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PENTATONIX, FRANKIE VALLI & TONY HADLEY (AGAIN) OH MY

7/29/2016

TOM CAUFIELD

As we mentioned a few days ago, activity on the Christmas music front is warming up.

First. You know 'em, you love 'em, you don't wanna do Christmas without 'em. Pentatonix revealed Thursday that there will be a new Christmas album from the group later this year. This is getting to be a habit for the a cappella group, winners of the third season of NBC's The Sing Off. In 2012, they released the EP "PTXmas". The Deluxe Edition followed in 2013 with a couple of additional tracks. 2014 saw the release of the holiday full-length "That's Christmas To Me". And, last year, a Deluxe Edition of that one. No details yet, but its coming.

By my count, Pentatonix still has a ways to go to catch up to Elizabeth Chan who announced Monday that her fifth annual Christmas set will be titled "Five Gold Rings" and will be released September 30. Liz also announced she has a single in the offing--her first (and quite possibly her last) non-Christmas song. A native New Yorker, she was approached to write a song to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11. The song is called "Concrete Tears" and you can find a brief sample on her website.

I haven't gotten around to correcting it yet, but our listing for Tom Caufield's "I Heard It Was Christmas Day" shows a November release date and I'm not sure just yet if the date was changed or it's just me being old and confused, but the digital edition of that album will go live on Amazon on September 6. It's one you should really check out. So far, I've only heard the 30 second samples, but I'm sold. I'm really excited to hear this one all the way through. Tom's music could be called a lot of things--New Age, Ambient, Alt Folk... But my guess is most people are just going to call it perfect. Neat story goes along with it, but we'll save that for the review. I do expect there will be CDs of this one.

Frankie Valli's new Christmas album has a title, a release date, AND a track list...but no cover art yet. :^(

"Tis The Seasons" (yeah, I know The Hit Men already played that word game) arrives October 21. Most of the tunes are standards of the season, but "Merry Christmas, Girl" looks like something new. Frankie will also be playing some Broadway dates later this year. Hmm. You think maybe the success of "The Jersey Boys" got Frankie thinking? I mean, why have people portraying Valli when the original item is still available? Just sayin'. Anyway, here's the track list for "Tis The Seasons".

1. Joy to the World/Do You Hear What I Hear (medley)
2. The Christmas Song
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Merry Christmas, Girl
5. Frosty the Snowman
6. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
7. Toyland (Medley)
8. Jingle Bell Rock
9. Blue Christmas
10. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve
11. Let It Snow
12. White Christmas
13. O Come All Ye Faithful/Angels We Have Heard on High (medley)

Do you remember we told you about the Essential Media compilation of relatively obscure sides, "A Strange But Merry Christmas"? Well, you can get hard copy of that one, after all (if you're so inclined). Amazon has it as a CD-R, but CD-R's aren't the crappy home-brew kind of thing they used to be. I mean, for the longest time, I wouldn't even mention CD-Rs, here. And I'm still among the resistant. While they're certainly "no frills", though, I have to admit that CD-Rs have come around a bit. Its also worth noting that, sometimes, when Amazon offers a CD-R, other outlets might have actual CDs (I don't want to get into the weeds too much, but Amazon generally takes a larger cut than some other outlets. For independent artists, that can shrink their margins enough to where it isn't worth it). Anyway, the weird thing is the CD-R is available now (allegedly), but the digital version won't be available until September.

Sara McLachlan says she'll have a new Christmas album coming out this fall. Hard to believe "Wintersong" is a decade old already.

I keep skipping this one because some part of me just can't believe it. And I've been reading these interviews pretty much since last December. Tony Hadley, the former lead singer of Spandau Ballet, says he's got a new Christmas album coming out this year. Yes, another one. Not a misprint. Not an old interview piece that I mistook for a new one (though, yeah, I've done that before). ?????................ Yeah, I know. I mean, damn, dude, you've released solo albums at a rate of one every ten years and then you release new Christmas albums two years in a row? Gotta say, I kind of liked last year's "The Christmas Album". So I guess I'm willing to lend an ear.

And, finally, CCM artist Christy Nockles is planning on releasing her first Christmas album after 20 years of making records. She's going the crowd funding route for the album, although she's not going with Kickstarter or IndieGoGo or GoFundMe or any of the well known platforms. Nope, she's doing this one through her own web site. Smart. Very smart. As with all those other platforms, there are plenty of "incentives" or other items you can buy to help make the record. Well, let's let the lady speak for herself.

