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ONE FOR JERSEY AND ANOTHER ONE FOR TY

7/16/2011

Country Christian artist Ty Herndon is the latest name artist to announce a Christmas album for the upcoming season. Herndon, who has topped Billboard's Country charts on three occasions, previously released a 7 song Christmas set to fans in 2002. The following year, an 11 track version of "A Not So Silent Night" was released to the general public. Since then, the album has been repackaged numerous times--swapping the stray track in or out here and there--most recently in 2010 when it turned up as the digital collection "Christmas Classics".

While the previous set was primarily an acoustic affair, Herndon says he's bringing in a full orchestra for this one. Herndon plans to mix inspirational music with some holiday fun. To ensure the latter, Ty had his 7-year-old nephew pick out four songs for the project. Herndon says he'll be touring in support of the Christmas album at the end of the year.

Here's one that brings to mind more questions than anything else. For those who don't follow the goings on on Broadway, one of the biggest hits there in recent years has been Jersey Boys, a musical based on the careers of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Featuring the songs that made the group famous, written by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, Jersey Boys debuted on Broadway in 2005, winning four Tony Awards including Best Musical. The following year, there was a national tour. Now there are companies in Vegas, London, and Sydney Australia (and, sometimes, even Chicago), and a feature film version is being prepared.

So I just read (in a piece about Rick Faugno, who played Frankie Valli in the first national touring company and in Vegas) that Bob Gaudio is in Nashville, producing a Jersey Boys Christmas album.

So I gotta ask...just what is that about? I mean, The Four Seasons did a Christmas album, you know? So are these going to be the same songs, only by Jersey Boys? And, if so, why wouldn't you just buy "The Four Seasons Christmas Album"? Even the "Jersey Boys Original Cast Album" has more Four Seasons than Jersey Boys on it. Or are these going to be Christmas songs the Four Seasons never recorded, done as they would have done them? Well, that could be interesting; I'd love to hear a Four Seasons styled "All I Want For Christmas Is You" or something like that. But Frankie's still alive and singing and so that just seems...kinda...weird. The aforementioned Rick Faugno, by the way, laid down some tracks for that album. I guess we'll have to wait to see what Bob Gaudio's cooking up.

Speaking of Vegas, our friends at Santas Working Overtime alert us to the fact that Hair Metal conglomerate Sin City Sinners are working on a holiday record, presumably for release this year. Dokken's George Lynch was even imported to help out with "We Three Kings". Might be worth starting up a pool on whether we'll see this one or Ozzy's alleged efforts first.

Some other names that are said to be preparing holiday efforts include Christian Indie Rock band Tenth Avenue North (you may recall "Go Tell It On The Mountain" from 2009), Canadian Country singer Gord Bamford, Soul/R&B act Jones Versus Jones, and Ozark Rock and Country showman Carl Acuff, Jr.

And, finally, for today's coming attractions entry, we'd like to drop a dime in the pot of Ohio's Keith McKelley--a very talented Contemporary Jazz and Funk Sax player--who is trying to raise money through GoFundMe to produce a Christmas album. If you like you some David Sanborn, I think you'll be very impressed with Mr. McKelley. I'm a big Jazz fan. It's probably my favorite music to listen to year round and especially at Christmas. So I checked out his self-titled album from 2010 and that convinced me that a yuletide album from Keith McKelley would be a very welcome Christmas present this year. I'll be sending a few dollars Keith's way and I hope you'll do the same. Its always nice to help nice happen to nice. Dig?

Peace on ya, little brothers and sisters. More Christmas as it happens, right here at Stubbys.

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WE ALL SCREAM FOR USTREAM

7/15/2011

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So Michael Buble spent a little time on Ustream Thursday afternoon talking about his upcoming Christmas album. Big reveals: duets with Shania Twain ("White Christmas"), a cappella group Naturally 7 ("Silver Bells"), and The Puppini Sisters ("Jingle Bells"). The Puppini Sisters, of course, released their own Christmas album just last year. Also expect the album to include renditions of "Blue Christmas", Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You", and an original that Michael says contains "one of the greatest lyrics ever in Christmas music...'I want a love to last forever/I'll wear you like a Christmas sweater'...I really like that lyric." Michael cautions that the final decisions on song selection won't be made until recording has completed, so he can't guarantee (wink, wink) that his Christmas original will make the final cut.

Here's the money quote:
"I wanted to make the quintessential Christmas record. I wanted to make a record that would outlive me. I wanted to do for people what Bing Crosby did for me. He introduced me to the world of jazz and melody. I didn't want to be hip or edgy. I just wanted to make a really sweet Christmas record that kids can grow up with."

