https://exchange.prx.org/p/554525
Just about every weekly radio show does a Christmas special this time of year, and for several years now Stuck In the Psychedelic Era has been no exception. There is a problem, though, and that is the unavoidable fact that for the most part the artists featured on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era never had the opportunity (or inclination, for that matter) to record Christmas songs. There are exceptions, of course, and this week you'll hear some of those by Jethro Tull, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, and others. But, unless I wanted to spend over half the show on Beach Boys Christmas songs (and there are nearly enough of those for an entire show), I knew I would have to take an entirely different approach to selecting the songs. After a couple of years of experimenting around with various approaches I finally decided to just pick out the coolest holiday tracks I could find, regardless of genre or year they were recorded, and have been doing it that way ever since. The addition of our second show, Rockin' in the Days of Confusion, gave me the opportunity to dig even deeper into the Yule (cata)log, adding artists like Bob Seger (with his mid-60s band The Heard), Ike And Tina Turner, The Royal Guardsmen and even Soupy Sales. And this year I'm throwing in something extra. Remember all those scratchy old Christmas records that always seemed to show up in a pile by the record player every December? Ever wonder what happened to them? Well, here they are, just as scratchy as you remember them. So get ready to kick back and have a Cool Yule!
Artist: John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Title: Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Source: CD: Now That's What I Call Christmas (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Lennon/Ono
Label: Zomba (original label: Apple)
Year: 1971
Originally intended as an anti-Vietnam War song, John and Yoko's Happy Xmas (War Is Over) has long since acquired classic status and is now one of the most familiar songs of the season. It was first released in the US in December of 1971, but due to a problem with the publisher did not appear in the rest of the world until November of 1972.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
Source: CD single: Free As a Bird
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)
Label: Apple/Capitol
Year: Recorded 1966 and 1967, released 19671997
Every year the Beatles would record a special Christmas message to go out to members of their fan club, and mail it out on what was then known as a floppy disc. This was not the same as a computer floppy disc, however. In fact, the medium the Beatles used eventually came to be known as a flexi-disc, just to keep things from getting any more confusing. Regardless of what you called it, the things tended to wear out after just a few plays and I doubt there are many playable copies of these discs left in the universe. Luckily for us, George Martin had the foresight to hang on to everything the Beatles ever recorded, including this tune, which was chopped up and used for the 1967 Christmas Greeting. When the Beatles Anthology was released in 1997, the piece was included on the Free As a Bird CD single, and we got to hear the song in its uninterrupted entirety for the first time. Included at the end are Christmas greetings from the 1966 fan club disc and a bit of poetry read by John Lennon.
Artist: Simon And Garfunkel
Title: Silent Night/7 O'Clock News
Source: CD: Collected Works (originally released on LP: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme)
Writer(s): Gruber/Muhr, arr. Paul Simon
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
Simon and Garfunkel's Silent Night/7 O'Clock News is unique for several reasons. The most obvious is that it uses two unrelated recordings to make an ironically chilling point. The first is a rendition of Franz Gruber's Silent Night, with vocals in the center channel and piano only coming from one speaker. As the song progresses a newscast in the other channel slowly gets louder. Eventually the song ends and there is only the news. What's also unusual is that this well-known Christmas carol is not featured on a Christmas album at all; instead it appears as the final track of the duo's 1966 LP Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme.
Artist: Simon And Garfunkel
Title: A Hazy Shade of Winter
Source: CD: Collected Works (originally released as 45 RPM single and included on LP: Bookends)
Writer: Paul Simon
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
I wish I could take credit for putting Simon And Garfunkel's Silent Night/7 O'Clock News and A Hazy Shade of Winter back to back. The truth is I don't know who came up with the idea; my best guess is someone from Westwood One radio, as I first heard it done on one of their syndicated programs. Still, it's not a bad idea, and I happened to have a copy of the Westwood One version of the paired tracks, so there it is.
Artist: Chuck Berry
Title: Merry Christmas, Baby
Source: Mono CD: The Chess Box (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer: Baxter/Moore
Label: Chess/MCA
Year: 1958
Chuck Berry did not record too many cover tunes, as he was a prolific songwriter himself. However, for his 1958 Christmas single he cut this tasty version of Charles Brown's "other" Christmas song, Merry Christmas, Baby, originally recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (with Brown on lead vocal). The B side of Berry's single, Run Rudolph Run, was also a cover song, although the tune has come to be almost exclusively associated with Berry himself.
