Download Instrumental    Christmas is a joyous time of the year, is it not?  Celebrating the birth of our Savior – gatherings of friends and family – decorating trees and wrapping gifts – children screaming in delight ’cause they got just what they wanted under the tree…  all contribute to the joy of the season.

But the holidays can also be a bit sorrowful for some folks.  Perhaps it brings back memories of a Christmas spent entirely alone without  friends or family, or the loss of a loved one around this time of year – or just disappointment  with that ugly sweater Aunt Clara gave you in 1967.  Christmas can be a sad time for some of us – maybe even depressing.  We all have our crosses to bear but, somehow, when these holidays roll around, it all seems worth it – even if bittersweet.

This song,”Christmas Time is Here”, falls into that melancholy category, I think.  Oh, it’s not the lyrics.  They’re all happy and full of cheer.  It’s the melody and general aura of the music itself.  The notes take you back to past holidays that maybe weren’t quite so good.  The tune was written by Vince Guaraldi and was supposed to be an instrumental introduction to the animated Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas (that’s Charlie above with that slightly crooked smile on his face – he was never a very happy character – the boy had a lot on his mind).  Just before it aired, the producer of the special decided that it would work better with words, so he sat down and penned the entire song in 10 minutes.  He had the Peanuts characters all sing it together while Charlie wonders why he’s not feelin’ the buzz.  Can you say “neurotic”?

It’s good to feel just a little sad this time of year.  It counters the hysteria of department stores and Santa Claus wannabes and some really bad holiday tunes (Grandma and an errant reindeer come to mind).  A little tug at the heart gives one pause to reflect on what the true meaning of Christmas is –  it’s good for your soul, you know.

Click the link below to experience Charlie’s neurosis:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=christmas+time+is+here&view=detail&mid=B945FE8CF0F5273D60FAB945FE8CF0F5273D60FA&FORM=VIRE

  Download   There’s never been a prettier piece of music than this.  Anyone can sit down to a piano and pick out the melody.  The beauty is in the simplicity of just a few notes within just one octave.  Nothing fancy – nothing complicated – and nothing sweeter.

“Auld Lang Syne” is Scottish for “old times sake”.  Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, seems to have the most to do with the creation this tune.  He claimed to have heard an old man singing the melody and  decided to put lyrics to it.  We Americans don’t have an exclusive on “Auld Lang Syne” to bring in a new and exciting year.  It was a Civil War drinking song – and in Taiwan, it’s used in both graduations and funerals.  In Japan, it has the same melody but different lyrics and is used to usher customers out of the store at closing time.  Go figure.

The sound of bagpipes is not something you want to wake up to in the morning.  But Scotland is famous for the instrument, so I decided to throw Yamaha’s version of a bagpipe into the beginning and middle of our arrangement.  Sounds more like an oboe, if you ask me, but it establishes the melancholy, yet uplifting, mood of the song.  Happy New Year… and try to forget how the Japanese desecrate this wonderful piece of music.

The saxophone lead at the end is dedicated to my friend and colleague,  Arnie Kole.  I know he’s “wowing” them in the heavens right now.  The man could play – there’s no greater compliment in my book.

  Download Instrumental   A classic, this one.  It was originally titled “Merry Christmas to You”, which would have worked too.  You could take almost any line out of this beautiful piece and use it as the title.  It was written in 1945 by Mel Torme and Bob Wells – then recorded in ’46 by the Nat King Cole trio (and several more times until Cole got it right in 1961 – full orchestra).  It is the most performed Christmas song of all time – and for good reason. It’s simply a masterpiece – both musically and lyrically.

I do hope everybody has those “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” tonight.  Merry Christmas to all!

  Download Instrumental   We’re goin’ country here, folks.  You walk into your local country bistro on a cold December night, and there onstage is a really, really, REALLY good lead guitar player…. in a Santa suit!  It’s Christmas, after all.

“Jingle Bells” was originally titled “One Horse Open Sleigh” and written by one James Lord Pierpont (now there’s a privileged name if I ever heard one) in the mid 1800’s.  According to thefactsite.com, this tune was the very first song broadcast from outer space.  Who knew?  It was the 16th of December, 1965, when two astronauts (Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra) from the Gemini 6 space program, sent the following message to mission control:  “We have an object, looks like a satellite, going from north to south…I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front.  The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit.”  It was then they broke into “Jingle Bells” with a harmonica and sleigh bells they had smuggled on board.  The 16th?  Seems Santa had an early start that year.

I don’t know a guitarist who can play quite this well (it’s much easier on a keyboard with guitar voicing), but I’m sure there’s one out there somewhere.

  Download Instrumental   This is a simple, straightforward arrangement of the number one best-selling Christmas song of all time.  You don’t need anything fancy behind you with a piece of work like this.  Your vocals will sell the song – the music just carries you along.

