Holiday Inn

For the last of my seasonal posts, I thought I'd feature one of my favorite old movies, Holiday Inn. Although it's often thought of as a Christmas movie (probably because it was the debut of "White Christmas"), it is actually a holiday movie in the truest sense of the word, with an Irving Berlin tune for almost every occasion. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire have a great chemistry, and the object of their affections, Marjorie Reynolds, is one of the most gorgeous Hollywood starlets you've probably never heard of (unless you're a movie buff). I could describe the plot to you, but der Bingle does a pretty good job of that himself in this medley of songs from the film.

Bing Crosby - "Holiday Inn Medley (Let's Start The New Year Right/Abraham/Be Careful, It's My Heart/Easter Parade/White Christmas)" (mp3)

It was recorded on December 14, 1944 for the Kraft Music Hall program, and is available on the awkwardly titled WWII Radio Christmas Show CD.

Nothin' New For New Year

It took me awhile to get on board with Harry Connick Jr. My initial reaction was to dismiss him has a hack Sinatra wannabe. Was that a total kneejerk, uneducated opinion? Sure, but I'm nothing if not stubborn. It wasn't until a friend made me a mixtape of his stuff several years ago that I was able to get past my prejudices. Seeing him in concert a couple years later erased all doubts from my mind; the guy is a great singer and an absolutely fantastic entertainer.

I listened to Harry For The Holidays for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and when this unlikely duet came over the speakers, I did an aural double take. George Jones has one of the most distintive voices ever recorded, but I still had to check the liner notes to make sure it was indeed The Possum that Harry was singing with. In addition to being a great song, it's a good example of how just how versatile Connick is.

Harry Connick Jr. and George Jones - "Nothin' New For New Year" (mp3)

Technical Difficulties

Apologies for the lack of new posts this week. I uploaded several songs before I left for vacation so I could put up new posts while I was away, but for the last two days filelodge has been "temporarily down for maintenance." One of the problems with using free hosting services is that you often get what you pay for. I'm heading back to Nashville this afternoon, so even if the filelodge issue doesn't get resolved, there will be new posts up tonight, just in time for New Year's festiveness.

Now that the holidays are winding down and I don't have to worry the extra bandwidth of people searching for Christmas songs, I'll be using fileden exclusively. They definitely seem to be the most stable of the three hosting services I use, so hopefully these technical issues will be a little less frequent.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Everyday's A Holiday

When my family lived in Washington (the state, not the capitol), it seemed like the holiday season lasted from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. I remember that every year the paper grocery bags at Rosauers would have a picture of a pilgrim, Santa Claus, and Father Time on them starting at the end of November. I don't know if it's a difference in regional customs or what, but in Nashville people start taking their decorations down on the 26th. Maybe its just burnout from putting up their Christmas decorations the weekend after Halloween. Regardless of the reasons, it's kind of a bummer for someone who grew up enjoying the holidays through January 1.

This year it's not an issue, as I'm spending Christmas in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. People up here go all out in decorating for the holidays. I'm completely serious when I say that in four days of driving around, I have only seen 3 houses that aren't decorated (my mom says they go equally nuts for Halloween). And up here, they leave everything lit up through New Year's. So Darrin is a happy boy.

Mel Torme - "Everyday's A Holiday" (mp3) from 16 Most Requested Songs

Despite having the word holiday in its title, this really isn't a holiday song. But it does mention New Year's Eve, so it's certainly timely this week of the year.

Jesus Christ

I was going to post this song a couple of week's ago, but decided to postpone it because I thought it'd make for a nice Christmas day post. Regardless of your religious beliefs, or what holiday you're celebrating this time of year, this Alex Chilton number is a beautiful song. In general I'm not a big fan of religious themed music, but if I was going to make a list of exceptions, this song would definitely be at the top of it.

Kristin Hersh released The Holy Single in 1995. Although often called a Christmas EP, outside of her cover of Big Star's "Jesus Christ," there isn't a single mention of anything related to the holidays.

Kristin Hersh - "Jesus Christ" (mp3)

If you haven't heard Big Star's version, head over to *Sixeyes to listen to the original from the classic Third/Sister Lovers album. It is equally awesome.

The Night Before Christmas

I feel like I don't need to say a lot about today's post. It's Satchmo. Reading "The Night Before Christmas." Recorded at his home in February of 1971, it was his last commercial recording. If this doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, nothing will.

Louis Armstrong - "The Night Before Christmas" (mp3) from Christmas Through The Years

Have a great Christmas Eve everyone.

Roly Poly The Polar Bear

A few years ago, all of my Dad's side of the family met in San Diego for Christmas. As people generally do the first time they visit there, we spent a day at the zoo. So as a San Diego Zoo veteran, let me give you this advice; skip the panda exhibit. It's what everyone wants to see, but it's totally not worth the hassle. You stand in line for a good half an hour, and for your wait are generally treated to a black and white blur hiding behind bamboo plants. If you want to get your money's worth, head straight to the polar bear exhibit. Those guys know how to put on a show. When we were there, two of them were bouncing a ball back and forth, and another one was doing back flips in the water for a solid twenty minutes. It was definitely one of the highlights of my holiday that year.

