"Cheers, It's Christmas" will include duets with Reba McEntyre (also said to be appearing on Meatloaf's holiday album) and with Michael Buble (also said to be appearing on Rod Stewart's Christmas record). Reba and Blake have been friends for a long time, but this will be the first time they've recorded together. Blake and Buble previously teamed up in 2008, when Blake covered the Buble original "Home". For "Cheers, It's Christmas", the pair have reworked the lyrics and arrangement of "Home" to give it a decidedly seasonal flavor.
In a very special touch, Blake will share vocals with his mother, Dorothy Shackleford, on an original song the two wrote together, "Time For Me To Come Home".
The rest of the track list hasn't been announced, but Blake has long maintained he's a fan of the Christmas music he grew up with. "Even the ones I don't know what they mean," he says. "There's one on Anne Murray's Christmas album--'Christmas In Killarney'. I don't even know where in hell Killarney is, but it puts me in the damn Christmas mood. I listen to that one a lot." To help him capture the feeling of the Christmas albums he grew up with, Blake recorded much of the album in the same Capitol studios that once were home to Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, and many of the tracks on "Cheers, It's Christmas" will feature full orchestral accompaniment.
Sounds like a winner. Look for "Cheers, It's Christmas" on October 2.
Such an album was "Santa's Got Mojo". Released on the Canadian Electro-Fi label in 2002, "Santa's Got Mojo" was a nearly perfect collection of soon to be classic Christmas Blues. I can't think of a bad track on this album. In fact, most of the cuts are annual favorites. And Curtis Whiteley's "The Lonely Shepherd" has turned out to be a budding standard (well, as much as any Blues track short of "Merry Christmas Baby" gets to be).
Electro-Fi is celebrating their 15th anniversary this year and their artist roster is even more extensive than it was ten years ago. As a special Anniversary and Christmas treat, Electro-Fi will release "Santa's Still Got Mojo" on October 16. If you're a Blues fan like me, there's no need to wait for more information on this one. Might as well hit the pre-order button now because you just KNOW it's gonna be AMAZING!
For kicks and giggles, though, here's a small sample of the artists on the Electro-Fi label (not saying which ones might be included on the album): Billy Boy Arnold, Snooky Pryor, Kennny Wayne, Sam Myers, Little Mack Simmons, Miss Angel, Mel Brown, Finis Tasby, Sharrie Williams, Andrew Jr. Boy Jones. And that's just the beginning.
As Lord Buckley remarked in the classic "Scrooge", "you can get widd it if you want to." Me? I want to. You know that I do.
This is far from Andres first Christmas outing. Indeed, he's amassed quite the Christmas catalog.
Although his label held back "Home For The Holidays", Andre's Christmas Eve special aired as promised in Europe, featuring the songs from the album. Above is the trailer for the special and, I have to say, they did a hell of a job with it. Ordinarily, I'd have no personal interest in an Andre Rieu album--just not my particular cup of tea is all--but that trailer makes me want the album. In any case, it'll certainly give you something of an idea of what's on the record. CD, DVD, and Blu Ray for "Home For Christmas" will be on the shelves October 30. Check The List for the Amazon pre-order links.
Edie married Ernie in 1954. Ernie died in a car crash in 1962. And Edie passed away in 2008. During her lifetime, Edie never released a Christmas album.
As luck would have it, Edie also saved a good deal of audio, pressing acetates from old kinescopes (don't worry; there won't be any test on this later). From the "how cool is that" department, "The Edie Adams Christmas Album" will be released October 9. The album features all of Edie's surviving holiday recordings from her appearances in the early to mid 50s on the Kovacs Unlimited TV shows. There are even a couple of Ernie and Edie duets! And there will be liner notes from Edie's son, Josh Mills. The album is being issued by Omnivore Records and pre-orders are being taken now.
2. IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME
3. HOUSEHOLD/HOLIDAY BLUES (Ernie & Edie Duet)
4. THE CHRISTMAS SONG (MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU)
5. SILVER BELLS (Ernie & Edie Duet)
6. BLUE CHRISTMAS
7. LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!
8. I WONDER AS I WANDER
9. IT’S A MARSHMALLOW WORLD
10. WHITE CHRISTMAS
11. I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
12. CHRISTMAS IN KILLARNEY
13. HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
14. WINTER WONDERLAND
15. WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEW YEAR’S EVE
The former American Idol contestant and award winning Dream Girl has been talking about a Christmas album since doing her Christmas television special in 2009. But time moves so fast that, by the time each year Jennifer would start to think about a Christmas record, it was already too late. The story goes that Jennifer got the jump on that this year by beginning her recording sessions back in November of 2011.
As of now, I can't confirm the information, but I actually think its pretty solid (I'm sure its buried on her Facebook page or something and you can't find anything on facebook anymore, the way they changed it). And, because we do have Jennifer's 2009 special, we can close today's session with the one song everybody agrees MUST be on a Jennifer Hudson Christmas album..... "O Holy Night".