christmas"... The Everly Brothers gave us a Christmas album in the early 1960's, but today's video is much more recent. Here's Phil Everly, from about a month ago, with a solo take on "Silent Night"! Happy Birthday, Phil! As far as I know, there's no actual video of this song being performed, so here's a fan-made video of the Sounds of Christmas' number one song for 2012 - Otis Redding with "White Christmas"! It's hard to believe now that Elvis caused so much controversy with his Christmas album when it was released over fifty years ago. In fact, Irving Berlin actually tried to have Elvis' album banned from radio airplay, and there is at least one known incident of a disc jockey actually being fired for playing Elvis' "White Christmas". Since many of us are thinking about the King today, here he is from his '68 Comeback special, with a double-dose of Christmas favorites! Not sure why, but Slade has been one of those bands that was huge in the U.K., but just didn't really make it in the U.S. They scored a couple significant hits in the U.S. in the 80's, but most people here don't realize that they had a string of number one hits in the U.K. in the 70's, including the original versions of "Cum On Feel The Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now". Their song "Merry Xmas Everybody" was number one for nine weeks in 1973! It's always been one of my favorites, and this year it has the distinction of being the last song played on this season of the Sounds of Christmas! Most know Dave Stewart as half of the Eurythmics, though that's really just the tip of the iceberg. He's also produced and co-written songs with Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, Bono, Sinead O’Connor, Mick Jagger, Katy Perry and Jon Bon Jovi (just to name a few). Christmas music-wise, the Eurythmics' version of "Winter Wonderland" is still one of the most played Christmas songs on the radio. A couple years ago, Dave recorded a Christmas album as a gift for family and friends. He generously allowed me to put his version of "White Christmas" on my label's second compilation. Not sure how long this will be up, but this year, for Christmas, Dave has posted the album for streaming (and he encourages sharing it, too)!
So instead of just one song of the day today, click the picture and you can listen to Dave Stewart's entire "Cocktail Christmas"! Twenty-seven years ago tonight, we lost Rick Nelson. As hard as it is for me to believe that it's already been so many years, it's even more difficult to believe that I'm already older than he ever got to be! As far as I know, while he left behind a slew of music, he only ever officially recorded two Christmas songs - "Jingle Bells" and "The Christmas Song". The Nelson family allowed those to be released with the four-CD box set "Legacy" which came out back in 2000. As far as I know, that's still the only way you can get either of those two Christmas songs. Here's video of when he was still called "Ricky", performing "Jingle Bells" on his family's TV show in 1960! |