The Peppermint Kandy Kids - "Roly Poly The Polar Bear" (mp3)

When I was a kid, my sister and my favorite Christmas albums were by a group called The Peppermint Kandy Kids. Of the three we had, Rudolph's Christmas Party was the best. It was full of fun song's (like this one) about Christmas characters you never heard of on other albums, like Morris The Moose, or Peter and Penelope Penguin. I have absolutely no idea when it was released, but I can't really remember a Christmas when we didn't listen to it. Usually the well worn LPs were the soundtrack to decorating the tree.

A couple of year's ago I did some searching online trying to dig up information about the albums, but all I found were a bunch of message board posts from other people who were trying to track down this album. I'd pretty much given up on ever hearing these songs again, when last year just before Christmas I got a package from my mom. She had found a shady record dealer online who was selling CD copies of the albums. But in this case, hurray for music pirates! Listening to these songs again was a great trip down memory lane, and I'm looking forward to listening to them with my niece this year.

If you're one of those who grew up on The Peppermint Kandy Kids and stumbled onto this post, you might want to head over to FaLaLaLaLa, a great blog dedicated to old, out of print Christmas albums. One of their featured albums would probably interest you...

UPDATE (11/17/08): Usually I hate doing anything Christmas related until after Thanksgiving, and that includes posting Christmas songs. But for the third year in a row, I'm getting bombarded with visits (12% of my traffic over the past two weeks) and e-mails regarding the Peppermint Kandy Kids. So I'm reposting this song two weeks early. Consider it an early Christmas present. Enjoy!

He'll Be Coming Down The Chimney

I have no idea how it got there, but this song was stuck in my head on the way back from my folk's house after our family gift exchange tonight. And with Christmas Eve just two days away, it seems timely.

Guy Lombardo - "He'll Be Coming Down The Chimney" (mp3) from A Swinging Big Band Christmas

Muddle Through Somehow

There is a great article in this week's Entertainment Weekly about how "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" became a holiday standard. I knew the basic history (Judy Garland debuted it in Meet Me In St. Louis), and that the song originally had lyrics that were almost suicidally depressing (they are printed at the end of the article). But I had no idea that the song actually had three rewrites, and that the version that most of us know and love today was modified at the request of Frank Sinatra, and originated on my favorite Christmas album. It's a great read, with quotes from Bette Midler, Chrissie Hynde and James Taylor about their versions of the tune. And it's probably the only time you'll ever hear about a 92 year old man getting excited about Twisted Sister.

This is the 1957 version of the song, from A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra - "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (mp3)

I'm Your Present

One of my all time favorite Nashville bands was Badabing Badaboom. They were a kinda of a strange bird... a swing band with a definite Nashville flavor, but led by a hardcore Jersey guy. They had the typical swing band rhythm section (guitar, bass and drums), but in addition to trumpet they also had a viola player. And having three vocalists allowed them to do amazing harmonies. But the most unique thing about them was that they only did original songs. And great ones too.

I think it was December of 1998 when they were doing a residency at a lounge called Manhattan's. They had half a dozen original Christmas tunes that they would pepper in throughout their sets, so it made for a fun holiday outing. I was there with a couple of friends, just chilling and enjoying a few cocktails, when Rebecca Sayre took her turn at the mic and starting singing "I'm Your Present." Immediately we all froze. As the song went on, we slowly sank lower and lower into our chairs. It was hands down one of the sultriest performances I've ever heard. You practically felt dirty just listening to it. When it was over, we turned to each other and all we could say was "Wow."

Badabing Badaboom - "I'm Your Present" (mp3) from A Hip Little Christmas

UPDATE: I don't host this song anymore, but you can check it out here.

The recording is great, but hearing it live was an absolutely transcendent experience. A couple of years later, one of my friends who was there that night and I saw them at another bar in August. During their last set they asked if their were any requests. My friend drunkenly shouted "I'M YOUR PRESENT!!!" To our surprise, Eddie Mugavero counted off the song, and they played it. Even though it was probably 80 degrees outside, if you closed your eyes you could see snow falling.

You Smell An Awful Lot Like Flowers

Tonight, Comedy Central starts a weeklong marathon of South Park Christmas episodes. There is no new holiday episode this year, but it's a good chance to catch up on a few of the old ones that you might have missed. While the first Christmas episode, "Mr. Hankey The Christmas Poo" is an all time classic, I think my favorite might be Season 8's "Woodland Critter Christmas," which airs tomorrow.

Cowboy Timmy - "Mr. Hankey The Christams Poo (Early 50's Recording)" (mp3) from Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics

And if you haven't seen it, check out the original "Spirit Of Christmas" short, the one with the killer snowman who kills Cartman instead of Kenny... although Cartman is actually called Kenny in this one. Confused? Just watch it.

Christmas Time Is Here Again

Between 1963 and 1969, The Beatles released an annual Christmas single to members of their fan club. Each was a collection of sketches, song snippets and holiday greetings from the band. Although they've been widely circulated as bootlegs, none of the material was ever commercially released until 1995. As part of the Anthology project, producer George Martin put together the complete recording of the song from the 1967 Christmas single with holiday greetings recorded by John, Paul, George and Ringo in 1966. It was released on the Free As A Bird single, and since next Monday is Christmas, it will be the final monday morning b-side of 2006.