Artist: Ike And Tina Turner
Title: Merry Christmas Baby
Source: CD: Cool Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Baxter/Moore
Label: Rhino (original label: Warner Brothers)
Year: 1964
Ike Turner was a talent scout for Chess Records that formed a band called the Kings Of Rhythm in the early 50s, immediately scoring a #1 R&B hit backing Jackie Brenston on a song called Rocket 88. By 1964 he had married Anna Mae Bullock, who changed her name to Tina Turner and began receiving co-billing on Ike's records, such as the 1964 B side, Merry Christmas Baby. Although lyrically the same as the Charles Brown song of the same name, the track is musically worlds away from Brown's slow blues number.
Artist: Solomon Burke
Title: Presents For Christmas
Source: CD: Cool Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Burke/Burke/Burke
Label: Rhino (original label: Atlantic)
Year: 1966
Solomon Burke was a staple artist for the Atlantic label at a time when Atlantic itself was being overshadowed by the Stax/Volt labels that it distributed. Nonetheless, Burke had several R&B hits throughout the sixties and was highly respected by his fellow artists. Presents For Christmas captures Burke at his peak in 1966.
Artist: Jimmy McCracklin
Title: Christmas Time
Source: Mono CD: Blue Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Jimmy McCracklin
Label: Rhino (original label: Art-Tone)
Year: 1961
Jimmy McCracklin recorded one of the catchiest, yet underplayed, tunes of the 50s when he did The Walk. Christmas Time, from a few years later, actually sounds like beach music. Go figure.
Artist: James Brown
Title: Santa Claus, Santa Claus
Source: CD: Cool Yule (originally released on LP: Soulful Christmas)
Writer(s): Bobbitt/Jones
Label: Rhino (original label: King)
Year: 1968
Few people would ever accuse James Brown of being a blues artist, but this recording of Santa Claus, Santa Claus (sometimes called just Santa Claus) from 1968 shows what it would have sounded like if he was.
Artist: Ed "Cookie" Byrnes
Title: Yulesville
Source: CD: Cool Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Galanoy/Olafson/Barker
Label: Rhino (original label: Warner Brothers)
Year: 1959
The ABC TV network was a perennial also-ran that was just starting to find a winning formula in the late 50s with shows targeted toward a younger audience. The most popular of these was 77 Sunset Strip, starring Ed "Cookie" Byrnes. He and co-star Connie Stevens, staying in character, cut a hit novelty record called Cookie, Cookie, which played on Cookie's propensity for combing his hair. Byrnes, again in character, followed it up with this hip retelling of the classic poem Twas the Night Before Christmas.
Artist: Elvis Presley
Title: Santa Claus Is Back In Town
Source: 45 RPM single (reissue)
Writer(s): Lieber/Stoller
Label: RCA Victor
Year: 1957
Santa Claus Is Back In Town is the opening track on the 1957 LP Elvis' Christmas Album. The song, written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, was also released that year in the UK as a single, going to the #7 spot on the charts. In the US, however, it remained available only as an album track until 1965, when it was released as a single, going to the #4 spot on the Billboard chart. For the B side, RCA reissued Blue Christmas, which had gone into the top 10 the previous year. The Blue Christmas/Santa Claus Is Back In Town single was certified platinum in 1999.
Artist: Martels
Title: Rockin' Santa Claus
Source: Mono CD: Cool Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Mason/Robinson
Label: Rhino (original label: Bella)
Year: 1959
Rock history is littered with one-hit wonders, many of whom only got to release one single. The Martels, however, released only half a single, as the other side of the record was by another artist altogether. They cut Rockin' Santa Claus for the tiny Bella label in San Jose, California in 1959, and were never heard from since.
Artist: Ray Stevens
Title: Santa Claus Is Watching You
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer: Ray Stevens
Label: Mercury
Year: 1962
I've mentioned something called the Grab Bag before. Basically, it was a sealed paper bag (sometimes with a clear plastic front) containing four 45 RPM records, generally "cut-outs" that were no longer in print. The one my family bought for Christmas of 1964 had a Sing Along With Mitch Christmas EP in the front. By far the oddest record in the bag was Santa Claus Is Watching You by Ray Stevens, although I seem to remember that version being slightly different than the one heard here. One thing that both versions had in common was the presence of Clyde the Camel from Stevens's first hit, Ahab the Arab.
