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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
RSS Feed