The Beatles - "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" (mp3)

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians

Being a huge Christmas nerd, I'll watch almost any holiday themed movie. So last year when I found a DVD of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians for a dollar at Walgreens (75% off after Christmas sale), buying it was a no brainer. I'd heard all kinds of stories about how its one of the worst movies ever made, but having finally watched it last week, I've got to say... it's completely awesome. Campy and cheesy and cheaply produced sure, but awesome nonetheless. How can you not love a movie that depicts Martians wearing high tech teapot helmets? I mean, Pia Zadora plays Girmar, one of the Martian children, and I think the quality of her cinematic oeuvre speaks for itself. The fight scene on the spaceship is an absolute classic, there is an homage to the Three Stooges, and the scene where a polar bear stalks Billy and Betty at the North Pole is the funniest thing I've seen in any movie this year other than Borat. And to top it all off, the theme song (by former Gong Show bandleader Milton DeLugg) has instantly jumped onto the list of my favorite Christmas songs.

Milton DeLugg & The Little Eskimos - "Hurray For Santa Claus" (mp3)

The movie has fallen into public domain, so you can buy it on DVD for cheap, or you can watch it for free on google video. And you should. It'll be the best present you give yourself this year.

Warm December

The weather here in Nashville has been unseasonably warm this week. The forecast for tomorrow is sunny and a high of 73 degrees. Two weeks ago at the Titans/Colts game I was wearing two jackets, and tomorrow for the game against the Jaguars I'm contemplating wearing shorts. So even though today's song is really better suited for a chilly winter evening, the title seemed appropriate.

Long before I knew Julie London was a singer, I knew her as Nurse Dixie McCall. Emergency! was hands down my favorite show as a kid. When I was four, I was obsessed with wanting to be a fireman. Literally every single picture of me taken that year I'm wearing a red plastic fireman's helmet. And every Saturday night I'd be wearing that hat (and probably my fireman pajamas) in front of the TV, watching Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage respond to whatever that week's crisis was.

The first time I remember hearing Julie London sing was "Warm December" on the Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails, Part Two CD. The song is originally from her 1956 concept album Calendar Girl. In addition to a song for each of the twelve months, the artwork also featured a pinup style shot for every month. She had one of the sexiest voices I've ever heard, and this song is a great example.

Julie London - "Warm December" (mp3)

Toys For Tots

This weekend, both of Nashville's professional sports teams will hold their annual Toys For Tots drives. Saturday night, December 16, wives and girlfriends of the Predators players will be collecting new, unwrapped toys before the game against the St. Louis Blues. On Sunday, December 17, the Titans will give a free mini-poster of the team's wide receivers and tight ends to the first 10,000 fans who donate a new toy prior to their matchup against the Jaguars.

During the early 60's, Capitol Records had several of their artists record this jingle promoting Toys For Tots. In the last few years, these recordings have been popping up as bonus tracks on reissues of the artist's old Christmas albums. This medley of Peggy Lee, Nat "King" Cole and Nancy Wilson's versions is one of the hidden bonus tracks on the Christmas Cocktails CD.

Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, and Nancy Wilson - "Toys For Tots" (mp3)

To Touch Their Harps Of Gold

One of my favorite local music disoveries last year was Timbre. I always struggle for a way to describe her music; it's kind of ambient indie classical. Her description of "if Radiohead and Sigur Ros had a baby and it played a harp" might be more apt. Starting strictly as a solo act, she eventually roped in her equally talented siblings and added cello and keyboards to the mix. I guess if you had to you could compare her to Joanna Newsom, only Timbre's voice doesn't have you reaching the stop button after ten seconds.

Her Christmas show last year was one of the absolute highlights of the holiday season. This year's version takes place tomorrow night, December 15, at The Anchor on 3rd Avenue in Nashville. The Winston Jazz Routine will open. Like last year, Timbre's set will feature both her own material and unique arrangements of the Christmas hymns you know and love. Hopefully it will also include her amazing Radiohead cover.

Timbre - "Like Spinning Plates" (mp3)

photo by John Brassil

Christmas Kisses

Want to get me to write about your band? Take a page from the Lylas playbook... bribery! All it took was a couple of candy canes and some Hershey's Kisses. I guess I'm easy. It also helps that they're one of my favorite local bands, and they're spreading holiday cheer with a new EP of holiday songs called A Christmas Kiss From Lylas. It's a safe bet that "Swing Low, Sweet Mistletoe" is coolest use of ukulele and pedal steel on a Christmas song since Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters wished you "Mele Kalikimaka," but I'm going to post another song. I'm guessing I'm not the only blogger they sent this to, so the other three songs (two of which are short instrumentals) will probably end up online soon.

Lylas - "Sara, Wear Your Sleighbells Home" (mp3)

They'll be playing in Nashville this Saturday, December 16, at The End with The Privates and Apollo Up. If you ask nicely, maybe they'll play one of their sweet new seasonal tunes.

post title by Marty Robbins

Tribute

It turns out the voters for the MTV Europe Awards aren't the only people who don't like Kanye West's "Touch The Sky" video. Yesterday Evel Knievel filed suit again Kanye, claiming infringement on his name and likeness. Evel doesn't beat around the bush about how he feels either. "That video that Kanye West put out is the most worthless piece of crap I’ve ever seen in my life."