Artist: Sonics
Title: Santa Claus
Source: Mono CD: Cool Yule (originally released on LP: Merry Christmas)
Writer: Greg Roslie
Label: Rhino (original label: Etiquette)
Year: 1965
The Pacific Northwest was home to several bands that can only be described as proto-punk (think Louie Louie). One of the top bands on the scene up there was the Sonics, who recorded raw hard-driving songs with titles like Psycho, the Witch and Strychnine. Santa Claus is very much in the same vein, making it the punkiest Christmas song of the sixties, if not all time.
Artist: Bob Seger And The Last Heard
Title: Sock It To Me Santa
Source: Mono: Christmas A Go-Go (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Seger/Honaker/Lagassa
Label: Wicked Cool (original label: Cameo)
Year: 1966
Years before he was singing that old time rock 'n' roll on his way to Katnandu, Bob Seger led a band called the Last Heard. The band was formed when Seger decided to leave his former band, the Omens, to record a song called East Side Story. The song, released on the local Hideout label, was Seger's first hit, selling about 50,000 copies, mostly in the Detroit area. This led to a deal with Cameo-Parkway Records. The first single released by the band on Cameo was a Christmas tune called Sock It To Me Santa that predates fellow Detroiter Mitch Ryder's Sock It To Me-Baby by a few weeks. Seger, of course, would eventually sign with Capitol Records, changing the name of the band to the Bob Seger System, and later, the Silver Bullet Band.
Artist: Beach Boys
Title: Little Saint Nick (stereo single version)
Source: CD: Beach Boys Ultimate Christmas (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Wilson/Love
Label: Capitol
Year: 1963
When the Beach Boys first recorded Little Saint Nick they were the hottest surf music band in the country. A year later Beatlemania had set in, and a new version of Little Saint Nick was recorded for the Beach Boys Christmas Album. The new version put a greater emphasis on the vocals, and much of the original instrumentation was deleted from the arrangement. That is the version that usually gets heard on commercial radio every year. In the mid-70s, Carl Wilson, who by then had stepped into the leader's role formerly held by older brother Brian, pulled out the original 1963 tapes and created a new stereo mix of the song. The instruments have greater prominence in this version and include the distinctive sound of sleighbells that were completely exorcised from the 1964 version.
Artist: Soupy Sales
Title: Santa Claus Is Surfin' To Town
Source: Mono CD: Christmas A Go-Go (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Gillespie/Coots
Label: Wicked Cool/Reprise
Year: 1963
Best known as the host of a popular kids' show on TV, Soupy Sales cut this bit of weirdness for the Reprise label in 1963. Need I say more?
Artist: Eartha Kitt
Title: Santa Baby
Source: Mono CD: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits 1935-1954 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Javits/Springer/Springer
Label: Rhino (original label: RCA Victor)
Year: 1953
Eartha Kitt has one of the most unique voices in the history of jazz, and put it to good use on the original 1953 version of Santa Baby, a tune that has unfortunately in recent years become associated with Madonna. Kitt continued to perform with nearly as much energy as she had in the 50s right up to her death on Christmas Day, 2008.
Artist: Rufus Thomas
Title: I'll Be Your Santa Baby
Source: Mono CD: Christmas A Go-Go (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Thomas/Roberts
Label: Wicked Cool (original label: Stax)
Year: 1973
Rufus Thomas had a long and storied career going back to the 1950s, first with Bear Cat, an answer song to Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller's Hound Dog, and later with his own series of "dog" hits (Walking the Dog being the most famous). By the mid-1960s he was an important member of the Stax/Volt stable of artists, where his daughter Carla was making a name for herself with hits like B-A-B-Y and (with Otis Redding) Tramp. After Stax severed its distribution deal with Atlantic Records Rufus Thomas stayed with the now fully independent Stax, releasing I'll Be Your Santa Baby in 1973.
