Swinging Holiday Tunes
December 3, 2010 2:32 PM   Subscribe

Sure, soon the sound of one more holiday song will make your ears bleed, but it’s early in the season, which makes it a great time to enjoy some classic renditions. And what could be better for the songs of the season than the Hammond B-3: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Jimmy Smith) , Greensleeves (Jimmy Smith) , Baby Its Cold Outside (Jimmy Smith with Wes Montgomery) , Santa Clause is Coming to Town / White Christmas (Jimmy McGriff) , I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause (Jimmy McGriff) , Sleigh Ride / Jingle Bells (Al Caiola, Riz Ortolani & Jimmy McGriff) and my favorite Silent Night (Jimmy Smith)
posted by TheShadowKnows (26 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
but it’s early in the season, which makes it a great time to enjoy some classic renditions

You are a liar, sir or madam, and my seconds shall call upon you at the earliest opportunity. We must settle this affair of honor on the dueling field!

Right now, I don't want to hear another goddamned Christmas song ever, even if it was written by zombie Cole Porter and features a super-hot piano solo by zombie Thelonious Monk, with Jesus Christ himself sitting in on bass.
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:36 PM on December 3, 2010 [9 favorites]


with Jesus Christ himself sitting in on bass.
Funny, I always had him pegged as woodwinds, or maybe the hammered dulcimer.
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 2:44 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]


Is this a good time for Jingle Rock Bell ? Is there a bad time?
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 2:48 PM on December 3, 2010


What's better than two roses on your piano? Tulips on your organ. Thank you ... I'll be here all week. Try the veal.
posted by punkfloyd at 2:49 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


> with Jesus Christ himself sitting in on bass.

posted by Sidhedevil at 5:36 PM on December 3


Eponysterical. But I'm on your side. I heard [THE FUCKING GODDAMN CHRISTMAS SONG THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED] for the first time this season during my lunch break and it almost ruined my day.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:50 PM on December 3, 2010


Awesome! Thanks for pulling those together.

I dunno about swinging, but I also really loved Talkbox Christmas. In fact I just purchased that album this morning...pure Christmas funk for 1.99 is pretty awesome.
posted by circular at 2:51 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


I hate seasonal music. I like anything with a B3. I have cognitive dissonance now.
posted by ovvl at 2:55 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


Great stuff. This will go well with my current holiday collection, which includes bluegrass, tiajuana brass, New Orleans R&B, and chiptunes. Indeed, I test my relationship with my s/o every year this way.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:58 PM on December 3, 2010


You guys just don't know how to use Christmas Music. What kind of raging, screaming dragged-away-by-security mall breakdown is complete without some Bing Crosby in the background?
posted by The Whelk at 3:04 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]


It's telling that amongst people who know it, the Worst Christmas Song Ever In All Of Existance is almost universally agreed to be "Dominik the Donkey".

I have been known to lunge at car radios screaming to change the dial when it comes on.

Once I changed stations (new york city: 100.3 to 95.5) and BOTH stations were playing it. It was 7:30 AM so I couldn't put on 92.3 or I'd have to deal with Asshole McGillicutty (who is now on satellite and can stay there), and ended up putting on the classical station. Which did not, thank all that exists, put on an orchestral version of the song, or I would have had to gone into physics, created antimatter, and ended the world before aliens heard the song, got here, and did it for us.
posted by mephron at 3:08 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]


...and you know, I think The Whelk just won this thread.
posted by mephron at 3:08 PM on December 3, 2010


I was 32 when I first heard Dominick The Donkey. It was like a breath of faux-Christmas scented air after a lifetime of Snoopy's Christmas and I still don't mind it 3 years later.

Also, whats with the Hammond B-3 and guys called Jimmy?
posted by Foaf at 3:15 PM on December 3, 2010


Forget that. Try A Very Scary Solstice by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, if you want holiday songs based on (previously swiped) familiar melodies.

"The Shoggoth Song" is fun for the kids, and I'm fond of "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Fish-Men"
posted by FormlessOne at 3:38 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]


I had never heard Dominick the Donkey until today. I'm now sorry I ever woke up.
posted by orme at 3:40 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'd rather hear "Dominick the Donkey" than "Christmas Shoes."
posted by candyland at 4:38 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


Unless it's the title of a Tim Allen movie, Santa Claus doesn't have an E on the end.
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:49 PM on December 3, 2010


Or you could just stream the Christmas Lounge.
posted by peppito at 5:32 PM on December 3, 2010


Christmas music and organ = Lucien Hétu. Nothing evokes all the best parts of Christmas for me -- the aluminum tree that slices your fingers every year when you assemble and decorate it on December 1, the rotating series of coloured lights thrown on the tree by a lamp hot enough to glaze pottery, the generous servings of rosé wine for all the kids at dinner -- like the deeply sincere keyboard stylings of Monsieur H.

Sadly, I can't find any of his Christmas music online, but his cover of Lindbergh will give you an idea of his greatness. (Background on Charlebois and Lindbergh with links to various mp3s at the bottom of the page. Direct link to the mp3.)
posted by maudlin at 5:36 PM on December 3, 2010


I saw all those Jimmys and I figured it had to be this heartbreakingly demented rendition of White Christmas.
posted by Beardman at 5:48 PM on December 3, 2010


Yes, I think "Christmas Shoes" is the worst. Because who wants to celebrate the birth of a Messiah who's snooty about footwear? Also, the point-of-view character is clearly a pedophile. COME ON YOU ALL THOUGHT IT.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:57 PM on December 3, 2010




I actually saw an increase in that song last year so I predict 2010 to be The Year For Socially Progressive Holiday Songs in these Americas
posted by The Whelk at 6:01 PM on December 3, 2010


These are the only Christmas albums allowed in my house for many years now - and only on VERY limited rotation at that (though the Jimmy McGriff links in the OP may induce me to add an album or two). I have been known to pitch quite the bitch over too much Christmas music.
Yule Struttin' - A Blue Note Christmas - Dexter Gordon
Diana Krall - Christmas Songs - The Christmas Song
Vince Gueraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas - Christmas Time Is Here
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:16 PM on December 3, 2010


While you've got Jimmy "The Black Cat" Smith, and sleighbells on the brain may I recommend:
Walk on the Wild Side; slow and then fast.
posted by thusspakeparanoia at 6:53 PM on December 3, 2010


Thanks to the magic bubble of graduate school I've not heard a single Christmas song yet... thanks for sharing these!
posted by Zalzidrax at 8:12 PM on December 3, 2010


I'm pretty fond of "Merry Christmas From the Family", by Robert Earl Keene.
posted by steambadger at 6:42 PM on December 11, 2010


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