Evel was pretty much my hero when I was a kid. I watched everytime he was on ABC's Wide World Of Sports, and even had the Evel Knievel action figure. One of the most heartbreaking moments of my life was when I found out he was doing an appearance at a local Harley Davidson dealership a couple of years ago... the day after it happened.

I should warn you that this song has a couple of bad words in it, so you probably don't want to be blaring it at work. It is however, with apologies to Tenacious D, the greatest tribute song ever recorded.

Motochrist - "Evel" (mp3) from 666-Pack

UPDATE 11/30/07: In light of today's news, I've reposted this track. Rest in peace Evel.

A Christmas Gift For You

Christmas is a time for giving, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do my first giveaway. And since today is the birthday of one Francis Albert Sinatra, it seems only appropriate that we celebrate by giving away a great album that you've probably never heard before. Read on...

Although best known as a singer, most people also know Frank Sinatra was an accomplished actor. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards, and won Best Supporting Actor for From Here To Eternity. What might surprise the casual fan is that Sinatra was also a conductor and a painter. Painting was something he did only as a hobby, but he took up the baton for several albums over the course of his career, including efforts for Dean Martin and Peggy Lee. His second album as a conductor was Tone Poems Of Color. Recorded in 1956 for Capitol, it is a concept album in the truest sense of the word. Sinatra commisioned eight of his favorite arrangers (including Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Andre Previn and Elmer Bernstein) to compose pieces inspired by various colors, based on the poetry of radio writer Norman Sickel. The result was an album that falls somewhere between classical and soundtrack music.

I have a still sealed extra copy of this CD, and I figured it would look better under someone's tree than sitting in my closet. To win it, here's what you have to do. Drop me a line with the answer to this question: What was Frank Sinatra's favorite color? I'll pick the winner from the correct entries this Sunday (December 17).

For a taste of the album, today's mp3 is Victor Young's composition "White." It's not really a Christmas song, but the use of sleigh bells certainly conjures up images of a winter's day.

Frank Sinatra - "White" (mp3)

post title by Phil Spector

Christmas Time Is Here

Although it took Diana Krall twelve years to release her own Christmas album, she was hardly absent from the holiday music scene prior to last year. Mrs. Elvis Costello has had songs on several different Christmas compilations over the years, and guested on Ray Brown's Christmas Songs in 1999. In 1998, she released her own Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas EP, which paired a three song single with a desktop calender. Today's monday morning b-side comes from that release, and features Russell Malone on guitar.

Diana Krall - "Christmas Time Is Here" (mp3)

Feliz Navidad

The first time I heard this song, I thought I had put in the wrong CD. I was working at the Virgin Megastore in Las Vegas, and they put out a CD called Hear The Holidays. I had loaded up the store CD player with Christmas music, and when the opening riff to PiL's "Public Image" came blaring out of the stores speakers, it was definitely a "WTF!" moment. Once the song kicked in and I realized what it was, I was grinning like an idiot. A minute and a half later when the guitar solo kicked in, I had already decided it was the most brilliant medley ever.

El Vez - "Feliz Navidad" (mp3) from Merry Mex-mas

The Christmas Spirit

One of the things I like the most about Christmas is that with certain exceptions, everyone seems nicer during the holidays. People wish you "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year" and they actually seem to mean it. It's kind of funny how two or three words can instantly brighten your day.

Johnny Cash probably isn't the first name that comes to mind when you think of Christmas music. But he was a deeply religious person, and he recorded four different Christmas albums over the course of his career. In "The Christmas Spirit," Cash recalls a dream where he traveled all over the world, and relates the various ways people in other countries celebrate and spread the spirit of the holiday. It's the title track from his 1962 album The Christmas Spirit.

Johnny Cash - "The Christmas Spirit" (mp3)

Switched On Christmas

For the past few years, Venus Hum have made a habit of putting on a special Christmas show every December. It shouldn't come as a surprise that they're big on the holidays; their second ever release was the Switched On Christmas EP (currently available on iTunes), a fun collection of electro-pop takes on several seasonal classics. This year's outing will feature The Bees as their special guest, and according to Bees frontman Daniel Tashian's blog, the two bands have collaborated on a Christmas song that will be debuted tommorrow night at the Mercy Lounge. Schedule conflicts and illness have prevented me from making it to their past couple of Christmas shows, so I'm excited that tommorrow night my calendar is free and I'm relatively healthy (knock on wood).

Venus Hum - "Silver Bells" (mp3)

High Fidelity: The Musical

There are bad ideas, and then there is this. I'm a huge Nick Hornby fan, but you couldn't pay me to go see a musical version of High Fidelity. I mean, can't you just imagine what the book version of Barry would have to say about it? Producers need to learn that not everything needs to be made into a musical. Ugh.

This review is interesting in that the writer had never seen the source material (either the book or the movie). He didn't like it either.