Artist: Clarence Carter
Title: Back Door Santa
Source: CD: Christmas A Go-Go (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Carter/Daniel
Label: Wicked Cool (original label: Atlantic)
Year: 1969
Clarence Carter is an icon of the beach music (for you non-Carolinians, beach music has nothing to do with surf music) crowd. For everyone else, he is a moderately successful soul artist known mostly for his mid-70s hit Slip Away. Regardless of where you might know him from, his Back Door Santa will surprise you with its down and funky energy.
Artist: Ramsey Lewis Trio
Title: Winter Wonderland
Source: 45 RPM single B side (reissue)
Writer(s): Bernard/Smith
Label: Cadet (original label: Argo)
Year: 1960
The Ramsey Lewis Trio released their first LP, Ramsey Lewis and the Gentlemen of Swing, in 1956. They remained primarily a jazz band over their first ten years of existence, releasing several singles on the Argo label, a Chess subsidiary. As well as original material, the group recorded their own distinctive versions of standards such as the holiday-oriented Winter Wonderland, which appeared as a B side in 1960.
Artist: Bobby "Boris" Pickett
Title: Monster's Holiday
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer: Bobby Pickett
Label: Garpax
Year: 1962
Bobby Picket scored big with his Halloween hit Monster Mash in 1962, and quickly followed it up with this sequel set around the Christmas holidays. Legendary producer Gary Paxton was responsible for both recordings making it onto vinyl and on the air.
Artist: Spike Jones and His City Slickers
Title: All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)
Source: Mono CD: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits 1935-1954 (originally released as 78 RPM single)
Writer: Don Gardner
Label: Rhino (original label: RCA Victor)
Year: 1948
Spike Jones and His City Slickers were a highly talented bunch who made music out of sound effects, toy instruments, and whatever else it occurred to them to use. Their forte was the novelty record, and no one did it better. All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) was written by Middleton, NY schoolteacher Donald Yetter Gardner, who was inspired to write the song when he asked his second grade class what they wanted for Christmas and was struck by how many of them were lisping due to missing front teeth.
Artist: Chipmunks
Title: The Chipmunk Song
Source: CD: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits 1955-Present (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Ross Bagdasarian
Label: Rhino (original label: Liberty)
Year: 1958
In 1958 pop-jazz composer/bandleader Ross Bagdasarian decided to play around with a variable-speed tape recorder and came up with the novelty hit Witch Doctor. He followed it up by using multiple tape machines to create a trio of sped up voices that he called the Chipmunks, and released this smash hit in time for the Christmas season. The success of The Chipmunk Song led to a Saturday morning cartoon series and a series of albums for the Liberty label. His son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr. has revived the concept in recent years, although not with the same level of success. Bagdasarian himself, incidentally, had a small part as a lonely pianist in the Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window.
Artist: Royal Guardsmen
Title: Snoopy's Christmas
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Hugo & Luigi/Weiss
Label: Laurie
Year: 1967
Like many American bands, the Ocala, Florida based Posmen decided to change their name to something more Anglo sounding in the wake of the British invasion of 1964. As the Royal Guardsmen they had their first regional hit in 1966 with a song called Baby Let's Wait. It was their next release, however, that established the direction the group's career would take from that point on. Snoopy vs. the Red Baron was a huge national hit, going all the way to the #2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1966. Several more Snoopy themed songs followed, including Snoopy's Christmas, released in 1967. The most recent of these is Snoopy vs. Osama, which came out in 2006.
Artist: Dodie Stevens
Title: Merry, Merry Christmas Baby
Source: Mono CD: Cool Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Sylvia/Lopez
Label: Rhino (original label: Dot)
Year: 1960
Dodie Stevens only had one hit record, the semi-novelty Pink Shoelaces, which came out in 1959. That didn't stop her from trying her luck with a contemporary holiday tune called Merry, Merry Christmas Baby the following year. The song, based on the Tune Weavers' Happy, Happy Birthday Baby, came out on the Dot label, which was no stranger to cover songs, having established itself by releasing sanitized Pat Boone remakes of songs originally recorded by Little Richard and other early rock 'n' roll artists.
