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Christmas Albums and Songs Are Almost Here- A Complete Rundown of My Favorites

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By Jim Fusco:

I love traditions.  If there’s one thing you must learn about me, it’s that.  I get unreasonably upset when someone tries to break my time-honored traditions.  So, every year, I painfully wait until the day after Thanksgiving to listen to Christmas music.  And, if you must learn a second thing about me, it’s that I LOVE Christmas music.  Christmas songs are synonymous with family traditions.  And here, I will give you a good rundown of all my favorite Christmas albums and songs, plus a little section on why I love Christmas music so much.

How Can Someone Love Christmas Music So Much?

Many people I talk to really don’t like Christmas music all that much, especially around December 26th.  But, I have a few reasons why I love it so much.  First, I make sure that I do not listen to any Christmas songs at all before the day after Thanksgiving.  Why?  Because it’s more special that way.  I don’t get sick of Christmas music because I refuse to get into the spirit too early (like in October, as you see in all the malls).  So, when the day after Thanksgiving comes and I get up super-early for those amazing sales, I’m all too giddy to play my first Christmas song of the season.  And by January 1st, I’m usually pretty bummed about the fact that I have to wait another 11 months to hear my favorite tunes again.

Another thing I love about Christmas music: for the most part, they’re all happy!  And even if they’re not happy (like Nat King Cole’s “The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot”), they have hope.  After listing to that song, I can only imagine that the “little boy”‘s mother re-marries and that boy has some happy Christmases ahead.  I really don’t like sad songs.  I mean, when I listen to music, I want to feel good.  Give me a song about keeping the summer alive and a good guitar solo and I’m a happy person.  And the innocence that you hear when the Beach Boys sing on their Christmas album- no drugs, no craziness, just kids singing and playing some really joyful tunes.  You can’t listen to “The Beach Boys Christmas Album” without a smile on your face.

Christmas music is also timeless.  It’s the one genre of music that crosses all style and age boundaries.  You’ll hear teenagers singing to Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” and you’ll hear my parents rocking-out to “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band-Aid.  What a season…

So, now you have some insight as to why I love Christmas music so much.  But, you may be wondering- with all the Christmas albums and songs out there, what’s any good?  Well, I’m taking a big leap here and making a Top 10 list of each of my favorite Christmas songs and Christmas-themed albums.  It’s going to be tough, but here it goes:

Jim Fusco’s Top 10 Christmas Songs:

  1. The Little Saint Nick- The Beach Boys: Even though I love the song at #2, this classic Beach Boys tune gets the top prize.  It even won “Best Original Christmas Song” on our radio station, WCJM.  The tune to this song is great, the harmonies are tight, and Mike Love’s vocals are spot-on.  The instrumentation is sparse (it’s actually the Beach Boys playing the instruments), but that makes me love it more- it’s truly a band effort.  And, I have inside information proving that Brian actually wrote the lyrics!
  2. Santa Claus Is Back In Town- Elvis Presley: Hands-down, this is the coolest Christmas song ever.  Over 50 years later, and this song still rocks.  The groove, Elvis’ lead, the Jordanaires backing vocals, and that amazing piano solo prove that this song was ahead of its time.  This is not only one of my favorite Christmas songs, but one of my favorite all-around songs, as well.
  3. Baby Please Come Home- Darlene Love: The Phil Spector Christmas Album (“A Christmas Gift For You”) is an amazing album, as you’ll see it in my Top 10 list of best Christmas albums below.  I love many of the songs on that record, but the final song, “Baby Please Come Home”, just wraps it all up (no pun intended).  Darlene’s soaring vocals and that classic Spector production give me chills every time I hear it.
  4. Don’t Need A Reindeer- The Moody Blues: I know, you’ve never heard of this song.  But, trust me- you’re missing out.  Off of their Christmas album from just a few years ago, this song has everything I love: a great tune, a good beat, great vocals, and a happy message.  Please, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this song!
  5. Merry Christmas Darling- The Carpenters: Most people who know my musical tastes know that I’m not the biggest fan of female singers.  But, you’ll notice that there are three songs sung by women on this list!  And, again, that’s what makes Christmas music so amazing- it crosses all boundaries of musical styles.  In this case, I LOVE Karen Carpenter’s voice.  She doesn’t do too much.  The chords are great in this song, too.  Why isn’t it #1?  One word: “Christmas-ing”.
  6. Elf’s Lament- Barenaked Ladies: Okay, I’ll admit that I wanted to put “Footprints” here, but that’s a sad song, albeit great.  Anyway, “Elf’s Lament” is such a fun song and gets you in the spirit very quickly.
  7. On Christmas Day- Brian Wilson: I can’t tell you why I love this song so much.  But, it’s just got a great tune, great vocals, and interesting chord changes.  Brian sounds so young in this recording, even though he was in his mid-sixties.  I wonder if anyone else notices the striking similarities between this song and “Bells of Paris” from M.I.U.?
  8. Winter Holidays- America: Dewey Bunnell has such a gift of combining crazy inversions of chords and coming up with some off-beat songs.  This Christmas tune is a not only a nice song, but gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling at the same time.
  9. Hey Santa!- Carnie & Wendy Wilson: Why is this song on the list?  Well, the late-80’s cameo by Carl Wilson was certainly a factor.  The ending of this song is so great.  This is another example of women who don’t do too much with their vocals- they just sing the song.  And even though this song gets a bad rep, you still gotta admit it’s a catchy tune.
  10. Run Rudolph Run- Chuck Berry: I don’t so much love this recording (Chuck sounds like he’s really phoning-it-in on this record), but I love the song.  It’s classic Chuck Berry style and has some pretty nifty guitar work going on.  I really started loving this song once we played it in concert and I got to do the nifty guitar work!