Boogie Woogie Christmas

Tonight Brian Setzer brings his orchestra to the Ryman Auditorium to spread some holiday cheer for the second consecutive year. The former Stray Cat is evidently set on becoming as ubiquitous during the Christmas season as Bing Crosby. This is the fifth year he has taken his orchestra on the road for their annual holiday extravaganza, and he has released two Christmas albums, 2002's Boogie Woogie Christmas and last year's Dig That Crazy Christmas. Both albums are full of rollicking takes on seasonal classics, as well as an original song or two, but for my money the first one does it the best. Having seen Setzer and his big band several years ago, I can attest to the fact that the guy is a consummate showman, and those in attendance tonight should be in for one hell of a show. Here is a taste of what you can expect, courtesy of Surfdog Records.

Brian Setzer Orchestra - "Jingle Bells (Live)" (mp3)

O Star O'er Bethlehem

This morning on the way to work I was listening to WRVU, and a group of local artists were doing an interview to promote a Christmas CD that they had recorded. The final song was an in-studio performance by Erika Chambers, doing an original song she had written. It was so good you almost couldn't believe people hadn't been singing it for years. She has the song up on her myspace profile, and it's even better with a full arrangement featuring mandolin and violin.

Erika Chambers - "O Star O'er Bethlehem" (mp3)

She will be performing this Friday night (December 8) at the Radio Cafe in East Nashville, along with several of the other performers featured on the Holiday Noise CD. You can listen to a couple of the other songs from the CD on the album's myspace page.

Candy Cane Children

I've never been able to get totally on board with The White Stripes. I think "Fell In Love With A Girl" is one of the greatest pop songs of the last ten years, but beyond that they've never really latched on with me. And I think it comes down to two things. The first is the lack of a bass player. To me, rock songs without bass just don't sound finished. They seem like demos or something. The few times they have used bass, like "Seven Nation Army," the song didn't do anything for me. The second issue is Meg. Let's face it, the best thing you can say about her drumming is that she's cute. But they did release a Christmas single in 2002. And even though it was vinyl only (a pet peeve of mine), any band that records Christmas songs, especially original ones, automatically gets cool points in my book.

The White Stripes - "Candy Cane Children" (mp3)

Step Into Christmas

In 1992, The Wedding Present tied Elvis Presley's record for the most Top 30 UK hits in a year by releasing a new single every month. Each of the twelve entries in the series featured an original song on the a-side and a cover for the b-side. Over the course of the year, their covers ranged from The Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday" to a brilliant take on "Falling," the theme song from Twin Peaks (which will surely be a monday morning b-side soon). The final single paired "No Christmas" (which apart from the title isn't a Christmas song at all) with their version of Elton John's 1973 single "Step Into Christmas." It's one of my favorite covers, and proof that as great as David Gedge's songs are, he's equally fantastic when doing other people's material.

The Wedding Present - "Step Into Christmas" (mp3) from The Hit Parade 2

The Funky Football

I got an early Christmas present this year... the most awesome weekend of football ever (well, not ever, but in a long time anyway). My alma mater, Middle Tennessee, is going to their first bowl game in 42 years. Montana won their I-AA quarterfinal game and are one win away from their third national championship game in six years. Today I got to witness the Titans finally get the Colts monkey off their backs with Rob Bironas' game ending 60 yard field goal. Then tonight, I watched Josh Brown hit a game winning field goal in the final seconds for the fourth time this season, giving the Seahawks a victory over the Broncos. Not only that, but he also forced a fumble on a kick return, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen a kicker do that before. So yeah, it was a pretty awesome day. In celebration, today's Christmas song is the only one I know that mentions football.

James Brown - "Go Power At Christmas Time" (mp3) from The Best Of James Brown: The Christmas Collection

Christmas Cocktails

Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails, Part One and Part Two

The first Saturday in December always means my annual Christmas party. It's nice to be able to kick off the holidays with my friends, and it also gets my apartment cleaned up and decorated early so I can relax enjoy the rest of the month. So it seemed like a good day to post about the Christmas compilations that will be in my CD carousel this evening, the Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails series.

There are probably a hundred different Christmas compilations that collect Swing/Lounge/Jazz songs from the 50s and 60s, but these two are absolutely my favorites. Capitol Records started the Ultra Lounge series in the mid-90s during the swing revival, and each of its 28 volumes generally has some kind of theme. The Christmas Cocktails collections are both full of fun, upbeat, and sometimes quirky holiday songs from Capitol's vaults, featuring both artists you do know (Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole) and probably a few that you don't (Eddie Dunstedter or The Dinning Sisters anyone)?

I'll be posting several songs from these compilations over the next couple weeks, but to get things started, here is Billy May's take on everyone's favorite Reindeer song.

Billy May Orchestra - "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo" (mp3)

Last Month Of The Year

It's weird that so much fuss has been made the last couple of years about using the word "holiday" instead of "Christmas," considering that most biblical scholars believe Jesus was actually born in the spring, probably March. I'm not going to get into that discussion on here, because this isn't a religion blog, and there are plenty of other places you can read about that. I only mention it because I believe wholeheartedly that in cases like this, you should never let the facts get in the way of a good celebration. Or a good song.

I had never heard "Last Month Of The Year" before Chris Isaak did it on his 2004 Christmas album. Doing some peeking around, it seems like its been recorded mostly by gospel groups, including The Blind Boys Of Alabama and The Fairfield Four. I'm usually not big on gospel music, but I absolutely love this song, even though it's probably lyrically inaccurate.

