Customer Reviews

Blues Mistletoe & Santa's Little Helper

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I have several Christmas Blues CDs and enjoy each one - Roomful,Alligator, Etta James,Blue Yule and others - but when I am in the mood for a knock out blues CD I put this one in the player. A blues fan will recognize the strong line up of Black Top's great stable of bands and they each do a great job of getting in the spirit.If you enjoy great blues music this is a present worth finding under your tree( or better yet playing in the background at your Christmas party).

A nice CD of Christmas blues, with a saucy model (Sarah Baron) posed to perfection and plenty of sub-genres covered.

Fans of funky stuff will appreciate the instrumental version of "Good King Wencelaus" (with semi-"world beat" backing) and Bobby Parker's "Sandy Claw Stole My Woman." Those who dig Louisiana music will appreciate the songs by Lynn August ("Christmas By The BBQ") and Robert Ward ("Wouldn't It Be A Merry Christmas?"). Jazz buffs will like the sprightly instrumental sax and vibes-driven "Blue Christmas."

Country-western (!!) even gets a nod from Bill Kirchen, most famous for doing "Hot Rod Lincoln" like no one else can. His cut - "Santa! Don't Pass Me By" is a two-step wonder (but neither it nor "Santa Don't Let Me Down" have anything to do with similarly-named Beatle songs).

Fans of classic Christmas blues will appreciate the take on Lonesome Christmas by Anson Funderbirk & The Rockets, featuring the late Sam Myers.

Still, for me, the mid-to-uptempo blues rock songs are the meat of this collection. These include "Grady And Santa [Are] Coming To Town" (Grady Gaines), "No More Pretty Presents" (Rod Piazza), "Sleigh Ride (instr.) (Rick Holmstrom), "Christmas In Paradise" (Mike Morgan & The Crawl), and "Young Girls Drive Me Wild (At Christmastime)" (Funderbirk & Myers). These arrangements, more uptempo, serve to distinguish this release from similar packages by BB King, Etta James, Charles Brown, Chris Cain, and others devoted to the season.

But even fans of those slower approaches will find something to enjoy here. Slow blues tunes include like "Sam's Christmas Blues," "Joe's Christmas Salutations" (done to the "Merry Christmas, Baby" riff), and Earl King's "Santa Don't Let Me Down."