A Window Shopper's Christmas

5 Chinese Brothers

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 14, 1997)
• Original Release Date: October 14, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 1-800 Prime CD
• ASIN: B0000035L7
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #327,693 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

William Ruhlmann AMG
Not your typical Christmas album. Folk, country, and rock & roll song styles with new, gently comic, Christmas-themed lyrics.

Product Description
This is not your typical Christmas album. 5 Chinese Brothers adopt a variety of generic folk, country, and rock & roll song styles and then write new, gently comic, Christmas-themed lyrics over them. For example, "Dept. Store Santa Claus Strike" borrows the talking-blues folk song structure most familiar from Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd" for a tale of Santa's management-labor dispute, while "The Fruitcake Song" borrows the shave-and-a-haircut rhythm of "Bo Diddley" to discuss the persistence of that most inedible of Christmas foods, and "Missing Miss December" is a rock & roll tune about a centerfold. The result is a likable collection that will serve as a change-of-pace from those Bing Crosby and Mannheim Steamroller records during the holiday season. — William Ruhlmann

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's the Christmas gift that keeps on giving. , December 13, 2006

By	Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a Christmas album by alt-country group 5 Chinese Brothers (they aren't really Chinese and they aren't really brothers, but there really are five of them). The album features all original Christmas songs, other than a very brief instrumental version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem". The songs are all really good. They are alternately touching and humorous. They cover such subjects as singing, the 3 Wise Men, depression, Playboy magazine, absentee fathers, truckers, fruitcake and department store Santas. Very original and very entertaining. "The Fruitcake Song" ranks up there with the all-time great Christmas songs (really). The whole album is great and I highly recommend it.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars com"YULE"ation Cleric : Age Old Story, October 22, 2001

By	Mitch Mirthman (on the path in search of YULEtide Treasure) - See all my reviews

This YULEtide Treasure Chest is stuffed full with Orignality Gems, which is more than fine by me. Unfortunately few modern-mirth-makers are ambitious enough to songsmith a mix of various lyrical themes,vocal stylizing,widely inclusive instrumentation and genere representation while crafting in The Merry.This disc once agains proves that word of mouth and talent laiden quaking quality can keep a seasonal seigh sack of songs forever upon wish lists to Santa.~~Merrily Mix~~ 1#1\2 , 2$ , 3# , 4$ , 5# , 6$ , 8% , 9$ , 10$ , 11#1\2, and 12# ~~Post Script: Lets only hope all the O`Amazonians seize the opportunity and drive the # sold, in the past this disc never got it`s national due. Those in The Know and\or YULEtide Treasure Seekers dig here.***buyit*saveit*shareit*giveit*donate it to the local library***