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CHRISTMAS IN JULY - NO HALL, JUST OATES

7/25/2016

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Before we get started, I need to mention that Elizabeth Chan, God bless her, has been hard at work on her FIFTH Christmas album. It sounds like she put every bit of herself into this one. And I hope she's proud of herself, because she certainly should be. Hopefully, y'all know who Elizabeth Chan is by now. If not, stop by her web site and read up a bit.

If you ever wondered about the whole "Christmas In July" thing, it's actually a day, not the whole month. Officially, Christmas In July is July 25th. And that is today! Well, Elizabeth is working on her Christmas craft all year long. For her, Christmas In July has a particular importance. It's a bit of a target date for having the songs for her Christmas albums written, recorded and ready to go. And she's got to have some kind of a target date because having the songs ready to go, well, that's only like half of the work she has to do if she's going to get her music out there for Christmas.

Here is the point. Elizabeth Chan will be making some big announcements this evening. It's a live Facebook event. Be there or be square (God, could I sound any more old and decrepit?).

Alright. Things are starting to pick up a bit. The List is beginning to fill out. Before you know it, we'll be shouting "AVALANCHE" (which is really stupid, because a shout like that could start one) and we won't have time to take a breath, let alone chat. So, while there's still time....how ya doin'?

Word has come our way of a new vinyl single due out October 28. It's from one-half of the great 70s duo Hall & Oates. I used to play their albums over and over and over. Ask my college roommate; I don't think he's forgiven me for that yet. John Oates never got the attention Darryl Hall did, but I always liked him (actually preferred his "Jingle Bell Rock" to Darryl's).

Alright, now, I don't have all of the pieces of this puzzle, so I'm trying to fill in the blanks, and, as we know, that doesn't always work out so well. But stick with me for a sec.

Last year, there was an album that got by me from singer/songwriter Steven Davis. "This Is Christmas" featured only one standard, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". The other 11 songs were newly written. And one of those songs was written with John Oates. That song was "Santa Be Good To Me". While the lyrics were thoroughly modern, the music was clearly the stuff of Swing bands. John also plays on the track.

It appears that John decided to take his own--pardon me--swing at the thing. Or, at least, he's told interviewers that he's recording a song called "Santa Be Good" and that single is available for pre-order from Elusive Disc. To back him on the single, John got ahold of the Time Jumpers, a band that specializes in Country Swing and includes several people you might be familiar with, like Vince Gill and Kenny Sears. So now we've got a Blue-Eyed Soul/Pop/Rock artist playing and singing a Swing Jazz number with a Country Swing backing group. Yeah, you can count me in for that.

While we don't have sound for John's single, I don't see any reason not to play the Swing version from Steven Davis, do you? Incidentally, Steven did cut a few holiday standards that are not included on "This Is Christmas". You can download "Let It Snow" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" FREE from Soundcloud (while it lasts). First, though, Steven Davis featuring John Oates and "Santa Be Good To Me".

Now, truthfully, when I'm doing these sorts of things, I feel compelled to lead off with a name artist. I want to introduce people to some artists they might not be familiar with, so you've got to offer a way to draw folks in a bit by starting with someone who is familiar to just about anybody. Someone who will make people say, "Hey, I know that guy. My damn college roommate used to play those records non-stop, the bastid."

But I really wanted to start with this one. For two reasons. One, it just came out (July 24) and, Two, it made me smile.

"A Joyful Nativity" is some, pardon my French, kick-ass Gospel. It's an original Christmas Cantata written by Jay DeVaughn and sung by Jabez, a Gospel choir featuring some truly gifted soloists. The project is/was funded through GoFundMe. The plan was to press 1000 CDs and accompanying song books. And I suspect, with God's help, there will be CDs available at some point. But even if there end up being no hard copy CDs, I'm happy to hear this joyous sound in any format, and we know the digital version is available from Amazon. "A Joyful Nativity" alternates between the music and a narrative that ties it all together. And, OK, not every holiday mix is narrative friendly, but every holiday mix should have room for a bit of kick-ass Gospel.

Please check out the samples on Amazon, but we do have what I believe is a rehearsal of "Born In Bethlehem" and, man, if this doesn't reach down into your soul and pull you up to heaven, you might want to check your pulse to make sure you're still with us. This is awesomey awesomeness and I love it. As noted above, the digital download of "A Joyful Nativity" is already available.