Chris Isaak - "Last Month Of The Year" (mp3)

photo courtesy of the NMRA

'Cause Cheap Is How I Feel

It's not very often you'll see me shilling for company on here, but I'll make an exception this time because it's a great deal for music lovers.

A few months ago I got an email about a new music service called Your Music. The basic selling point is that it sells CDs for $5.99, with free shipping. It works two ways. First, you can buy CDs anytime you want for six bucks a pop. The other way is a subscription service. You set up a queue, kind of like Netflix, with whatever albums you want. Every month on whatever your subscription date is, they send you the next album in your queue. I've got my queue loaded up albums that I've always meant to pick up, but that always get bumped down on the list of priorities when I'm CD shopping. It's kind of cool going to the mail box once a month and have somewhat unexpected new tunes to listen to.

If you're like I am, at this point you're thinking "There's got to be a catch." There is, but its a small one. If you don't have an album in your queue on your ship date, and your account is still active, you get charged six bucks for that month and you don't get anything. But thats only a problem if you don't have anything in your queue. And you can cancel your account at anytime with no minimum purchase to buy, so really you could sign up, order a bunch of CDs, and cancel your account a week later.

It's run by the same people who run BMG Music Service, so it has some of the same issues that subscription services have always had. The selection is good, but certainly not great. I've been surprised by some of the albums they did have though, and if you have a wide range of tastes, you'll have no problem finding things you want. I've even seen a few CDs on their website that have been long out of print through normal retail outlets. The other issue is that standard shipping takes about two weeks. So if you're doing last minute Christmas shopping, you'll have to spring extra for express shipping.

Cowboy Junkies - "Cause Cheap Is How I Feel" (mp3) from The Caution Horses

Fairytale Of New York

Over the past week, I've gotten a lot of hits from people searching for The Pogues' "Fairytale Of New York," which I mentioned in my review of their concert in Las Vegas in October. I can't say I blame them, its one of my all time favorite songs, Christmas or not. And while I normally wouldn't do requests like this, it's Christmas, the time of giving, so what the hell...

The Pogues with Kristy MacColl - "Fairytale Of New York" (mp3) from If I Should Fall From Grace With God

If you're like me and already have the song on at least three different CDs, you can watch the video, which Matt Dillon calls his favorite moment of his career.



Or if you're feeling weird, you can watch this video of Shane and The Popes performing the song on Irish television, with Shane's mum playing the role of Kristy MacColl. Seriously.

photo by JimmyOK

I Never Eat December Snowflakes

Tonight was the annual airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. And I've got to say, I didn't remember how absolutely depressing it is. I realize it redeems itself at the end, but for 29 minutes, it is full of clinical depression (Charlie Brown), greed (Sally), vanity (Lucy), and even threats of violence (Lucy, again). How did this ever become the most beloved animated Christmas special of all time?

The episode was followed it was Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales from 2002, and it wasn't much better. The girl that Linus had a crush on who sat behind him in class was clearly schizophrenic.

Vince Guaraldi Trio - "Skating" (mp3) from A Charlie Brown Christmas

Christmas Celebration

A few years ago when I worked at Virgin, I came in one December morning and one of my fellow buyers had left this CD on my desk. I'm not the world's biggest Weezer fan, but he knew that I was a huge Christmas nerd. The two song CD is often billed as a fan club single, but I'm pretty sure it was actually sent out only as a promo (considering that's how I got it). "The Christmas Song" was released on MTV: TRL Christmas a few years ago, but the b-side, "Christmas Celebration," never saw an actual release. Which is a shame, because it's a whole lot more fun. Both songs were available for free on Weezer's website for years, but they apparently disappeared last December. So I'm making it today's monday morning b-side.

Weezer - "Christmas Celebration" (mp3)

One More Drifter In The Snow

Aimee Mann - One More Drifter In The Snow

Aimee Mann is one of those artists who can seemingly do no wrong. Even when she's not great, she's still very good. I'm not sure I've ever heard a song of hers that I didn't like. In fact, "Wise Up" is probably one of my favorite songs of the past ten years. But until now, I've never owned a single one of her albums.

A lot of the press for One More Drifter In The Snow suggests that it's a throwback to the Christmas albums of the 40s and 50s. And while it does have a classic feel to it, it still seems very contemporary. Many of the songs have a kind of jazzy sound, but the arrangements make clever use of percussion, banjo and keys that keep it from being too retro. Apart from a brilliant and jaunty duet with Grant Lee Phillips on "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch," it's full of mellow, reflective takes on holiday standards, though there are a couple songs that will be new to most listeners . Unless you're a Frank Sinatra fan, you're probably not familiar with Jimmy Webb's "Whatever Happened To Christmas." And two originals are also included; "Christmastime," written by Mann's husband Michael Penn and Jon Brion, and perhaps the albums best song, "Calling On Mary," written by Mann herself. It's a bit melancholy, but never depressing. If such a thing is possible, I think Aimee Mann might have made the perfect Christmas album for people who normally don't like Christmas music.

Aimee Mann - "I'll Be Home For Christmas" (mp3)

Run Rudolph Run

I've read at least four books about The Rolling Stones, but until a few months ago, I had no idea that Keith Richards first solo release wasn't Talk Is Cheap. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but I always considered myself a bit of a savant when it comes to music trivia. Not knowing that tidbit felt like a significant chink in my armor. What if that question had come up at trivia night and I didn't know the answer? I'd be humiliated.