Artist: Otis Redding
Title: Merry Christmas Baby
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Baxter/Moore
Label: Atco
Year: 1968
Merry Christmas Baby was originally released by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, which featured Charles Brown on guitar and vocals, in 1947. Several different versions of the song have been recorded over the years by such diverse artists as Chuck Berry, Ike & Tina Turner, Hansen, Christina Aguilara, Bruce Springsteen and Brown himself. Otis Redding's version of the song was released in 1968, almost a year after the plane crash that killed the singer and most of his band.
Artist: Charles Brown
Title: Please Come Home For Christmas
Source: CD: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits 1955-Present (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Brown/Redd
Label: Rhino (original label: King)
Year: 1960
By now just about everyone is familiar with the Eagles version of Please Come Home For Christmas. Not everyone, however, knows the song was written by blues great Charles Brown. Even fewer have actually heard Brown's 1960 original, which is a shame, as it blows the Eagles version clean out of the water.
Artist: Johnny Preston
Title: (I Want a) Rock and Roll Guitar
Source: CD: Cool Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer: J.P. Richardson
Label: Rhino (original label: Mercury)
Year: 1960
Johnny Preston recorded his signature song in 1960, the classic Running Bear, penned by J.P. Richardson, the Big Bopper. The pair teamed up again to create a brand new Christmas song, (I Want a) Rock and Roll Guitar, later the same year. Interesting enough, by the middle of the decade a guitar was exactly what many kids were indeed asking for. I should know; I got my first guitar (and amp) as a Christmas present after badgering my parents mercilessly for months. I think between the two they might have run about $100, which made it the most expensive Christmas I ever had.
Artist: Ventures
Title: Sleigh Ride
Source: LP: The Ventures Christmas Album
Writer: Leroy Anderson
Label: Dolton
Year: 1965
The Ventures are by far the most successful instrumental rock group in history, with over 100 albums released over several decades. One of the most successful of these was their 1965 Christmas album, which featured this surfinated version of Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride, a piece usually associated with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Artist: Brenda Lee
Title: Papa Noel
Source: CD: Cool Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Ray Botkin
Label: Rhino
Year: 1958
Just about everyone is familiar with Brenda Lee's 1958 hit Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree. Not as well known is the flip side of that single, a song called Papa Noel. Lee, known as "Little Miss Dynamite" was first discovered by country legend Red Foley when still in her teens.
Artist: Crystals
Title: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Source: Mono CD: A Christmas Gift For You
Writer(s): Coots/Gillespie
Label: Phil Spector Records (original label: Philles)
Year: 1963
In 1963 Phil Spector was riding high as one of the most successful record producers on the East coast. His "wall of sound" was heard on top 40 radio stations coast to coast on recordings by groups like the Crystals, who hit it big with And Then He Kissed Me and Da Doo Ron Ron that same year. Late in the year Spector issued an album called A Christmas Gift For You, which featured all the groups on his Philles label. The Crystals had three songs on the album, including an arrangement of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town that was later used by Bruce Springsteen.
Artist: Ronettes
Title: Frosty The Snowman
Source: Mono CD: A Christmas Gift For You
Writer(s): Nelson/Rollins
Label: Phil Spector Records (original label: Philles)
Year: 1963
1963 was probably the peak year for the Ronettes, with two of their biggest hits, Baby I Love You and Be My Baby, being released that year. To cap it all off they contirbuted a trio of tunes to Phil Spector's classic holiday LP, the first of which was their unique take on Frosty The Snowman.
Artist: Darlene Love
Title: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Source: Mono CD: A Christmas Gift For You (also released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Spector/Greenwich/Barry
Label: Phil Spector Records (original label: Philles)
Year: 1963
Only one song from Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift For You was ever released as a single: Darlene Love's solo track, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). Surprisingly, it was not a major hit and to this day is one of the least-played songs on the album.
Artist: Jack Scott
Title: There's Trouble Brewin'
Source: CD: Cool Yule (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Laura Veronica
Label: Rhino (original label: Groove)
Year: 1963
Canadian born Jack Scott was one of the great rockabilly performers of the late 50s, scoring several top 10 hits, including My True Love and Burning Bridges. This 1963 recording of There's Trouble Brewin' shows him at the peak of his vocal powers.