1. JOY (ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH)
2. Narrative: The Annunciation
3. THERE IS NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD
4. Narrative: Mary's Acceptance
5. BEHOLD THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD
6. Narrative: Salutations Between Mary and Elizabeth
7. MY SOUL DOTH MAGNIFY THE LORD
8. Narrative: The Journey & The Birth of Our Saviour
9. BORN IN BETHLEHEM
10. Narrative: The Angels and The Shepherds
11. GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST
12. Narrative: The Search of The Magi
13. WE SEEK THE CHRIST
14. Narrative: For Unto Us/Rejoice
15. REJOICE AMAZON MP3
16. OH WHAT A MYSTERY GOFUNDME PAGE

While we don't have a lot of the details, yet, we don't need too many to be looking forward to the September 9 release of "Christmastime In New Orleans" by the NOLA Players. The NOLA Players are 18 of the finest Jazz and Classical musicians from the Crescent City and "Christmastime In New Orleans" is their Christmas Card to that legendary homestead. To date, the names of the individual musicians have not been officially unveiled. But there's certainly a huge pool of talent to draw from. We know the record is on the new AimHigher imprint, which is a Verve label, and Verve has always been a quality label. We don't know what songs will be included, but we know there will be 14 tracks featuring new arrangements generously seasoned with Zatarains. And we expect we'll learn plenty more as the days dwindle down to a precious few. Keep your eyes on Facebook and the NOLA Players web site. Pre-order is available through Amazon.

This year is going to feature a virtual feast of Country Christmas releases. And, this week, we learned of one more. Reba McEntire has recorded the third Christmas album of her long and storied career which she'll be releasing exclusively through Cracker Barrel on September 2. "My Kind of Christmas" follows 1987's "Merry Christmas To You" and 1999's "The Secret of Giving". The album is also part of the launch of a much larger association between Reba and Cracker Barrel, as the country store will soon be selling a line of clothes, jewelry, toys, home decor and more bearing Reba's imprint. Reba says the western flavored line is very personal to her and is based upon her taste and lifestyle. "My Kinda Christmas" features 11 newly recorded tracks--mostly standards of the season with the most recently composed being "Hard Candy Christmas". Never been a big Country fan, myself, but I always liked Reba. Just sayin'.

1. Winter Wonderland
2. The Christmas Song
3. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
4. O Holy Night
5. Hard Candy Christmas
6. O Come All Ye Faithful
7. Jingle Bell Rock
8. Silent Night
9. White Christmas
10. Jingle Bells
11. I’ll Be Home for Christmas

NOT THE FINAL ARTWORK

Sometimes I'm amazed at all that I don't know. Seriously. As we move into the season of crowd funding for Christmas albums, Jj Heller shows up in my in box. She's been recording since 2003, at least, and I've never heard of her. It's not a genre thing; I'm fairly open, as you know. But the world of current music that exists beyond the holidays is largely foreign to me.

For those who, like me, are unfamiliar with Jj Heller, she's a CCM artist whose early work was largely Folk, but whose more recent albums have tended towards Pop and even Alt Rock. For my head, I prefer the more recent Jj. But that's just me.

Watching Jj Heller's Kickstarter video for her upcoming "Unto Us" Christmas album reminded me of the "Mary Tyler Moore" pilot where Lou Grant says, "You know what? You've got spunk." Mary blushes a little bit and says, "Well..." and Lou comes back with "I hate spunk!" Me, I don't hate spunk at all; I just like to smile. Jj seems very perky and bright and that makes me smile on yet another 100 degree day here in the south. For "Unto Us", Jj says she sought inspiration from her favorite seasonal albums (such as "A Charlie Brown Christmas", the soundtrack from "White Christmas", and more recent albums from Amy Grant and Sara McLachlan). She's recorded with a youth choir and an 18 piece string orchestra so, all together, it sounds like her album will have a familiar, traditional, chestnuts roasting on an open fire kinda feeling.

As with all Kickstarter campaigns, if Jj falls short of her goal, she'll get nothing. And there are all kinds of incentives for those who want to do more than (essentially) pre-ordering the album. With just over 3 weeks to go, it looked to me like she was well on her way to reaching her goal. Then again, if she raises more, she can do more. And if you need just one more gentle nudge, Jj has promised to donate a copy of her album of lullabies, "I Dream Of You", to a hospital for every $15 raised (targeting children's hospitals, it sounds like).

