Louis Armstrong: Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule
During his lifetime, Louis Armstrong never recorded an album for Christmas (though he had put out a bunch of holiday season songs) but here we are, more than 50 years after his death and there’s a collection of Yuletide-themed recordings marking Satchmo’s return to the charts for the first time since 1964. His trumpet sounds warm, vocals are gravelly and the mood drips of holiday cheer on songs like ’Zat You, Santa Claus?, Cool Yule, Winter Wonderland and Baby It’s Cold Outside. The best track rounds off the collection — a recitation of Clement Clarke Moore’s poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (popularly known as The Night Before Christmas), which was his last recording, made on February 26, 1971 at his Queens home in New York. The little-known recording was distributed that holiday season by cigarette-maker Lorillard as a 45 RPM record for 25 cents with the purchase of a carton of cigarettes.
Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan and Sasha Estefan-Coppola: The Estefan Family Christmas
Christmas is about family and friends, which is highlighted by the 17-track album. Making it memorable is Gloria’s warm vocals and the moments she shares with her daughter Emily. The album also marks the lead vocal debut of Gloria’s grandson, 10-year-old Sasha Estefan-Coppola. The grandson also serves as one of the album’s associate producers with his aunt, Berklee College of Music-graduate Emily. The surprise on the album is the Spanish-language rendition of I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus, featuring the singing debut of Gloria’s husband, Emilio.
Ray Charles: The Spirit of Christmas
The reissue of the 1985 album is worth revisiting. It was poignant for its time because of the emotional journey Ray Charles takes listeners on. Needless to say, Charles had a great voice but what’s interesting here is his ability to turn any old chestnut into something that’s worthy of celebration. What you get are not standard versions of The Little Drummer Boy or Winter Wonderland. It’s the joyful sound of Christmas combined with Charles’s instinctive phrasing.
Joss Stone: Merry Christmas, Love
The English singer-songwriter’s first holiday album is stunning, even though the fare is standard — Let It Snow, Away In A Manger, Jingle Bells… you know the songs. She has been wanting to make the album for over a decade but the Grammy and Brit award winning singer had to wait to smother the festive spirit with her rich vocals. It’s a memorable effort from the 35-year-old mother of two.
Alicia Keys: Santa Baby
At her coziest best. At her breathiest best. At her Christmas-y best. Alicia Keys is playful, joyful on her first holiday album and that too on her own record imprint, Alicia Keys Records. She does a brilliant job with Eartha Kitt’s 1953 release Santa Baby, which was controversial for its time for lacing it with double-entendres. Keys opens the new record with the track and then moves into My Favourite Things and Please Be Home For Christmas. There is a degree of rawness that makes the album enjoyable.
Backstreet Boys: A Very Backstreet Christmas
Sounding more like ‘Backstreet Men’, the album contains the usual holiday fare delivered in poppy style, taking listeners through White Christmas, Winter Wonderland and even Wham!’s Last Christmas. The butcher inside the musicians peeks out slightly in Same Old Lang Syne but overall it’s a perfectly enjoyable album. The high point of the selection is the last track — Happy Days — on which the boys/men sing “We’re gonna party like it’s 1999”. Without keeping it a secret, the group members have said that the song is ever-so-partially inspired by Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop The Feeling. Hang on, wasn’t Justin a part of NSYNC, the biggest rivals of Backstreet Boys?
Cliff Richard: Christmas with Cliff
Mr Evergreen has delivered his 46th studio album, full of holiday joy through songs like It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Jingle Bell Rock, Oh Come, All Ye Faithful and Go Tell It On The Mountain. There’s not much to fault or dislike about the selection but what’s interesting is the competition he has given 29-year-old rapper Stormzy for the race to the top of the UK charts. Ultimately, young blood took the crown but Richard ensured it was a photo finish — the rapper’s This Is What I Mean moved 27,800 units to Christmas With Cliff’s 24,300.
Neil Diamond: A Neil Diamond Christmas
It’s a very special collection. Neil Diamond has delivered a number of Christmas songs over the decades, many of which are featured on the double album — White Christmas, Winter Wonderland, The First Noel, Sleigh Ride and so on. These are mostly tracks recorded between 1994 and 2016. What makes it special is the timing. Diamond was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2018 and has since been in retirement, except for an appearance earlier this month at a Boston Red Sox game to perform his biggest hit. Earlier this year, he sold his entire songwriting and recording catalogue to Universal Music Publishing Group and also 110 unreleased tracks, an unreleased album and archival video footage.
Blue Christmas
As much as most of us want to listen to Christmas albums, sales figures paint a bleak picture. According to data from Luminate (via Billboard), since 2017, seasonal music album sales — physical formats and digital downloads — have dropped 61.8 per cent to 1.44 million copies (so far) in 2022. That’s down from 4.1 million copies in 2017, even though overall album sales are essentially at the same level of 90.55 million copies this year versus 91.64 million back then. The genre is not having its greatest showing this year, which perhaps has to do with the absence of a really big album release. Where is the next Michael Buble or Kenny G Christmas album? The world is still relying on old staples to bring on Christmas cheers.