Artist: Canned Heat
Title: Christmas Blues
Source: Mono CD: Billboard Rock and Roll Christmas (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Canned Heat
Label: Rhino (original label: Liberty)
Year: 1968
Possibly the strangest pairing on record was the 1968 remake of The Chipmunk Song by the Chipmunks and Canned Heat. Yes, you read that correctly. Canned Heat did indeed provide the instrumental backing tracks for Simon, Theodore and Alvin's 10th anniversary remake of their best-known song. The B side of that record is a true gem: an original Canned Heat composition called Christmas Blues.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: Christmas Song
Source: British import EP
Writer: Ian Anderson
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1968
I wanted to play one set made up entirely of songs from the psychedelic era performed by artists that I feature on the show on a fairly regular basis. One of these artists is the band Jethro Tull, led by flautist/acoustic guitarist/vocalist Ian Anderson. His somewhat cynical Christmas Song, originally released in the UK in 1968, did not appear in the US until the 1973 anthology album Living In the Past.
Artist: Cadillacs
Title: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Source: 45 RPM vinyl
Writer: Johnny Marks
Label: Josie
Year: 1956
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been recorded by a lot of different artists over the years, but this version by the Cadillacs stands out for its pure sense of fun. Doo-wop was at the peak of its popularity in 1956 and the Cadillacs, led by Earl "Speedoo" Carroll, were among the best of the bunch.
Artist: Drifters
Title: White Christmas
Source: Mono CD: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits 1955-Present (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Irving Berlin
Label: Rhino (original label: Atlantic)
Year: 1955
The Drifters were a kind of early R&B doowop supergroup made up of ex-members of other R&B groups such as Billy Ward's Dominoes. The most distinctive voice of the original Drifters was high tenor Clyde McPhatter (for whom Ray Stevens's famous camel was named), which is heard prominently on their version of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Over the years the group's lineup changed many times and led to several former members forming competing groups, all using the Drifters name. Over time, members of these offshoots would in turn form their own Drifters, despite having virtually no connection to the original group. This is why it sometimes seems that half the doowop singers in the world claim to be former members of the Drifters.
Artist: Marquees
Title: Christmas In the Congo
Source: Mono CD: Cool Yule (Originally released as 45 RPM single, possibly promo only)
Writer(s): Masten/Botkin
Label: Rhino (original label: Warner Brothers)
Year: 1959
I recently saw a signed publicity photo of the Marquees taken sometime in the late 1950s. One of the signatures is Marvin Gaye's. What I have not been able to find is any evidence that this record was actually released commercially, although at least one promo copy is known to exist.
Artist: King Curtis
Title: The Christmas Song
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Mel Torme
Label: Atco
Year: 1966
King Curtis was one of the most in-demand saxophone players of the first wave of rock and roll. His best known work was on the song Yakety Yak by the Coasters in 1958. In the sixties he became the music director for the Atlantic Records group, appearing on a variety of recordings by artists such as Solomon Burke and occassionally releasing material on the Atco label under his own name. Tragically, his life was cut short when he was the victim of a stabbing when he attempted to stop junkies from shooting up on his front steps in New York.
And as promised here come those old Christmas 45s, just as scratchy as you remember them. Enjoy!
Artist: Ramsey Lewis Trio
Title: Winter Wonderland
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Bernard/Smith
Label: Cadet (original label: Argo)
Year: 1960
Playing in the background over my overly wordy opening speil we have an instrumental B side by the Ramsey Lewis Trio, originally released in 1960 on the Chess subsidiary Argo. Nobody seems to know, however, when this reissue of the single with the same original catalog number came out on a different Chess subsidiary.
Artist: Arthur Godfrey and All The Little Godfreys
Title: White Christmas
Source: 45 RPM 3-disc EP set: Christmas With Arthur Godfrey and All The Little Godfreys
Writer(s): Irving Berlin
Label: Columbia
Year: 1953
Arthur Godfrey changed radio. Prior to his arrival on the scene radio announcers all sounded like orators giving a speech, or at least emcees in front of an audience made up of people dressed for a night on the town. Godfrey, however, realized that the majority of radio listeners were at home, either by themselves or gathered around the set with their families. Accordingly, he developed a folksy style that made the listener feel like Godfrey was right there in the same room. He first came to national prominence when, as a staff announcer for a Washington, DC radio station, he was called upon to provide coverage of the funeral of Franklin D. Roosevelt for national broadcast on CBS radio. His delivery so strongly connected with listeners that he was soon offered his own daily morning show on the CBS Radio Network. By the early 1950s Arthur Godfrey Time was on five days a week, both on radio and television, and had been joined by a weekly hour long TV variety show called Arthur Godfrey And His Friends. In October of 1953 they released an album called Christmas With Arthur Godfrey and All The Little Godfreys. The album came out in three different formats: a traditional four record 78 RPM set resembling a photo album (in fact, this is where the term "album" to describe a multi-song collection came from), the newer single disc 33 1/3 LP format and, taking advantage of Columbia's own microgroove technology, a 3-disc extended play 45 RPM set. White Christmas, featuring pretty much every member of the cast, opens the album.