Head to Kickstarter, watch the video, read the write-up and pledge, if you're so inclined.

As a Christian artist, it should be no surprise that Jj Heller has previously recorded a seasonal song or two (or three). "The Perfect Gift" was released in 2014 and it's available from Amazon and iTunes (and, I'm sure, at other digital outlets).

DANIEL RADCLIFFE (aka HARRY POTTER)

Two minute warning time. The Australian Swing band In Full Swing has set November 26 as the release date for their first Christmas full-length, "Let It Swing! Let It Swing! Let It Swing!" There's also an Ohio based band called In Full Swing, so keep that in mind when you google. Not sure if the record will reach America's shores this Christmas (though I see no reason why the digital wouldn't). On The List, we're just linking to the group's web store. To get a taste of In Full Swing, check the Amazon samples of their last release, "Well Swung".

Friday Music has released word of their first holiday release of 2016. Friday Music has re-issued some interesting Christmas music over the past several years--some on vinyl and some on CD. This one is a CD two-fer of B.J. Thomas recordings from the 80s. There's the Christmas album, "All Is Calm, All Is Bright", and they've paired that with "Love Shines". The latter was a Gospel set--not Christmassy at all, BUT..."Love Shines" has never been issued on CD before, so its of interest in that regard. They've both been remastered and the release is touted as "Limited Edition". Release is scheduled for September 16 and you can pre-order through Amazon.

There's also an overseas listing for "A Broadway Christmas" by Daniel Radcliffe. You might know him better as Harry Potter, but he's been doing an awful lot of Broadway since those movies ended. No details are given (not even a release date) and not only could I not find anything else about it, I couldn't even find another listing. So I'm not including it on The List as yet. Really need to see more than one listing at the very least (and this one was Japanese, so I can't even swear to the translation). Anyway, just be alert, if you're interested in Harry Potter singing Christmas show tunes. I will say, you have to give the man credit for covering Tom Lehrer's "Christmas Carol" a few years back. Although it pales in comparison to the original, you can find/purchase the Radcliffe version here.

It's getting late again (or early...I'm never sure which it is), so let's wrap this puppy (even though I know that, an hour from now, some major artist will release their Christmas album press release). A cappella music has been very popular in recent years and this comedy group from Canada has been at it longer than that. And, I don't know, maybe the missing ingredient in a stew of comedy/parody and a cappella is beer. Lots and lots of beer. That said, Apocalypse Kow is popular north of the border and folks are especially fond of their annual Christmas shows. Their annual Apocalypse Kow Kristmas Kabaret has raised lots of money for worthy charities. So keep that in mind.

Anyway, they're finally getting around to recording a Christmas album. They've turned their weary eyes to crowd funding to finance the CD (as yet untitled). I hope they raise enough to put together a professional video, too. I know the kinds of places their live videos are recorded in and the acoustics of such places do them no favors. Just sayin'. Getting back on track, Apocalypse Kow is raising money through Indiegogo. Unlike Kickstarter, with Indiegogo, the band gets whatever is pledged regardless of whether or not they reach their goal. But they do promise that all money raised through this campaign will go towards the Christmas album, even if they fall short and have to delay the record for a month or two (the plan is for a December release). As with Kickstarter, there are different levels of support and different incentives for those different levels.

Since Apocalypse Kow has been performing Christmas shows for years, there's no shortage of material for them to pick from. On the Indiegogo page is a song called "Gifts" (a parody of George Michael's "Faith"). But, even though this one is only Christmas in the middle, it's the one I liked so "Jessie's Girl" is the one you get. Later, peeps.

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FREE CHRISTMAS MUSIC: CòIG - CAROLS

7/18/2016

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Stream or download "Carols" by Còig, FREE! Details inside!

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THE FEELIN' COMING BACK 'ROUND

7/17/2016

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It's still kinda quiet on the Christmas music front. But just when I was about to say there's nothing new I've learned of recently that has me counting down the days, I stumbled upon Circa Blue. Ostensibly a Bluegrass band (though you could call it Folk, or you could call it Country, or you could call it Americana....but you doesn't has to call it Johnson. OK, obscure Bill Saluga reference that nobody under the age of 60 will get. Sorry.), I did what I always do and went in search of earlier music from the band. My guess would be that we don't have much of a Bluegrass following at Stubbys. But just start that video overhead while I talk on it a bit. BTW, "Rain & Snow" is from Circa Blue's most recent release, "Once Upon A Time".

