It is indeed Christmas, if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t keep up with that kind of thing. Chances are, whatever your Christmas plans are you’re probably already doing them, and I certainly hope they’re going well and you find that today is a pleasant day. Do take care, now, to make sure you’re listening to good music. Personally, I’m not a fan of Christmas Music in general; it can be schmaltzy and saccharine-sweet and I’m just not a fan. In my family we go jazz or maybe a little Handel’s Messiah. Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown piano music. The classics.
Well, come to think of it there is one Christmas album we keep going back to. I referenced it in an earlier post, and it’s topical so I’m going to mention it again: James Brown’s ‘Funky Christmas’. God it’s good. It really does feel like James didn’t know any Christmas songs going into the project, so he dashed out a few dozen of them and recorded them in one take. And he kills. It is basically James Brown masturbating into a Santa hat and it’s the critical ingredient for any truly merry Christmas. That and boxed wine.
Special bonus track is Big John Greer with ‘We Wanna See Santa Do the Mambo,’ better known simply as ‘Mambo Santa Claus.’ Stuff that in your stocking and see if it fits. And hey, if that sounded dirty, I meant it that way.
Big John Greer – “Mambo Santa Claus”
James Brown – “Santa Claus Go Straight To the Ghetto”
James Brown – “Let’s Make Christmas Mean Something This Year”