Artist: Jimmy Boyd
Title: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Tommie Connor
Label: Columbia
Year: 1952
A lot of Christmas songs make it to the top of the Christmas Singles lists, but only a handful have been able to top the main pop charts as well. One of these was I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, recorded by 13-year-old Jimmy Boyd in July of 1952 and released the following November. The following year it was released in the UK and went to the #3 spot there.
Artist: Spike Jones And His City Slickers
Title: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Marks/Maxwell
Label: RCA Victor
Year: 1950
Spike Jones And His City Slickers managed to top the pop charts in 1948 with All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) and again in 1949. The following year they released their own version of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. The label of the record includes the words "Vocal refrain by Rudolph (himself) with Santa Claus and The Four Reindeer". Who am I to argue with that?
Artist: Gene Autry
Title: Santa's Comin' In A Whirlybird
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Ashley Dees
Label: Republic
Year: 1959
Gene Autry was literally a five star performer, and is the only person to have stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in all five categories: film, radio, television, music and live performance. He started performing while still in high school in southern Oklahoma and managed to get himself fired from a job as an overnight telegraph operator for singing and playing guitar while on duty. One of the customers, a guy named Will Rogers, heard him singing one night and told him he ought to try going pro. He did, and at age 21 was billed as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy" on a Tulsa radio station. This led to a contract with Columbia Records and a four-year stint on Chicago station WLS's National Barn Dance. He made his first film as The Singing Cowboy in 1934; he would appear in 92 more, and in the early 1950s had his own television show. Many of these films were for Republic Pictures. He continued to make records through the end of the 1950s, with no less than three of his hits, Here Comes Santa Claus, Frosty The Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, becoming Christmas standards. His last new single was Santa's Comin' In A Whirlybird, released on Republic's own record label in 1959. In the 1960s Autry became known for his business interests, including L.A.'s powerhouse independent TV station KTLA and the Los Angeles Angels baseball team. He also served as vice-president of baseball's American League from 1983 until his death in 1997.
Artist: Melanie
Title: Merry Christmas
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Melanie Safka
Label: Buddah
Year: 1970
Although plenty of pop artists had released Christmas records in the early to mid-1960s, by the end of the decade the practice was frowned upon by "serious" rockers. Nonetheless, artists like Melanie found a way to sneak in songs like Merry Christmas by putting them on the B sides of singles. This particular track carried a message that resonated with counter-culture values.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: Another Christmas Song
Source: Stereo British import 7" EP: Ring Out Solstice Bells 40th Anniversary Edition (originally released on CD: The Jethro Tull Christmas Album)
Writer(s): Ian Anderson
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 2003
Jethro Tull first released A Christmas Song as a B side in 1968, but not in the US. Its first American release was on the album Living In The Past, which came out in 1972. Four years after that the song was included on a four-song EP that once again was not released in the US. In 2003 a Jethro Tull with considerably a different membership recorded Another Christmas Song, which immediately followed a re-recording of A Christmas Song on The Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Most recently, both A Christmas Song and Another Christmas Song were included on the 40th Anniversary Edition of the EP, once again not released in the US. Technically this has to be considered a ringer on this show as it's a) not scratchy, and b) not a 45 (the 7" EP runs at 33 1/3 RPM).
Artist: Elton John
Title: Ho Ho Ho (Who'd Be A Turkey At Christmas)
Source: Stereo 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): John/Taupin
Label: MCA
Year: 1973
Although it was released in plenty of time for Christmas of 1973, Elton John's Step Into Christmas didn't get a whole lot of airplay when it first came out. It has, however, gotten more popular over the years. Personally I much prefer the B side, Ho Ho Ho (Who'd Be A Turkey At Christmas), which doesn't get played on the radio at all.