The thing is Bluegrass was one of the most difficult genres for me to acclimate to. I was lucky, though. I had a friend at a radio station I worked at who not only had encyclopedic knowledge of the subject, he was also in a Bluegrass group, Late Nite Garage. Just one album that I know of, locally released in New Jersey, but one I have always thoroughly enjoyed. There's one track on YouTube, but its instrumental, so you don't get to hear the beautiful harmonies which are what I loved about the record, and you can usually find a copy or two on eBay. Anyway, Tom helped open my mind and my ears, gave me a teeny tiny bit of his knowledge but, sadly, none of his taste. So I've pretty much been reduced to, "I don't know Bluegrass, but I know what I like." And I like Circa Blue. In fact Circa Blue is very much in the sweet spot of the Bluegrass sound I like. Can't explain it, but I know it when I hear it. And I also like groups that will lay the very traditional Bluegrass standards right next to a cover of a Pop hit or Rock song, which Circa Blue go do, too.

Their as yet untitled Christmas album is part of an ongoing project/promotional exercise from National Media Services, a full-service studio in northern Virginia. Every year, NMS picks a band that has previously used their studio or other services and gives them the studio time to record a Christmas album. If you've even danced around the fringes of the music world, you know how precious and wonderful free studio time can be. The group still has to pay to have the CDs made up (which NMS does in-house), but pricing is competitive and the band can order relatively small quantities to sell at their shows or whatever (some CD manufacturers make bands buy more than they could possibly sell, but not NMS).

Circa Blue chose some traditional favorites, wrote some new tunes, and picked a handful of tunes from contemporary songwriters. Dawn Kenney is one of those folks in the latter category and she'll be a guest vocalist on the record and is set to accompany the band on a brief holiday tour later this year. The CD should be coming out October 1, but might not be immediately available online. We'll let you know when and where it is.

Did we mention Country artist Chris Young? He's been pretty much on fire since 2009's "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)" and I thought he did a nice job on "Rainy Night In Georgia", but there is an awful lot of Country Christmas music coming this year, so I can't say I'm overly up for still more country. Well, he's pretty excited about putting out a Christmas album this year, and that's a good sign.

Among the bucket listers, the band Exile has a new Christmas album. I've always gotta check these notices because things are never clearly laid out. But, anyway, although the band has been promoting "Wrapped Up In Your Arms For Christmas" in recent interviews as though they just finished recording it, it looks as though it was actually released through their web site last December. So lets just say it'll be getting the wide release treatment this year. If you're as old as I am, you remember Exile as a Rock band who had the huge hit "Kiss You All Over" in the 70s. After the lead vocalist left, they transitioned into Country and Southern Rock. I'd swear I have a holiday 45 from them somewhere, but I could be imagining that. Nope, I was right ("Happy Birthday, Jesus" from 1991). Anyway..."Wrapped Up In Your Arms This Christmas" by Exile. It's out there.

Canadian Country singer Jimmy Rankin is in the planning stages of a Christmas album with his sisters, Cookie and Heather. That one won't be dropping until 2017.

And, just to break out of this Country scene a tiny bit, Metalcore band August Burns Red confirms that they'll be continuing their annual Christmas single tradition, with this year's already written and ready for the studio. At the same time, another full-length Christmas album seems unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Now THIS excites me!

At the risk of ticking some of y'all off, I deliberately did not put a couple of long-awaited long out-of-print loved-by-those-who-own-them-and-sought-by-those-who-don't re-issues on our List last year. But I had my reasons. Last year, they were available as digital downloads only. But I knew (and I think I even mentioned in one of our Coming Attractions pieces) that there were going to be hard copy vinyl re-issues of these masterpieces. And, quite frankly, it irks me sometimes to drop a tenner on a digital and then have to come back and buy again what I already bought because now it's in hard copy. So I kept my big mouth shut. No double billing on my account. But the time has come. Feel free to grab the digital from the usual suspects if that's your pref, but the rest of us are gonna settle in for the full vinyl experience.

Oh, man, what treasures!

Now, that's from an old vinyl rip. I'm told the sound on the digital was exceptional.

