It’s Christmas Eve, so here’s a little Christmas cheer for all y’all. Have a wonderful holiday!
christmas
Sketch a Day, Day 20
Late post. I’m sorry. We had a tacky Christmas sweater party. Things were fun. Anyway, here’s a picture with a dude wrapped in Christmas lights, because why not.
Beatles Bonanza!
Because I’m an individual with limited impulse control, I tend to unwrap the Christmas presents from my family (who live halfway across the country) as soon as they arrive. And man was there some awesome stuff this year!
It seems it was the Year I Got Beatles Stuff. My grandmother gave me a rather nifty Beatles wall calendar. Mom got me a Beatles Christmas ornament and an Eskimo Joe’s t-shirt with a Beatles theme (Joe, his dog, a polar bear, and a moose crossing…well, not Abbey Road, actually, but the street in front of Eskimo Joe’s, which is pretty clever, really). And, the coup de gras, the Beatles Box Set: all thirteen original albums (well, Magical Mystery Tour is American version of the record rather than the British because the British version was just an EP of a half dozen songs and the American version has been the standard since the Beatles catalog was issued on CD back in 1987) plus the two Past Masters discs (non-album singles…mmm, non-album singles). And holy crap, does this stuff sound good.
I know a lot of people (myself included) have been clamoring for a remastered edition of the Beatles albums for the past ten or fifteen years (I mean, the original CD issues were from ’87, when CD remastering was still in its infancy, and the sound quality on those original CDs, while not bad, is pretty weak sauce compared to the technological improvements that’ve been made since. I mean, listen to the remastered Dylan or Van Morrison or Elvis Costello stuff to see what a difference it can make). Let me tell you, the wait was worth it. The only better way to hear these albums now is to bust out the vinyl. I’m really excited to use my new Bose headphones to give these a close listen, because even through my laptop speakers these songs sound amazing.
Christmas Playlist
With it finally being after Thanksgiving, I feel more comfortable with the idea of listening to Christmas music now (it concerns me that they start the Christmas stuff – music and decorations and whatnot – the day after Halloween now). To that end, I’ve put together a playlist of my favorite holiday tunes.
1. The Royal Guardsmen, “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron”: not a holiday song per se, but I had this Christmas tape growing up that had a whole series of songs about the conflict between the German World War I flying ace and everyone’s favorite cartoon dog, so I’ve always associated the song with Christmas.
2. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (Live)”: growing up in a household devoted to ye ole Classic Rock, this song was always something of a Christmas gimme.
3. Barenaked Ladies, “Green Christmas”: even if it came from that atrocious Grinch remake, the song itself is pretty good and a nice encapsulation of the Grinch story. And funny, to boot.
4. Bing Crosby, “White Christmas”: isn’t this just sort of a no-brainer when it comes to Christmas? I mean, the holiday season without this song isn’t the holiday season, really.
5. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Christmas All Over Again”: doesn’t really do anything that Petty and the Heartbreakers don’t do on pretty much every song they’ve ever released, but when your sound is that good, it doesn’t have to. Lyrics are a little goofy, but there’s a lively tempo, a sense of warmth and humor, and Petty gives us his Christmas list at the end (surprisingly devoid of illicit drugs, even).
6. The Eagles, “Please Come Home for Christmas”: using an R&B-style rhythm for a Christmas song is pretty clever, actually.
7. Vince Guaraldi Trio, “Linus and Lucy”: even though the song wasn’t written specifically for the Charlie Brown Christmas special, it’s sort of synonymous with that particular special and just way too much fun not to include.
8. Death Cab for Cutie, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”: I’m allowed at least a couple of random indie songs on the list, right?
9. Dean Martin, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”: not as ubiquitous as the Bing Crosby number, but it still ranks up there as one of the all-time greats.
10. Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlin, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings”: what’s probably must surprising about this track is just how bouncy it is. This tune swings, baby!
11. Burl Ives, “A Holly Jolly Christmas”: Burl Ives is pretty synonymous with Christmas, y’know? Not having a Burl Ives song on here would’ve been a crime.
12. Over the Rhine, “All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue”: an indie Americana tune that’s mellow and sad. Very pretty.
13. Bob Dylan, “Must Be Santa”: zydeco Dylan Christmas song? How could this not be pure, distilled awesome?
14. Thurle Ravenscroft, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”: another of those classic Christmas cartoon specials comes through with a fantastic, witty song about the humbuggiest of them all.
15. Frank Sinatra, “Mistletoe and Holly”: man, those old crooners really did some great Christmas songs, didn’t they?
16. Jack White, “Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over”: a folk blues Christmas song from the Cold Mountain soundtrack (Jack White’s involvement in the soundtrack was the best thing about that film).
17. John Lennon, “Happy Christmas (War is Over)”: another of those classic rock Christmas songs that we heard every year at the ol’ homestead. The anti-war message is as relevant today as ever, sadly.
18. Bing Crosby & David Bowie, “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth”: has there ever been a stranger duet? I think not.
19. Neko Case, “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis”: again, not one of those songs that’s really about the holidays, but it’s such a great cover of a Tom Waits tune and the title does have Christmas in it.
20. Paul McCartney, “Wonderful Christmastime”: the most saccharine song on the list, but not horrible for all that.
Sketches From Memory 