So what was Keef's first solo release? A 1978 single that paired covers of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run" and Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come." If that question comes up at your next trivia night, a) you owe me a beer, and b) your quiz master is asking questions that are WAY too hard.

Keith Richards - "Run Rudoph Run" (mp3)

UPDATE 12/11/07 - This track is now available on iTunes. And evidently the single was released twice with two different b-sides, because the flip side of this version is a cover Toots & the Maytals "Pressure Drop," recorded with the Maytals themselves (it too is available on iTunes).

Black Friday

I've never understood people who get up at ungodly hours the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping. It seems to bring out the absolute worst in people. I don't care how great the specials are, you couldn't get me to set foot in a Best Buy or Wal Mart at five o'clock in the morning even if they were selling bundles of hundred dollar bills for a quarter. And if I needed any extra incentive not to join the holiday madness that takes place on this day every year, this article illustrates just how insane the annual shopping spree has become...

Brian Clark, 27, of Bristol left empty-handed after the televisions and
computers he’d eyed as Christmas gifts were snatched by earlier shoppers.
Alarmed by a recent shooting of a customer waiting outside a Connecticut
Wal-Mart store for Sony’s PlayStation 3, which are almost impossible to
find, Clark had tucked his Glock pistol in a holster under his jacket and
put extra ammunition in his pocket before heading out early Friday. “Not
that I’ll probably need it, but just in case. You never know these days,” he
said.

The article also perpetuates one of the popular myths about Black Friday. Every year you read how the day after Thanksgiving is no longer the busiest shopping day of the year. Ask anyone who has ever worked in retail, and they will tell you that is poppycock. The Saturday before Christmas might have higher sales, but "shopping" and "buying" are too entirely different things, and there are definitely more people out today than there will be on December 23.

As much as I love Christmas, this is the one day of the day of the year I can sympathize with people who hate it. And Miles Davis' contribution to the Christmas catalog, "Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)," sums up those "bah humbug" feelings as well as any song I've ever heard. It has been released on a couple of different compilations, most recently Jingle Bell Swing. It is also available on Miles Davis and Gill Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings.

Miles Davis - "Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)" (mp3)

post title by Steely Dan

The Feeling Begins

Frank Sinatra - A Jolly Christmas

I'm big on traditions, and during the holidays I have roughly a thousand of them. One of them is that the first holiday album I listen to every year is A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra. Once I get home from Thanksgiving dinner and start winding down for the day, I put this CD on, and that for me is the moment when the Christmas season officially begins. It's not just my favorite Christmas album, it is one of my favorite albums period.

The first time I bought it was a budget eight song cassette version in the early 90s. It quickly became one of my favorite soundtracks for driving around at night looking at Christmas lights. It just seemed to sound like everything I love about the season. A couple years later I found out that the actual album was six songs longer, and I upgraded to the CD.

The title really doesn't fit, because apart from the first track, a bouncy arrangement of "Jingle Bells," I really wouldn't call the album "jolly." Accompanied by a mostly string orchestra and choir, the album is a fairly mellow affair. But the arrangements (by Gordon Jenkins) are absolutely beautiful, and Sinatra was at the top of his game vocally throughout the 50s. In its LP form, it was split into two distinct sides. The first half is all what were in 1957 contemporary holiday tunes, and the second half is comprised of traditional Christmas hymns. The CD is rounded out by two Nelson Riddle arranged songs from a 1954 single.

For the MP3, I picked what is hands down my favorite song on the album. It's actually my third favorite song ever (behind "Hotel Womb" by The Church and "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys). There is something about the way he says "Merry Christmas" at the end that just hits me. I'm pretty sure it's that exact moment that set me on the path to becoming a huge Frank Sinatra fan.

Frank Sinatra - "The Christmas Waltz" (mp3)

"It's that time of year when the world falls in love,
Every song you hear seems to say 'Merry Christmas,
May your every New Year dreams come true.'
And this song of mine, in three quarter time,
Wishes you and yours the same thing too."

post title by Peter Gabriel

Thanksgiving

If you're one of those people who hates the entire holiday season, you might want to avoid Page 300 for the next month or so. From now until New Years Day, I plan on posting a new holiday themed song daily. I probably own more Christmas CDs than most people own CDs period, so having enough material certainly won't be a problem. I'll try to concentrate on songs you might not have heard before, or at least versions you won't hear four times a day on whichever of your local radio stations switches to an all Christmas format tommorrow. To start things off, here is the one of the only Thanksgiving themed songs I know, from one of my all time favorite movies, Holiday Inn.

Bing Crosby - "I've Got Plenty To Be Thankful For" (mp3)

I was working part time in a record store in 1998 when we got the soundtrack CD in stock, and I was ridiculously excited about it. I'd been trying to find the soundtrack forever, and the fact that it was released at a budget price of six bucks (four after my discount) was icing on the cake. For the next year, an excerpt from the appropriate Irving Berlin song went onto my answering machine as the outgoing message for every holiday.

post title by Glide

All Together Now

To wrap up our "Eight Days A Week" of Fab Four covers, we've got a medley of Beatles songs by an actual Beatle. For his homecoming concert in Liverpool on June 28, 1990, Paul McCartney debuted a medley of two Lennon-written Beatles tunes, along with John's first solo single. Although he announces it as "something special, especially for Liverpool," it became a fixture of his setlists for the rest of the tour. It was released later that year on the All My Trials single.