Ordinarily, Christmas releases are recorded well in advance (for obvious reasons), but that was not the case with the two "Holiday Soul" albums, one from Don Patterson and the other by Bobby Timmons. Both were recorded at the end of November 1964 and released that December on the Prestige label. That gives the records a fresh crispness that you might not get if they'd spent months working up the charts. The basic melodies remain intact, but they left themselves plenty of room to move, to stretch, to improvise, to have fun. A few tracks from the two sets have made their way onto a compilation or two, but the full albums have not been reissued in any format since the original 1964 release (not counting last year's digital release).

Both Timmons and Patterson were pioneers of the Soul Jazz sound that they helped create but which would be popularized by others. They were both under 30 at the time, though Timmons had been working for more than a decade by then, For Patterson, it was one of his first album releases. The records took a while to catch on. Patterson's "Holiday Soul", for example, peaked at #85 on the album charts...in 1967. It was the most successful album of his career. Both Bobby Timmons and Don Patterson struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. Timmons was just 38 when he died of cirrhosis in 1974. Patterson, I believe, did get clean, but that kind of damage just doesn't go away and he died in 1988 at the age of 51. Both men were brilliant and under appreciated and the "Holiday Soul" records are wonderful works recorded before the alcohol and drugs took hold.

The "Holiday Soul" albums are perfect seasonal discs for almost any occasion. They have enough warmth to serve as background and the musicianship to stand up to (and amaze in) any more critical, more attentive, foreground listen.

Originally announced last year by Universal (who will handle distribution), the vinyl re-issues stand ready to arrive on September 2. You can pre-order Don Patterson's through Amazon or Elusive Disc or wherever you go for your vinyl. Bobby Timmons' set can be pre-ordered here or here. We fully expect the albums to be released with their original cover art, labels, etc. There are no announced plans for a CD release, but you never know.

Diana Krall released "Christmas Songs" in 2005 and it topped both the Jazz and Holiday charts that year, peaking at #17 on the Top 200 album charts. It was her first album recorded with a full orchestra and it was every bit as stunningly beautiful as you would expect. If I recall correctly (and who knows; these days my brain looks like something from "Hoarders"), even the CDs were hard to find that year. But the vinyl was limited and almost impossible to find. At some point, there was an audiophile version (released in red vinyl and white vinyl) which was, likewise, very limited and impossible to find. Back in 2013, another reissue of the vinyl (standard black, as I recall, but 200gm weight). And the thing is it's STILL tough to score the record on any sort of vinyl unless you're willing to pony up some big bucks (and my pockets just ain't all that deep these days).

Since "Christmas Songs" remains a perennial favorite of the season, I can't imagine this will be the last re-issue but, then again, it's hard to say how long this "back to vinyl" movement will last. The vinyl re-issue of Diana Krall's gem shows a release date of October 14. It looks to be your basic LP re-issue from Verve--standard weight black vinyl--but there have been folks looking for just that for over a decade. Here's your shot. Make it count. Pre-order through Amazon, Elusive Disc, or wherever fine records are sold.

Also on the sorta kinda "re-issue" front is a new collection from Essential Media. Essential Media, based in Florida, is an interesting company. Their business model, it always seemed to me, was like just buy up the rights of anything that's cheap. Yeah, there's probably a lot more to it than that, and they make a lot of their money leasing music to movies and TV, but that's just how it always seemed to me. The thing is there is a ton of music out there, the rights of which can be had for cheap, that is really really good--especially in the off-genres like Jazz and Blues and Reggae, etc. They likely wouldn't sell well enough for a major label to bother with, but there is a solid core of collectors who would seek out and buy such obscurities from unknown artists and tiny labels. Heck, that's some of the best Christmas music out there...stuff your family and friends have never heard. So E.M. buys the stuff outright for cheap, does a lot of mixing and matching, and some of the resulting collections might not draw fans of the current hits. But folks like us? Yeah, it can be the coolest thing ever. When they offer up digital collections, there's not a whole lot of overhead (obviously) and those that sell comparatively well they'll make available on CD or CD-R (with today's technology, those are better quality and cheaper to make than even 10 years ago).

