As far as music is concerned, Christmas knows no boundaries. Look hard enough, and it quickly becomes clear that almost every successful artist has released a christmas album. From Phil Spector to Yellowman, Ray Charles to The Vandals, the christmas album retains the ability to delight and frustrate in equal measure. But, scratch beneath the surface of the suicidal shopping mall mixtape, and you begin find a festive sub-culture that may just get you through December in one piece. So, cast your skepticism aside, grab yourself an eggnog, and enjoy a tasty serving of the finest, funniest and most obscure Christmas cuts around.
Where better to begin then than with James Brown’s 1968 classic ‘A Soulful Christmas’. This is an album for every christmas mood, from the hip-shaking title track ‘Soulful Christmas’ to the reflective ‘Lets Unite the Whole World at Christmas’. One of the most famous and enduring christmas records, ‘A Soulful Christmas’ manages to combine the shamelessly kitsch with the effortlessly funky, a guilty pleasure for musician and listener alike. And as James Brown also clearly understood, no christmas album would be worth a sniff if it didn’t come beautifully wrapped in suitably ridiculous cover.
It is a little acknowledged fact that James Brown, the ‘Godfather of Soul’, great uncle of funk, and great-granddaddy of hip-hop, also left a legacy of christmas music. In 1982, rap pioneers The Cold Crew released the smooth 7” ‘Rappin‘ Christmas/ Rappin‘ New Year’, with obligatory jingle bells. Three years later Kool Moe Dee weighed in with the rare 12” ‘Christmas Rap’.
More recently, The Soul Saints Orchestra’s ‘Santa’s got a bag of Soul‘, reissued on Jazzman, offered up a seriously James Brown-inflected christmas groove, while ‘Get Down Santa’ by The Jive Turkeys also follows in the great man’s funky footsteps. However, James Brown really only made christmas his own when, in 2006, he passed away on christmas day.
One the great things about christmas music is that you never know where you’re going to find the next gem. Who would have thought for example, that hidden deep within Sun Ra’s ‘Interplanetary Melodies‘ compilation would be the bonafide christmas doo-wop hit ‘It’s Christmas Time’. By The Qualities, backed by Sun Ra and his Arkestra and even written by Sun Ra himself, this curious festive jingle is both timeless and otherworldly. There is something compelling about its very existence.
Taking the relationship between jazz and christmas to the next level is Jimmy Smith’s unlikely contribution to the canon ‘Christmas Cookin’’. Here he lays down a swinging selection of classic yuletide standards and hymns, like the cool-but-quirky rendition of ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’. Even jazz legend and multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk gets in on the act with a hard grooving, politically charged version of ‘We Three Kings’, entitled ‘We Free Kings’.
This cover is also based on James Brown’s ‘In the Jungle Groove’.
As far as compilations go, it is a commonly held belief that there is really no christmas quite like a Motown Christmas. Up until now that may well have been true. However, the serial diggers at Strut Records have dared to offer up an alternative. Released on vinyl for the first time last year, In the Christmas Groove is a veritable feast of rare funk, soul and blues, previously only ever released as 45 B-sides. The highlight of the collection though has to be “Black Christmas” by the Harlem Children’s Chorus. Poignant, socially conscious, and above all painfully soulful, this is far more than your standard Christmas fare. It is the second track on this clip, beginning c.2.40mins.
Mind you, the first track on the clip, “I Remember Christmas” by The Stridells, isn’t half bad either. Also look out for Soul Duo’s “Just a Sad Christmas”. As if that wasn’t enough, check out Sir Shambling’s “Soulful Christmas” blog for even more alternative Christmas soul.
While a lot of the music mentioned so far treads the fine line between kitsch and cringe, no survey of christmas music would be complete without a recognition of the most shamelessly absurd of the lot. Both zany and strangely adorable, The Goons’ “Im Walking Backwards for Christmas” is a perfect tonic for anyone frustrated by Christmas music and its pretensions to be anything more than seasonal. Ultimately, Christmas music is just that. Pure and shameless indulgence, the Christmas song is an opportunity for every musician to strip themselves of all their inhibitions and join in the pointless fun of it all. That, or it was simply written into the small print of their contracts. Either way, it only seems right to leave the last word to someone (or something), who doesn’t really know what all the fuss is about, as we ask the most important seasonal question of all, what can you get a wookie for christmas, when he already owns a comb?
Illustration by Bianca Lean