Paul McCartney "Strawberry Fields Forever/Help/Give Peace A Chance (Live in Liverpool)" (mp3)

Helter Skelter

The new Beatles album Love isn't the only high profile release hitting the shelves tommorrow. Oasis is releasing their band selected "best of" album Stop The Clocks just in time for for the holiday shopping season as well.

Oasis is one of those rare bands where the b-sides are often better than the actual singles. Their 1998 b-sides collection The Masterplan makes a strong case that they could be the best b-sides band ever. But if that isn't enough to convince you, take a look at the tracklistlisting for Stop The Clocks. Four of the nineteen tracks on the album we're first released as b-sides. The band's live cover of "I Am The Walrus" is well known, so for today's monday morning b-side we have their second dip into the Beatles catalog, "Helter Skelter." Sung by Noel, it was released on the Who Feels Love single in 2000.

Oasis - "Helter Skelter" (mp3)

For No One

I first heard Rickie Lee Jones when I was nine. It was a rainy night, and I was lying on my bed listening to the radio in the dark when they played "Chuck E's In Love." I've never really been a fan of hers, but I remember that moment like it was yesterday. It's strange how sometimes a song can become stuck in your memory for no particular reason.

The only Jones album that I own is It's Like This, a collection of covers released in 2000. I grabbed a promo copy of it when I worked at Virgin because she covered a Frank Sinatra song on it. And while her take on "Cycles" is really good, my favorite song on the album is her version of The Beatles' "For No One." Accompanied by just piano and organ, its an incredibly intimate performance. It might be heresy to say it, but I think I like it even better than the original.

Rickie Lee Jones - "For No One" (mp3)

It's All Too Much

It seems like any artist who doesn't regularly record cover songs eventually does a covers album. I'm pretty sure its a requirement in the rock star manual or something. For The Church, the inevitable trip into other people's catalogs took place 19 years into their career with A Box Of Birds. Among the eclectic set of covers was their take on the George Harrison's "It's All Too Much." One of six new songs used in Yellow Submarine, The Beatles recorded it in 1967 at De Lane Lea Studio, one of the few times prior to Let It Be that the band didn't record at Abbey Road.

The Church - "It's All Too Much" (mp3)

And while we're counting down the days to the release of Love, The Beatles are now streaming the album in its entirety here.

Up With Montana

I have a sad confession to make. I couldn't even hum you my alma mater's fight song, but I know the words to the University of Montana fight song by heart. It's not that I don't love my Blue Raiders, but I grew up in a Grizzly household. Both my parents went to Montana (and in a weird twist of fate, both my step-parents did too). I think my mom must have sang "Up With Montana" to me as a lullaby, because that song is ingrained in my head.

Its rivalry weekend in college football, and while the rest of the country is watching Ohio State and Michigan battle it out, I'll be at the annual Griz/Cat satellite party. It's the 106th meeting between Montana and Montana State, and this year it doubles as the Big Sky conference championship game. GO GRIZ!!!

"Up With Montana" (mp3)

"...And the squeal of the pig will float on the air
From the tummy of the Grizzly Bear."

UPDATE: Grizzlies 13, Bobcats 7

Beatles and The Stones

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have written some of the greatest songs in the history of rock and roll, so it's almost hard to believe that their songwriting partnership didn't begin until their manager locked them in a room and refused to let them out until they had written a song they could release. The Rolling Stones started out strictly as an R&B cover band, depending on other writers for their first few singles. For their second single, they turned to a new songwriting partnership that had recently had some success on the charts, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. According to legend, Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham ran into John and Paul on the street and begged them for a song they could release as the follow up their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On." The two showed up at the Stones rehearsal space half an hour later and sang them "I Wanna Be Your Man." The Stones recorded it two weeks later, and in November 1963 it became their first top ten hit.

The Rolling Stones - "I Wanna Be Your Man" (mp3) from The Singles Collection: The London Years

post title by The House Of Love

Tomorrow Never Knows

This summer I had a little car accident... my Saturn versus two Jeep Cherokees. Not surprisingly, I lost. My consolation prize a couple of weeks of physical therapy and muscle relaxers. The first couple of days on flexeril I was incredibly loopy. I kept thinking that it would be fun to to take advantage of my doped up state by breaking out the old 4-track and recording some psychedelic masterpiece. It was a nice idea, but what I ended up doing was sleeping a lot.

It's hard to believe that "Tomorrow Never Knows" was actually the first song The Beatles recorded for Revolver. The album is often cited as the point where the band really started experimenting in the studio, but that they started with its most radical track is surprising. It's also surprising that a song with lyrics adapted from the Tibetan Book Of The Dead and built largely around tape loops has been covered so often. The All Music Guide lists over 60 different artists who have recorded their take on it, including Phil Collins, Junior Parker, Diane Reeves and David Lee Roth. Seriously. Diamond Dave.

The Mission UK - "Tomorrow Never Knows" (mp3)

The Mission recorded their version in 1986 for the "Severina" single. It was later included on the singles compilation The First Chapter.