The new collection from Essential Media making its digital debut September 2 is "A Strange But Merry Christmas". As I've been collecting since the late 60s and early 70s, I've got a lot of these songs already (mostly on vinyl 45s), but there are a few that are even new to me. And it's a pretty interesting group of festive tuneage. You've got the awesome Blues of King Coleman's "Blue Grey Christmas" and Johnny Winter's "Please Come Home For Christmas", a country tear-jerker from Slim Pickens ("Christmas In November"), teen Pop and Soul from Jimmy Charles and Milt Patrick, a disco "White Christmas" from Back to Back, and a novelty (and not the one everybody knows) from 2 Live Jews. Is there any Christmas collector who hasn't been delighted by their first listen to "Hawaiian Santa" by the Surfers? And, while everyone knows "Be Bop Santa" by Babs Gonzalez, you could spend a lifetime tracking down all of his variations on that theme, like this collection's "Teenage Santa Claus". Ordinarily, I'd check Essential Media to see if there's a CD available, but their site is undergoing a makeover or something. And Essential has offered a lot of these cuts as digital singles before. But the digital release of "A Strange But Merry Christmas" will run you $8.99 for 20 deliciously obscure holiday tracks. Not too shabby.

And, finally, James Taylor. No, that's it. I just always wanted to say "And, finally, James Taylor."

Oh, alright. I'd like to be able to say that I've never seen an artist get so much mileage out of a Christmas album, but I can't because no one could hope to get the mileage Phil Spector and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" have gotten. I do think its had more lives than Mrs. Katz (not her real name) and, considering how many times I've called for last rites, that's saying something. "James Taylor At Christmas" started life as a 2004 Hallmark CD titled "A Christmas Album". In 2006, Columbia released "James Taylor At Christmas", which included most of the songs from the Hallmark CD, though not "Deck The Halls", and a couple of extra tracks. Barnes & Noble released the album with "Deck The Halls" as an exclusive bonus track. In 2012, "James Taylor At Christmas" was released again, this time with 2 more tracks (but still no "Deck The Halls"). But in all this time, the album has never been released on vinyl. Well that changes this year as a vinyl "James Taylor At Christmas" will be exclusively available from Barnes & Noble. We don't have the details yet, but the price point and all the earlier versions leave me curious as to the eventual track list and whether the vinyl will be collector's grade. I mean, it would be really cool if they got all of the Christmas tracks in one place at last (doncha think). Truthfully, I expect it will mirror the 2006 Columbia release, but I'm still curious. In any case, the JT vinyl arrives September 23.

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HARKIN, HERALD ANGELS SING

7/5/2016

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Megan Hilty

Ouch. Worst pun ever. My apologies

The Rolling Stones were right, you know...."what a drag it is gettin' old." You know how I like to put together a whole bunch of "coming attractions" in one post. And I'd lined up a few for you--some you already know about and others you don't. Frankie Valli's working on a Christmas album. Had I told you that already? I passed on mentioning Megan Hilty before because, well, Broadway folks do that "Carols For A Cure" album every year and I just assumed she was recording for that. But, no, it looks like she's doing a full Christmas album. Look, she's got her Christmas sweater on and everything. And thank goodness the Lord gave us ears because Jason & Denise do not look like an act I'd be interested in but, man, they make some sweet music (Kickstarter drive with just about 2 weeks left, so get over there).

But my butt is draggin', yo. And I've been having some dizzy spells lately...which is a little weird, a little funky, and all kinds of scary. So I'm just going to focus on one coming attraction and then crawl off to bed.

If you're a fan of Celtic Thunder, you already know the name Keith Harkin (that's Keith above, with Celtic Thunder, taking the lead on Mariah's classic). Harkin has been writing, recording and touring with Celtic Thunder for the past decade. But, before that, he was a solo artist (he began performing professionally at the age of 4). Even while with Celtic Thunder, Keith released 2 solo albums, including his latest "On Mercy Street".

Keith is taking a bit of a breather from Celtic Thunder to see how well he can do if he devotes his full attention to music that's entirely his own. And, yep, one of the first things on his agenda is a Christmas album which will be released this fall. Keith describes it as "an acoustic orchestral Christmas album". Naturally, there will be a tour to go along with the album, although we don't have the full line-up of cities as yet (we do know he'll be in Kansas City for the Irish Fest at the beginning of September). Born in Ireland, Keith's solo music is pop oriented (think Kenny Loggins, Dan Fogelberg or Jack Johnson), but he seems quite adept at shifting between multiple music styles, he can definitely rock out when he wants to, and there's always that Emerald Isle seasoning shining through. And, as Keith just got married on Saturday (July 2), you can expect his Christmas album to be filled to overflowing with genuine joy. Keep an eye on Facebook and/or Keith's official web site for future updates on the project.

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