Jim Fusco’s Top 10 Christmas Albums of All Time:

  1. Elvis Presley’s Christmas Album (1957- recorded in two days and only 6 songs, but man, this album rules)
  2. The Beach Boys Christmas Album (everything from Al’s first lead vocal to Brian’s first solo performance)
  3. A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector
  4. Holiday Harmony- America
  5. Barenaked For the Holidays- Barenaked Ladies
  6. December- The Moody Blues
  7. What I Really Want for Christmas- Brian Wilson
  8. Our Christmas Gift To You- Chris, Jim, and Mike (that’s US!)
  9. What’s It Gonna Be, Santa?- Chicago
  10. I Wanna Be Santa Claus- Ringo Starr

I hope you’ve enjoyed my commentary and my lists.  I hope to edit these as the holiday season goes on- remember, I’m doing this from memory, as I haven’t listened to any Christmas music yet this year!  So, I’ll update the post as I see fit.  Who knows, maybe Dylan’s new Christmas album will make the list!  Yeah, and I hear Elvis is coming back to life this year, too… 🙂

“(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” (Elvis Costello Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to another all-new Laptop Session, brought to you by the music blog devoted to great new rock music. My acoustic cover song tonight is not a new rock song, but it is a classic by an artist that did release an excellent album this year. That artist is Elvis Costello and the song is “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding.” I had actually planned on recording (and did, in fact) record a different song for my session tonight, but after I finished that one, I went on to this Elvis Costello tune and liked how it came out so much that I had to post it tonight. For whatever reason (the amount of time that I had been singing previously, the air conditioning taking all the moisture out of the air in the house, or my allergies), my voice was somewhat rough for this recording. Normally, that would be enough for me to put down the guitar and wait for another day. However, I think it worked for the emotion that is supposed to be conveyed by this track. Aside from the very end of this take when my voice is simply too shot to hit the notes I wanted to hit (please feel free to laugh at the ridiculous look on my face), I’m happy with how it came out.

This is one my favorite Elvis Costello songs of all time, and it’s a perfect track to bring to this music blog, as it has been recorded as a cover song previously by such bands as the Wallflowers. It’s a fairly simple song with simple chords, simple but great lyrics, and a simple message that I know Ringo Starr would love, and it translates very well to acoustic guitar. That being said, Jim and I did some research tonight and were shocked to find that although he is listed as #80 on the list of best rock artists ever, he has had very few songs chart well, especially on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s amazing that his most popular songs really aren’t as successful as you might expect for an artist of his standing. That either says something about him or, more likely, the system. (Especially considering that this is a system that barely recognizes the existence of such talented and influential acts as the Moody Blues…)

If you’re a regular viewer of the Laptop Sessions, you’ll get another dose of Elvis Costello very soon — his new rock music on this year’s Momofuku is some of my favorite from him and is easily in my personal top four or five albums of the year (and this is saying alot, as I’ve heard somewhere approaching fifteen new albums this year already!).

