Pop Music Muse 12/17/2021: Yuletide Tunes

December 17, 2021

There are some unusual Yuletide songs you might never have heard . . . or might not want to hear. Starting with The Drifters in 1954 with their take on a Bing Crosby hit. I wonder what Irving Berlin would have thought?

The Drifters’ rendition was a huge annual smash, playing every Christmas after that up to this day. Next up, in honor of Monkee Mike Nesmith who died last week at 78, a selection from the final Monkees album, Christmas Party, which was released in October 2018, but recorded from 1967 to 2018. Here Mike sings the Mel Torme classic:

Another favorite of mine, originally a Christmas sleeper, comes from Joni Mitchell and her album Blue. It’s a sweet but mournful song about heartbreak, and many think it’s about her relationship with Graham Nash. Since its release in the ’70s it has become a perennial Yuletide favorite:

Other artists from the 1970s composed many a Christmas hit, including joy from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, The Eagles, The Kinks, Dave Edmunds, Foghat, and a slew of others. Even The Band came up with a Christmas record:

The Beatles as a group produced Christmas music nearly every year since their inception, with messages to their fan club from 1964 to 1969. Original copies are worth a mint, but you can find them all on the Internet. They are very humorous, and pretty much tell you where the group was musically at the time. Here’s one from 1967, and you can tell they had just made Sgt. Pepper a few months prior:

Of course The Beatles and every other rock group took their cue from the man whose Christmas album to this day has outsold every other: Elvis, who released his favorites in December of 1957. It is filled with many gospel-tinged traditional carols, but it definitely rocks as well. The most well known is the ballad Blue Christmas, with the Jordanaires in the background. What really rocks, though, is his song about Santa:

This hip-shaking album set the stage that very year, with other rockers and rockabilly performers offering their idea of seasonal joy. Two years before Brenda Lee was even a hit, she went to Nashville and produced the now classic Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (written by the same guy who wrote Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer), and country singer Bobby Helms added his song Jingle Bell Rock. And let’s not forget Chuck Berry, who duck-walked this tune right up the charts in 1957:

Other rockers have contributed to the spirit. Roy Orbison voiced Pretty Paper, and in 1971 The Everly Brothers recorded a grim song called Christmas Eve Can Kill You (when you’re trying to hitch a ride to anywhere). Instrumentally, there were a couple of rockers fashioned in the form of the groups that made them in the early ’60s. Remember The Ventures with their ever-present drum introductions?

How can you forget the steel guitars of Santo and Johnny, the Farina Brothers, who had hits with Sleepwalk and Teardrops? They decked the boughs of holly with a twist. If you recall, 1960 and 1961 were the years of the dance craze, thanks to Chubby Checker and everybody else who waxed a twist record. Santo and Johnny came up with a tune they called Twistin’ Bells in December 1960.

And while we’re on the subject of the twist, let’s not forget the group that gave us a great upbeat doowop version of Blue Moon in early 1961. The Marcels, 11 months later, put their vocal chords together in their own inimitable fashion, cutting this record:

Did it sell? Who cares. They don’t make ’em like this anymore. And while we’re visiting this genre of vocal groups (one of my favorite areas of pop music), one of the lesser known doowop groups tried their luck treating an old-fashioned and traditional standard in ways only they could. Gene Autry, the singing cowboy, was very much alive when he must have heard this rendition of his classic Rudoplh the Red Nosed Reindeer. I wonder that he thought of this version:

Other than The Drifters, the vocal group that really sparkles with Christmas cheer is The Youngsters, who in 1954 enlightened us with their message of what can happen when you imbibe too much during the Christmas season. Not too much is known about the group and their song; it was their only hit, and it wasn’t even a hit. But it’s a great cut:

I was eight years old when Christmas in Jail graced the Yuletide airwaves, and it’s one of my favorites. It’s as applicable today as it was back then. Two other vocal groups deserve a spin or two.  Both are from the early ’60s, just as they were starting out. The Jersey Boys, otherwise known as The Four Seasons with Frankie Valli and his terrific falsetto, had two number one hits, Sherry and Big Girls Don’t Cry, in the fall of 1962. They joined the seasonal bandwagon with their rendition of Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town as they could only do it.

It didn’t reach the Top Ten, but their next record, Walk Like a Man, blasted to number one. The other group who heralded some great Christmas songs are The Beach Boys, whose self-penned tunes formed a Christmas album that rivaled Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You. In the winter of 1963, Brian Wilson came up with Little Saint Nick, followed a year later with The Man with All the Toys. Brian and the boys also toyed with other traditional favorites and original Yuletide tunes sprinkled throughout their illustrious career. Here’s one of their three versions of Little Saint Nick:

There are a lot of reasons to appreciate Christmas. Hanging up the stockings, dressing the tree, giving to others. I have always liked the Christmas season because of the music, whether traditional, classical, country, pop, or rock. I’ll even listen to the Chipmunk song.