Artist: Greg Lake
Title: Humbug
Source: Stereo British import 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Lake/Sinfield
Label: Manticore
Year: 1975
For the B side of I Believe In Father Christmas, Greg Lake and lyricist Peter Sinfield came up with a rather silly semi-instrumental track called Humbug. I hope Sinfield didn't get paid by the word on this one.
Artist: Royal Guardsmen
Title: It Kinda Looks Like Christmas
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Dick Holler
Label: Laurie
Year: 1967
Did you know that Snoopy's Christmas had a B side? Neither did I until I bought a copy of the original 45. Here it is.
Some of the coolest Christmas tracks ever released were recorded by R&B artists. Here are three of them that got squeezed out of Stuck With a Hermit at Yuletide.
Artist: Solomon Burke
Title: All I Want For Christmas
Source: Stereo 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Solomon Burke
Label: Pride
Year: 1972
Hidden on the B side of his 1972 version of I Can't Stop Loving You, we have a Solomon Burke Christmas original called All I Want For Christmas. It's classic Burke..
Artist: Amos Milburn
Title: Christmas (Comes But Once A Year)
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Milburn/Shubert
Label: King
Year: 1960
It's debatable whether this one should be considered a B side or half of a double A side. It appeared in 1960 as the other side of Charles Brown's original version of Please Come Home For Christmas. Two classics for the price of one!
Artist: Otis Redding
Title: White Christmas
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Irving Berlin
Label: Atco
Year: 1968
The year 1968 saw eight singles on four labels released by Otis Redding, who had been killed in a plane crash in December of 1967. It was the highest number of singles released by Redding in his entire career, and included his version of White Christmas, released in November of that year.
Artist: José Ferrer
Title: Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Barrett/Baker
Label: RCA Victor
Year: 1960
Imagine the following scenario: two songwriters come up with the idea of putting out a spoken word Christmas record based on a famous editorial response to a reader's question that had appeared in the September 21, 1897 edition of a New York newspaper called The Sun. But who can we get to record it, the writers ask? Their producer responds: how about the guy who played Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film I Accuse a couple years ago? And so José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón was recruited to record Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus. That may not have been what really happened, but that's the way I imagine it.
Artist: Johnny Horton
Title: They Shined Up Rudolph's Nose
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Johnny Horton
Label: Columbia
Year: 1959
Johnny Horton was riding high from the success of his #1 hit single Battle Of New Orleans when he recorded the self-penned Christmas Song They Shined Up Rudolph's Nose. A year later he was killed in a traffic accident at age 35.
Artist: Ruby Wright
Title: Let's Light The Christmas Tree
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Ruth Lyons
Label: Fraternity
Year: 1957
Ruby Wright (not the country singer) was a big band style vocalist from Indiana who had more success in the UK than in her native country. Her biggest American hit was Let's Light The Christmas Tree, released in November of 1957. The song was written by Ruth Lyons, at the time one of the most powerful women in the broadcasting industry, particularly in Cincinnatti, Ohio, where she created, produced and hosted The Ruth Lyons 50-50 Club, considered by many to be the first daytime TV talk show.
Artist: Dan Fogelberg
Title: Same Auld Lang Syne
Source: Stereo 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Dan Fogelberg
Label: Full Moon
Year: 1980
There aren't too many New Year's songs out there. Dan Fogelberg's Same Auld Lang Syne from 1980 is one of the most successful.
Artist: King Curtis
Title: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Frank Loesser
Label: Atco
Year: 1968
King Curtis (born Curtis Ousley) was a saxophonist who could play jazz, R&B and rock 'n' roll equally well, and was considered a master of the tenor, alto and soprano saxophone. His playing was heard on dozens of recordings in the 50s and 60s, including the Coasters' Yakety Yak, Aretha Frankin's Respect and his own Memphis Soul Stew. After signing with Atlantic in the mid-1960s, Curtis's singles consisted mainly of instrumental versions of hit songs such as Ode To Billie Joe and A Whiter Shade Of Pale. In 1968 he released his own version of The Christmas Song, backed with What Are You Doing New Year's Eve.