Whatever you do, don’t go too far; Jeff will be back tomorrow with an all-new acoustic cover song music video for your listening and viewing pleasure…

See you next session!



“(Marie’s The Name Of) His Latest Flame” (Elvis Presley cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to The Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  I’m glad to be back with another acoustic cover song music video for you to enjoy.  Tonight, I go back about fifty years and bring you Elvis Presley’s classic song, “His Latest Flame”.  It’s a cool tune with a great beat.  I love the bossa nova style used in the original recording.  Of course, this video is just me and my guitar.  But, I think it still captures the essence of the song.  This song requires a lot of energy and I hope that shows in this cover song video.

“His Latest Flame” was written by the songwriting pair of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman (you may remember the mention of their names in Ben Folds & Nick Hornsby’s “Lonely Avenue”).  This song went all the way up to #4 on the Billboard charts.  And clocking in just over two minutes, they proved that a catchy number, no matter the length, can be a big hit.

One thing I thought was interesting was the Del Shannon (of “Runaway” fame) originally recorded this song.  Of course, his version wasn’t the hit.  I imagine that happened to many artists once Elvis got a hold of a song.  I, for one, would be pretty intimidated if Elvis Presley picked a song I had already recorded and made it his own.  I think that would spell the end of the original version and the beginning of Elvis’ sure-fire hit in the late 50s and early 60s.

Of course, my cover version of “His Latest Flame” sounds its best because of my Martin MMV acoustic guitar.  It’s just so clear and powerful- it makes anything I play sound better.  I hope that my cover version helps keep this song alive for years to come and introduces it to a new generation of potential Elvis (and early rock’n’roll) fans.

On a side note, I’m still getting used to editing my Laptop Sessions cover song music videos with Final Cut Pro X.  It’s really a pain in the neck and many of the functions just seem purposefully “dumbed-down” to make it easier to use.  The problem is that it literally took me an hour searching online to find out how to fade in the video.  Geesh!  Plus, there’s a little skip in the audio at the end- I’m not sure why that happened, but there’s no way to fix it.  Also, there’s a few seconds of black at the end- not sure how it got there or how to fix that in the future.  But when the video takes literally HOURS to render at full 1080p high-definition resolution, I really only get one shot at it to get it right.

Finally for tonight, I wanted to mention the progress of my brand-new album, “Those Around Us”.  It’s all recorded and mixed.  Now, it’s in the loving hands of a mastering company.  If everything turns out as well as I hope it does, I’ll be posting praise for that company soon enough- I just want to make sure first. 🙂  Anyway, it’s an album of 12 original songs.  It’s 95% me, but there are a couple of nice collaborations on there.  As you’ll hear once it’s released, it’s by far and away the finest work I’ve done so far.  Every song is crafted with love and care down to each minute detail.  The songs aren’t overproduced, but they don’t sound sparse, either.  The vocals, now that I have a great Shure condenser microphone, are clear and pitch-perfect.  I’m not tooting my own horn there- I spent countless hours making sure the timbre of my voice was correct on each harmony track.  Also, the instruments really sound great.  I utilized a sampled Wurlitzer electric piano (used in such hits as “Joy To The World” among many, many others) and this album features a real drum kit.  Also, I have a vast array of different guitars, ranging from a 12-string electric to a lap steel.  The variation of sounds makes each track on this album sound fresh and different- no two tracks have the same instrument setup.  To me, that’s the mark of a diverse and interesting album.

I’ll be releasing more information on the album in the next few weeks.  I’m hoping to get the album cover firmed-up soon and will hopefully get to post an in-depth look at how it was created.  In the meantime, I’ll be back in two weeks with my next Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video.  I’d love to read comments both here on the music blog and on YouTube.  Take care and I’ll see you in two weeks.  Enjoy “(Marie’s the Name of) His Latest Flame”!

Elvis Costello’s “National Ransom” (2010) – YES, NO, MAYBE SO?

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Elvis Costello’s National Ransom (2010) – MAYBE NOT

National Ransom (Elvis Costello, 2010)

National Ransom (Elvis Costello, 2010)

(November 2, 2010)

Review:

Aside from a few sparking moments and a couple notable tracks, National Ransom feels more like a collection of sixteen songs that didn’t make the cut for Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane, which was in every way a more engaging, dynamic, and cohesive effort.

Top Two Tracks:

“A Slow Drag With Josephine” & “Five Little Words”