Anyway, Michael's half-hour was kind of a fun break from the summer heat and he really seems enthusiastic about doing a Christmas album (generally a plus). Check it out some time.

Video streaming by Ustream

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ROB GRILL (1943 - 2011)

7/13/2011

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ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE/THE GRASS ROOTS (20 Christmas Stars, Vol. 3)

Without a doubt, one of the most memorable songs of my childhood was "Midnight Confessions" by The Grass Roots. The hook from that rockin' pop confection, as well as the insistent driving organ intro to "I'd Wait A Million Years", remain a near daily part of the soundtrack in my mind. Rob Grill, the lead vocalist on those late sixties gems, passed away Monday at the age of 67. Rob had been in a coma for several weeks after suffering a stroke and injuring his head in a fall last month in Northern California.

Rob Grill was born in Los Angeles and attended California State University with intentions of a career in the legal profession. Taking a part-time job at a recording studio, however, Grill decided upon a musical career.

The Grass Roots were the studio creation of Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan. When a recording of "Where Were You When I Needed You" began to get some airplay, the shopping for a real band to front the single began. Barri and Sloan recruited first the Bedouins and then the 13th Floor to play the part. Just as the 13th Floor was about to become the Grass Roots, one of their number was drafted and Rob Grill was tapped as the replacement.

From 1967 to 1972, the Grass Roots were a hit making machine, setting a Billboard record for "chart presence" with 302 consecutive weeks on the singles charts. "Midnight Confessions" was the group's highest charting single--reaching number 5. Other memorable hits included "Let's Live For Today", "Temptation Eyes", "Two Divided By Love", "Sooner Or Later" and "Heaven Knows". A couple of my personal favorites--"The River Is Wide" and "Love Is What You Make It"-- fared less well, though they did chart. What I loved about the Grass Roots was that you could toss on an album of their's and be consistently entertained by great pop tunes--never a clunker or filler imho (at least until the band's 1975 swan song LP).

Ironically, the band's very success played a part in their demise. At the start, the Grass Roots enjoyed popularity with fans of Folk, Rock and Pop. But the group was so popular with fans of the bubblegum dominated Top 40 charts, that it simply became "uncool" for fans of "serious" music to like them. Toss in the beginnings of the disco era and one of the most dominant chart acts of the era suddenly seemed dated and out-of-place.

When the Grass Roots dissolved, Rob released a solo album, 1979's "Uprooted", and then quite literally went fishing.

The oldies revival brought the Grass Roots out of retirement and Rob has spent quite a bit of the last 30 years on the road--the one man who had spanned almost the entire history of the group. Grill suffered from a painful degenerative bone disorder for years and, following the 2008 release of the most recent Grass Roots album, "Live Gold", he removed himself from the regular line-up, although he still made "special appearances" with the group.

The Grass Roots' era fits snugly in that time when few acts were recording Christmas music. They did give a nod to the holiday season in 1971 when they recorded an entry in the Christmas Seals Campaign series; no Christmas songs, but I'd love to hear it if anyone has a copy. The Grass Roots' lone issued Christmas song, so far as I know, is their version of "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" included on the charity collection "20 Christmas Stars, Vol. 3" (which carries a 2001 release date on Amazon). Though I've included it above, it really doesn't capture, in any way, the magic of the band I grew up listening to. And, for that reason, we close with a medley of some of their biggest hits from a 1970 television appearance.

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A DREAMERS CHRISTMAS UPDATE

7/10/2011

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Over the weekend, we got our first peak at the John Zorn Christmas album, "A Dreamer's Christmas" (so I guess this thing is really happening, huh).

Saturday, John Zorn's exclusive album art (and misc.) designer, the lovely and talented Heung-Heung Chin, posted the new cover art (right) and the following descriptive information on her Facebook page:

The biggest surprise of the year is John Zorn’s beautiful Christmas CD. Zorn has hand picked seven of his favorite Christmas songs, penned two lovely originals and they are performed here in classic Dreamers style with plenty of exciting solos, exotic colors and catchy lyricism. Filled with a joyful holiday spirit, innocence, a touch of nostalgia and a charming lyricism, this is music for all ages that will make you smile with delight from the very first notes. As a special treat, vocalist Mike Patton delivers an intimate and heartfelt rendition of Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, making A Dreamers Christmas an instant classic, and an essential CD for any contemporary Christmas celebration.

PICTURE DISC ALSO AVAILABLE ON HI QUALITY LIMITED EDITION VINYL.

Guess we'll have to wait a bit longer for the tracklist and official release date, but I'm guessing we'll see this one sometime in late September or early October.

