Christmas music

Joined
Jun 26, 2016
Messages
2,219
Hi!

I'm curious to learn about everyones favorite Christmas music/tunes. I have a very diverse taste in music and listen to almost all genre, depending on what mood I'm in and/or what I'm doing - and I'm always looking for new songs to listen to.

Personally, I especially love one internet radio station during the season, it's Big R Radio's "Christmas Country" ->http://bigrradio.com (You can find it in iTunes listed under "Adult Contemporary"

It's my go to, every day station - and I love that every year there are some new songs and sometimes also newly recorded classics by various artists.

Then there are days when I'm going with my own Christmas play lists, I have one for every genre I typically hear: Classic music, Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Singer/Songwriter, Rock ...

A few of my favorites:

LeAnn Rimes - Put a little holiday in your heart
Rick Simonelli - Christmas Wouldn't be Christmas without you
Rob Parton Orchestra (feat. Alex Macdougall) - Jingle Jangle Bells
London Chamber Orchestra & Christopher Warren Green - Joy to the World ("Antioch")
Mano Ezoh - Mary's Boy Child
Sugarland - Little Wood Guitar
Sugarland - City of Silver Dreams
Vaughn Monroe - Let it Snow (...)
Whitney Houston - Do you hear what I hear?
Jo Davidson - Merry Christmas and Happy New York (It's an album and contains Christmas classics she plays on piano and improvises)

(...) And so many more ... :)

So please, share the tunes you love - maybe we can learn about special artists, recordings, (...) from each other

Kind regards,
Oliver
 
“Belleau Wood” by Garth Brooks comes to mind.  I have always been intrigued by that story.

“Merry Christmas from the Family” - Robert Earl Keen

“The Season’s Upon Us” - Dropkick Murphy’s

    Those are probably my three favorites currently.  I don’t play the last two around the kids yet, they get the more traditional stuff -

Gene Autry - Rudolph
Elvis - Blue Christmas
Lee Perry/Brenda Lee - Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Willie Nelson - Pretty Paper
Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
Little Drummer Boy
Up on the Housetop
Mele Kalikimaka
Etc...

And usually a couple to keep them on their toes -
Elmo & Patsy - Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer
Jimmy Buffet - Christmas in the Caribbean

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I listen to Christmas Radio on Pandora.

Some of my favorite songs are:

Alan Jackson - Let It Be Christmas
Kelly Clarkson - Under the Tree
Britney Spears - My Only Wish (This Year)
MercyMe - Joseph's Lullaby
Natalie Grant - I Believe
Jim Brickman - The Gift
Maura Sullivan - Christmas Eve in Washington
MercyMe - Drummer Boy
Lady Antebellum - The First Noel
Sara Groves - Breath of Heaven
Pentatonix - Mary, Did You Know?
Frank Sinatra - Adeste Fideles
Andy Williams - Christmas Bells
Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
Tony Bennett - Deck The Halls
Bing Crosby - O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Bing Crosby - Away In A Manger
Perry Como - God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman
Corrinne May - Be Though My Vison
Paul Baloche - Offering
Mormon Tabernacle Choir - For Unto us a Child is Born
Barlowgirl - Carol Of The Bells
Frank Sinatra - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Canon
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve/Sarajevo
John Lennon - Happy Xmas
 
All of the above plus;

The Carpenters- Merry Christmas Darling.

Tom
 
In more or less historical order, my list is a little odd by most people's standards :).

* Two collections of Renaissance Christmas carols - Carol Album (Taverner Consort), Renaissance Christmas (Boston Camerata)
* Bach's Christmas Oratorio - esp. the trumpet heavy choral pieces.
* New Christie Minstrals - "One Star", "Parson Brown"
* Carol of the Bells by almost anyone, but the California Raisens video is very entertaining. 
* Garrison Keillor - "Nothing but a Child", "Bach's Christmas Oratorio", "Children Go Where I Send Thee", "Shop for Christmas Presents", "Scrooge", "There Are Angels Hovering Round", "Et Barn Er Fodt I Bethlehem", "Nowel, Owt of Your Sleep".
 
I also tend to use Pandora for my Christmas music and set Vince Guaraldi Trio as the base station.  It's a nice remembrance of childhood as he performed the music for A Charlie Brown Christmas and they layer in a lot of classic tunes by various contemporary and classic artists.  The kids like it too so the whole family is happy to keep it on.
 
Regarding christmas songs I like 4'33" by John Cage best.
All christmas music should have that quality, sadly it dosn't.

Here's a live performance of the piano version:
 
Mannheim Steamroller gets listened to a lot 
Chris Davis - A fresh air Christmas......instrumental
 
John McCutcheon has an interesting spin on the WWI Christmas story, "Christmas in the Trenches".

Tetley Tea had some free Christmas music as a gift one year, and I found I really liked the Mediaeval Baebes rendition of "The Holly & The Ivy"

and I've always been fond of José Feliciano's "The Cherry Tree Carol" and Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "I Believe in Father Christmas"
 
Vondawg said:
Mannheim Steamroller gets listened to a lot 
Chris Davis - A fresh air Christmas......instrumental

Mannheim and Tran Siberian Orchestra is nice for background during dinner.  [smile]

Seth
 
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