The always brilliant Bob Dorough passed away on Monday (April 23). Among his many works, Bob composed and collaborated on "Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)" with Miles Davis. Released in 1962, IIRC, "Blue Xmas" is a timeless classic of the season (albeit of the anti-Christmas variety) and, certainly at the time, one of the most unique. I'm just not up to doing full obits these days, but the least I can do is honor Bob by featuring "Blue Xmas", here. Miles provides some tasty notes and Bob provides the vocals.
The always brilliant Bob Dorough passed away on Monday (April 23). Among his many works, Bob composed and collaborated on "Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)" with Miles Davis. Released in 1962, IIRC, "Blue Xmas" is a timeless classic of the season (albeit of the anti-Christmas variety) and, certainly at the time, one of the most unique. I'm just not up to doing full obits these days, but the least I can do is honor Bob by featuring "Blue Xmas", here. Miles provides some tasty notes and Bob provides the vocals.
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Well, I've got a blog. Might as well use it. Events in this piece will seem disjointed for a bit, but it'll all come together in the end. A while back, someone was asking "What artist do you have the most of in your collection?" It wasn't a Christmas music question...just general knowledge. And I started thinking that I'd faithfully bought most of the albums from Elton John and Billy Joel in the 70s and 80s. I figured they were the likely suspects. Silly me. Not even close. For roughly the last two weeks, I've had just one song on my mind that I've been desperate to listen to. But my house has been under reconstruction from the great frozen water pipe flood of 2018, so I couldn't get to it. Well, I finally got my house back. And, finally getting to access my record collection again, I was able to see what an extensive collection I have of the music of the late Joe Williams...more than 30 albums, not even including his Christmas CD, "That Holiday Feelin'" (the Christmas stuff is filed separately). Even as a very young Stubby--a Bubblegum kid--I was always drawn to Joe Williams. He showed up frequently on The Tonight Show. He'd sing standards, show tunes, Pop songs, Jazz & Blues. Every song was performed with such ease and perfection and he had an amazing presence. I'm a kid and this is The Tonight Show. Well past my bedtime. But, if Joe Williams was on, I'd stay up (and, amazingly, my parents let me...usually). It was to be years before I would learn about Jazz and Blues and gain an appreciation of those genres. I had no clue who Count Basie was, even. But Joe Williams. Man. He was IT. As I grew older, my love for the music of Joe Williams grew greater. In college, I started to frequent the used record stores, picking up old Joe Williams albums. I still knew little about Jazz and Blues. Small beginnings, there. One night, working college radio, I was tired after a long day and just wanted to unwind. I found a new release in the station library, "Joe Williams & The Capp Pierce Juggernaught Live At The Century Plaza". The last two tracks--"Joe's Blues" and "What The World Needs Now" ran about 12 minutes. I turned out the lights and put that on. And I was born again. It was at that precise moment that the flame of my love for Jazz and Blues was lit. As if I wasn't already a huge fan, I am forever in his debt for this. It's only shocking that it took me that long to make the leap from Joe's music to the kind of music he was making. Oddly enough, this is not the song I've been craving for two weeks (but I can not recommend the album highly enough). It could have been almost any Joe Williams tune. I don't think the man ever made a bad recording. Could have been "Roll 'Em Pete" or "Alright, OK, You Win" or "The Work Song" or his version of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" or "Everyday I Have The Blues" or "That Kind Of Woman" or "Going To Chicago". Heck, it could have been "Christmas Rainbows". But, no, the song I've been wanting to hear--from my own, warm, crackling vinyl copy--is this one. And I finally got to scratch that itch, today. I got my satisfaction. And, now, I share that sensation with you...whether you want me to or not (you, of course, get a YouTube video). Because I've got a blog and I might as well use it. Here's Joe Williams and his 1958 recording of "A Man Ain't Supposed To Cry".
Dear Lord, why am I posting? I swear to God we're closed. Well, I guess you can take the boy out of Christmas but you can't take the Christmas out of the boy.......or something.
Over the years, going through so much Christmas music to find the good stuff, most of it becomes a blur (even the good stuff). But a very few artists and tunes stick (that's the really really good stuff). So, when this email arrived at my In-Box, I paid attention. Because "No Mean Christmas" by The Paperback Throne stuck with me. I came across the tune in 2015 and it was good enough to make the Stubby's Christmas mix that year. The song, I believe, dates to a few years earlier but 2015 saw the release of a full Christmas EP ("All Best Intentions") from the Glasgow based Alt Folk/Dream Pop group. You can read my write-up on the EP here. "All Best Intentions" was a free download from Bandcamp, at the time (and you can still get it that way). But it is now also available as a hard copy CD-EP. And I do loves my hard copies. I've softened my stance in my old age, but I used to say, "If it ain't physical, it ain't real." And, to be honest, if it was a $7 EP or a $5 EP or something, I probably still wouldn't mention it. But "All Best Intentions" is just ONE British Pound Sterling (about a buck forty at present). And, for that price--to have "No Mean Christmas" on hard copy--well, brother, I consider that a steal. If you like the tune, or any of the other three on the EP, and are someone who, like me, prefers hard copy to digital--or if you just missed it when we covered it back in 2015--check it out. |
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