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BUBLE-ING UP

7/8/2011

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Curious about Michael Buble's upcoming Christmas album? More information is on the way next week from the man himself. Michael will be holding a 30 minute Ustream Q&A next Thursday (July 14) beginning at 3:00 PM EST (Noon Pacific). He'll be answering questions, submitted at his official Facebook page, direct from the studio. And, while the Christmas album isn't expected to be the only topic on the table, Michael will be sharing some details on the project.

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TOINI & THE TOMCATS - CHRISTMAS IN JULY

7/5/2011

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Available on the 2002 digital album from Toini & The Tomcats, "Merry Christmas".

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BEYONCE - GOD BLESS THE USA

7/4/2011

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Beyonce's version of Lee Greenwood's "Proud To Be An American" is available through iTunes. All proceeds benefit the New York Police & Fire Widows' & Children's Benefit Fund. To learn more about the fund, visit Answer The Call.

Happy Independence Day, everybody.

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RUPERT HOLMES - OUR NATIONAL PASTIME

7/2/2011

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Among those who have recently passed, I especially noticed the obituaries of actress Alice Playten a week ago on June 25 and, just yesterday, Ruth Roberts.

Alice Playten was a wonderful actress whose career ran the gamut from starring roles on Broadway to Alka-Seltzer commercials. You might not recognize the name, but you'd almost certainly recognize the voice.

Songwriter Ruth Roberts had her music recorded by artists ranging from Hugo Winterhalter to Dean Martin to the Beatles, but it's likely that her most enduring composition will always be "Meet The Mets", the theme song for a certain major league baseball team I've rooted for all my life.

Toss July 4th into the cocktail and, for whatever reason, I cannot help but think of this song from Rupert Holmes' brilliant 1974 debut album "Widescreen". Heck, it's not even a July 4th tune--the lyric specifically mentions "August rain"--and yet it all seems to fit somehow. I should probably mention that the object of Rupert's desire in "Our National Pastime" is played by none other than Alice Playten. But I'm sure you already knew that.

Rupert has written at least two beautiful Christmas songs, though he never recorded them himself. "You Make It Christmas" appears on albums from The Jets and Gloria Loring. I'm not sure "Christmas Is Waiting" has ever appeared anywhere other than on Ruperts' nineties television project Remember WENN. Both songs were sung by Betty Buckley in the Remember WENN Christmas episode and, though I've never seen a soundtrack album, you can stream them at Rupert's semi-official website.

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HOLIDAY ZORN

7/1/2011

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Avant-garde jazz composer and sax man John Zorn is said to be working on an upcoming Christmas album. We do know that Zorn recently finished a recording session with Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton on "The Christmas Song" (Patton and Zorn have collaborated on many projects in the past, so the pairing is no surprise). The Christmas album, tentatively titled "Christmas" (very clever), was announced as part of the Dreamers series--described by critics as the "pleasantly dark" side of Zorn's repertoire and featuring touches of surf guitar, Latin influence, and electronica. It's also been rumored that Zorn selected only Christmas songs written by Jewish composers (which shouldn't be difficult).

The thing to remember, here, is that Zorn has been rumored to be working on a Christmas record since at least 2001, and the man runs his own record label and does things on his own schedule--often working on multiple projects simultaneously. He's also repeatedly declared that he's through recording at the same time that he's declared another half-dozen or more coming volumes in his Masada group series. So its hard to predict anything Zorn, let alone a release date, with any certainty. Supposedly, though, "Christmas" should be available this year (and, no doubt, on vinyl).

For now, if you're looking for Christmas with that unique Zorn perspective, you'll have to find a copy of the 1987 out-of-print import "Joyeaux Noel". Zorn contributed a fully avant-garde "jazz noir" piece--"Blues Noel"--to that collection. You can find the digital track of "Blues Noel" as part of the "Godard/Spillane" set. You'll have to purchase the entire digital album at Amazon MP3, though the Christmas track can be had a la carte at iTunes.

Looks like we'll be getting a Christmas single this year from British pop divas Leona Lewis and Jessie J. This was originally reported in January as something Jessie wanted to do, and reported again in April as something that was going to happen. But I held off mentioning it until now because, to the Brits, a Christmas record is any record released around Christmas time--regardless of what the song's about. This has been especially true since Simon Cowell's X Factor became the dominant source of UK chart material. But, recently, I came across a piece (didn't bookmark it--sorry) where Jessie was expressing her excitement that the studio had been done up in Winter Wonderland style to set the mood, so it now seems safe to speculate that this Christmas single will actually be a Christmas single.

Leona Lewis was the X Factor champion in 2006. Her biggest hit on this side of the Atlantic was the number one smash "Bleeding Love", which topped the charts in over 30 countries in 2007 and 2008. I've long thought that Lewis could turn in an excellent holiday CD. We won't get that this year, however; Lewis' current project is said to focus on her break-up with Lou Al-Chamaa--it's been described as a "venomous ode"--and is said to be much edgier than her previous work.

