Tag Archives: christmas

Christmas, Volume 3 – Playlists on Parade

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By Chris Moore:

And so we come to the final installment of the ever-so-cleverly titled “Christmas” playlist series.

I don’t have much to say here, as I’ve already explained the process I went through and the purpose of these three Christmas playlists I’ve posted on the blog.  I will mention that this third volume seems to be a more relaxing, laid-back set than the previous two, especially after the first couple songs.  I didn’t mean for it to work out that way, but I’ve found this one quite soothing to listen to as I do some work around the house tonight.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading through them, and don’t miss next Saturday, when I’ll publish the final “Playlists on Parade” post of the year, which will serve to wrap up my work with Christmas music this season.

1. “Angels We Have Heard on High” – Relient K

2. “Elf’s Lament” – Barenaked Ladies

3. “Christmas to Remember” – America

4. “The Christmas Guest” – Johnny Cash

5. “December Snow” – The Moody Blues

6. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” – The Beach Boys

7. “Mele Kalikimaka” – Bing Crosby

8. “The Christmas Blues” – Bob Dylan

9. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Brenda Lee

10. “Jingle Bell Rock” – Bobby Helms

11. “Santa Claus is Back in Town” – Elvis Presley

12. “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” – Elmo and Patsy

13. “What I Really Want for Christmas” – Brian Wilson

14. “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen / We Three Kings” – Barenaked Ladies (with Sarah McLachlan)

15. “Merry Christmas Darling” – Mike Fusco (with Jim Fusco)

16. “Holiday” – The Bee Gees

17. “Step Into Christmas” – Elton John

18. “White Christmas” – The Drifters

19. “Santa’s Beard” – The Beach Boys

20. “Joy to the World” – Brian Wilson

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

More from the Weekend Review

“Run Rudolph Run” by Jim Fusco – FREE mp3 Download! – Day 12 of 14

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello and welcome to Day 12 of Jim Fusco’s 14 Days of Rock’n’Roll Christmas 2015!  Only a couple songs left, but I’ve saved some good ones for last!

Tonight is my cover of Chuck Berry’s Christmas song, ‘Run Rudolph Run”.  What a guitar player Berry is.  The opening and solo to this song are both very difficult.  They’re not necessarily difficult scales to play, but he plays them so smoothly and with those harmonies.  I guess he was talking about himself when he said, “He could play the guitar just like ringin’ a bell.”

This song is also in a higher register (for singing) than it would appear.  I’m used to singing this live and really letting loose, but in a studio setting, it was a bit harder to get the energy needed without messing up the recording levels.  So, I opted to stand a bit further away from the microphone and sang with more passion, even though the notes might not be 100% right all the time.  It didn’t sound right singing it too “sweetly’.

The penultimate release in my Christmas series is next.  Don’t forget to download each song you can listen every year!

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“Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)” by Jim Fusco – FREE mp3 Download! – Day 11 of 14

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By Jim Fusco:

Really getting down to the wire now, as I bring you Day 11 of 14 here at Jim Fusco’s 14 Days of Rock’n’Roll Christmas!  I hope you’ve been liking all of this free music so far.  Let’s keep it rolling tonight with a great little tune that Elvis Presley sang all the way back in 1957.  “Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)” is one of my favorites because of the good beat and that awesome bass line.  That line took me a LONG time to master and my fingers were so sore I couldn’t play the bass again for a couple of days!  But now I think I can play it in my sleep.

The backing vocals were a little trickier than I thought they’d be.  There’s a couple of parts that I didn’t realize were in there, but you listen to a song a lot differently when you’re trying to recreate it.  I was able to use some of my nice guitars and amps for these songs to give the proper sound and I think they really sound good.

So, add this song to your growing collection and enjoy the final three days of the series!

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“On Christmas Day” by Jim Fusco – FREE mp3 Download! – Day 10 of 14

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to Day 10 of Jim Fusco’s 14 Days of Rock’n’Roll Christmas!  I can finally breathe a sigh of relief, as I’ve officially finished the album.  And only four days ahead of time!  I had to re-record some parts and mix down the last couple of songs, but I’m finally done.  Now, I can give my friends and family high quality versions on CD so they can import into their iTunes libraries.

Tonight’s song is another you probably haven’t heard of (don’t worry- this is the last one!), but it’s a really great song.  It’s called “On Christmas Day” and is written by Brian Wilson.  he recorded it and included it as a bonus track on his Christmas album from the mid-2000’s.  I love the video of the band making this song- it’s so cool seeing it come together in the studio.

An interesting thing to me is that this song really was done back in the 70’s and was called “Bells of Paris”.  Of course, the tune was slightly different, but it’s really the same song.  I’d be interested to find out what came first- Brian’s Christmas lyrics or the ones about Paris.  I know the Beach Boys had a failed Christmas album in the mid-70s and there’s actually a version called “Bells of Christmas” that replaces the lyrics with holiday-themed ones.  But, the version Brian re-tooled that eventually became “On Christmas Day” is by far my favorite and that’s why I had to make my own version!

I hope you like the song as much as I do.  Day 11 (a song you’ve heard of!) is next as we roll on!

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