I would like to start this post by saying...MY SEMESTER IS FINALLY OVER!!! I feel like I can truly enjoy the Christmas season now (at least for a week.) The last few weeks have been a real struggle, but now Jon and I are done, the kids are out of school, and Jon will be starting this week with two days off - hooray! Time to get the Christmas shopping done, the rooms cleaned up, and get set to enjoy the holiday. In celebration, I would like to share with you a list of my favorite Christmas songs. I am not the kind of person who can just turn on the Christmas station and let it play - I can't take all the Celine Dion, Jessica Simpson, Michael Bolton, etc. So I started making my own Christmas mixes years ago, and over the years I have refined them. Each year I may take one or two off, or add one or two more, depending on how I am feeling. So this list is not in any specific order, it is not by favorite to least favorite or anything like that. These are just songs that I love this time of year, and without which it just doesn't seem like Christmas. Some are conventional, some are really not, which I think really is a good way to describe me :)
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
Christmas - Blues Traveler
Christmas Song - Dave Matthews (not the same as the next one)
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
Donde Esta Santa Clause - Guster
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan
The First Noel - Nat King Cole
The Gift - Aselin Debison
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Lou Rawls
Here Comes Santa Claus - Elvis (he shows up a few times - my Dad used to play him)
Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
It's Christmastime - Barenaked Ladies
It's Christmastime Pretty Baby - Elvis
(It Must Have Been Ol') Santa Clause - Harry Connick Jr.
Sleigh Ride (Instrumental) - The Ventures
Jingle Bells (Instrumental) - it is an old 40's version
Last Christmas - Wham (which my children ALL know and sing)
Let It Snow - Dean Martin
Little St. Nick - The Beach Boys (although to be honest, I think Electric Mayhem does it best)
O Holy Night - Nat King Cole
Peace on Earth/The Little Drummer Boy - David Bowie and Bing Crosby
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me - Elvis
Santa Clause is Coming to Town - Bruce Springsteen
Sleigh Ride (Instrumental) - Lee Anderson and his Pops Concert Orchestra
This Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
Up On the Housetop - Jackson 5 (total guilty pleasure)
What Christmas Means to Me - Stevie Wonder
White Christmas - The Drifters
Winter Wonderland - Louis Armstrong
Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Baby It's Cold Outside - I am really picky about this one - there are a lot of versions that I don't like - my favorite is Petula Clark and and Rod McKuen, and second is Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer
Then there are full albums that I like the way they are:
John Denver and the Muppets- A Christmas Together
The Elf soundtrack (thank you Erin)
Lewis Ross - A Collection of Favourite Christmas Carols (all instrumental guitar)
Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Maybe there are some on the list that you haven't heard, or that you had forgotten about. They are just my standard Christmas fare - if you have favorites that aren't on here, let me know! I will check them out.
7 comments:
I think I need a copy of your CD...
How about Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing, "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"? I love that one! Glad to see Nat made your list. He's the tops! And HARRY, oh harry! I must say, if I'm guilty of a celebrity crush, it's him. Have you seen him on TV. Witty, good-looking, and that voice.....oh, I digress. Merry Christmas!
Oh yah, "Here Come Santa Claus" by Elvis (& yes I do have the Elvis Christmas CD)!
I thought Here Comes Santa Clause was on the list - it is on the CD. I'll have to look into the Ella song. Yes, Harry is great.
Actually Lindsey, it is two CDs - one is titled Gingerbread and the other is Peppermint. And I will gladly make you copies as long as when someone asks where you got such awesome Christmas music, you tell them you got it from your awesome sister-in-law :)
Yep, it's on there....I just missed it the first time when I saw all the Elvis songs.....
That's an awesome list! Charlie Brown Christmas is the best, and I'm jealous of your ELF soundtrack. I totally have been wanting to get it. Don't let my father in law know you like Santa Baby. He HATES that song. haha. And I love that you have a lot of Nat King Cole on there. He has such a great voice! Add in a little more Sinatra and you have the perfect song list :)
Oh, and you're totally right about "Baby it's cold outside" there are a lot of bad versions out there.
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