Jessie J. was one of the many artists Lewis called upon to help write material for the still untitled break-up album. Jessie J.'s debut album "Who You Are" hit #2 in the UK and #11 in this country earlier this year. Her biggest single on this side of the pond has been "Price Tag", a #1 hit in the UK, which reached #23 here. Jessie says that she admires Lewis' voice and has wanted to duet with her. She adds that, ideally, she'd love to do a Christmas single featuring a super group of female British chart toppers. But, at the moment, it seems the upcoming single will be limited to Leona and Jessie.

For those who haven't tired of the formula and sound, what would Christmas be without a new release from Mannheim Steamroller? While details are scarce, "Christmas Symphony" is said to be an all new release which is set to arrive October 11. And, hey, we've even got preliminary cover art at the right. How cool is that? This year, fans of the Chip Davis creation can also look forward to a Mannheim Steamroller Holiday on Ice special, airing Thanksgiving weekend on NBC.

It would seem that Matthew West has been working up to his first full-length Christmas album for a while now. Just last year, the Contemporary Christian artist released a Christmas Edition of his "Something To Say" CD (the non-holiday version came out in 2008), featuring holiday duets with Amy Grant and Mandisa. As if that wasn't enough tinsel and marzipan for one man in one year, West followed that release with a digital single the following month, "One Last Christmas"--a St. Jude's charity effort. No more dancing around the issue for the Dove Award winning singer/songwriter. "The Heart of Christmas" will be released this October. If you're interested in scouting out a few of the original songs Matthew has written for the album, you'll find lyrics on his blog. Looks like good stuff.

Here's another overseas effort I'm looking forward to. Trine Rein was born in San Francisco but her mother and she moved to Norway when Trine was only about a year old. Following a series of cover bands, when she was in her teens and early twenties, and a stint with the hip hop group WIP, Trine signed with EMI and struck it big as a solo artist. Her 1993 debut, "Finders Keepers", not only sold a staggering 200,000 units in Norway (which translates to one out of every four households there) but more than twice that many in Japan. Several years and hits later, Trine decided she needed to catch her breath. She moved back to the states and took a break from music. In 2004, rested and ready, Trine moved back to Norway and began her comeback. 2010 saw the release of yet another stunning album, "Seeds Of Joy". And she has just announced that she's writing songs for a Christmas album. "YES! There will be a Christmas album!" she says. "When you pass the magic 40, it's ok to throw old principals out the window, like deciding to do something I said I never would!"

There's nothing remotely "foreign" about Rein's sound; her music would sound right at home on American radio. You'll hear lots of R&B influence and at least a touch of country as well. Listening to some of her music, I thought her delivery (not her voice, which is closer to Sheena Easton) was reminiscent of Bobbie Gentry. Or, to put it more precisely, I had the distinct impression that Bobbie Gentry might have a style like this had she been born in the era of American Idol (your mileage may vary).

For the few folks who don't already own Amy Grant's Christmas CDs, EMI is making it easy for you this year--offering up a two-fer of the singer's 1983 "A Christmas Album" and 1999 "A Christmas To Remember". For the time being, you're on your own for Grant's more recent holiday albums. Amy's two-fer set is just one of 6 Christian artist holiday two-fers EMI plans to release in late September. We'll get the titles on our List and track listings on our PREviews page in the very near future.

Three Bridges

Final notes for this piece. Punk Pop rockers Bowling For Soup are working on a number of projects at the moment, among them a new Christmas album. Bowling For Soup dropped the digital delight "Merry Flippin' Christmas" just this past November and apparently enjoyed the experience enough to do an encore. The band doesn't say the new Christmas album will see release this year, but they don't say that it won't, either.

And, while I'm guessing a majority of our visitors are more interested in Bowling For Soup, we try to cover all genres, here. So we've got news of a couple of Southern Gospel groups working on holiday albums. Karen Peck and New River rank near the top of the contemporary Southern Gospel scene after 20 years and nearly 2 dozen albums. Their latest effort, "Reach Out", is available through the group's web site. Expect their Christmas album this fall.

Three Bridges has been together for about half as long as New River, but they already have a nice handful of Southern Gospel awards on their shelves and a decade's worth of solid CDs behind them. Three Bridges' Christmas CD will be their second, having previously released "Christmas" in 2007 (available through the group's web site). Their first Christmas CD was a fairly straight forward Southern Gospel affair, but it sounds like the trio is having fun with this latest effort, tentatively titled "Christmas Must Be Tonight".