Bing Crosby recorded “White Christmas” in 1942, just a few months before the movie (Holiday Inn) was released.  It was a huge hit, soaring to number one on the Billboard charts and staying there for 11 weeks.  This classic even won an Academy Award for best song in ’42.  Every year after that, just before Christmas, it was released again and climbed to the top of the charts each time.  Crosby finally had to re-record it as the master copy wore out from all the pressings.  His second recording is the one most heard today.

Why Crosby chose to whistle during the second chorus is truly beyond me.  Insane!  But, as a nod to that insanity, I used a whistle for the solo in this arrangement. Ol’ Bing might appreciate that, even if I don’t.  But, really… what do I know?

My friends and family are enjoying quite the “White Christmas” right now up north.  How I miss the snow and cold weather.  Wait!  No, I don’t.  I’ll take 65 degrees on the beach over snow and ice any time.  Sorry, folks.

  Download   Yep, it’s that red-nosed critter again. This tune never goes away and has been done a thousand different ways… maybe more.

Rudolph came into being in a story written for a promotional coloring book for Montgomery Wards stores in 1939.  The writer, Robert May, based it on his own childhood difficulties of being the smallest kid in his class.  He was picked on and taunted and labeled a misfit.  Aren’t children wonderful?  Today we call it “bullying”, but that’s a whole other issue.  It’s ironic that this poor kid grew up to write a tale that delights other children to this day.  You’d have thought that Rudolph would have been some bad hombre who kicked over Christmas trees and terrorized chipmunks.

May’s brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, turned the story into a song and presented it to Gene Autry to record.  The “Singing Cowboy” didn’t want anything to do with it, but his wife convinced him otherwise.  Sometimes it’s a good idea to listen to your wife, guys… actually, most times.  Okay, all the time.  “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” went on to become the second biggest-selling Christmas song of all time.  Can you guess the first?  That one will be the subject of our next blog.

  Download   This is the “Ronettes” version of this Christmas tune.  Who are The Ronettes, you might ask.  Well, that’s them up there in the picture.  Personally, I would have named them “The Beehives”.  How do women do that to their hair.  Amazing.  Better question is, why do they do that.  Oh, well… it was the sixties, after all.

I didn’t care for their music, even though they had big hits with songs like “Be My Baby” and “Walking in the Rain”.  The music completely overwhelmed the singers with WAY too much instrumentation.  Then I found out what the problem was…. their producer was Phil Spector – a true idiot when it came to music production.  He invented what he called the “Wall of Sound”, which only means load up the music with as many instruments as possible and throw in the vocals as an afterthought  – I called it the “Wall of Noise”.  The guy is now doing time for second degree murder and won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 88.  “Wall of Sound” indeed.

The Ronettes did a nice job on “Sleigh Ride” – in spite of Spector.  This arrangement is ideally suited for an opening number in your Christmas set.  There’s plenty of room between verses to introduce yourself to the crowd and include a bit of clever banter.  It sets your audience up for the holiday music to come.  The backup vocals were especially fun to recreate on track one – “ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ding-dong-ding”.  I always thought that bit of nonsense behind the lead singer made the song.  Bet that wasn’t Spector’s idea…

If you listen closely at the beginning, you can hear horses galloping in the background.  The original version had a horse’s neigh, but I didn’t have that on the Yamaha.  Hence, the galloping.  I know… really stupid.

[Christmas List]

  Download Instrumental   I just get a kick out of saying holly and jolly in the same sentence.  If you play a job anywhere during the month of December, you simply have to include a Christmas song or two (it’s the law).  And if you choose to sing this particular piece, you’ll suddenly find that you have an Irish accent.  Trust me, you can’t help yourself.

“Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” was written by Johnny Marks and most famously recorded by Burl Ives.  Contrary to popular belief, Ives was not born in Ireland.  He came into this world in a little town in Illinois called Hunt City.  He learned Irish and Scottish ballads from his grandmother, hence the slight Irish brogue in his voice.   But our Mr. Ives was an all-American folk singer and actor of stage, screen, radio and television.  This tune was one of his holiday hits from the animated film Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

I do have one problem with the lyrics, however.  There’s a line that says, “Somebody waits for you – kiss her once for me”.  Really?  Now we have a victim.  Some unsuspecting soul is going to get an unexpected, unwarranted, and probably unwanted kiss on behalf of a perfect stranger.  What’s up with that!

[Backup tracks on the Christmas List]

  Download    Imagine it’s 1978 and you’re at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear on New Years Eve – a fine place to be.  There’s a small band playing in a corner of the lobby, and look!  It’s Jack Normand at the piano!  Yes, truly – a fine, fine place to be.

Jack’s band always varied between 3 and 5 members, depending on which sons or daughters were in town.  Tonight he’s got a full boat of 5 and long about midnight, this is what they would have sounded like.  Here’s to Jack… and a very happy new year to everybody!!!

  Right-Click to Download    Brenda Lee recorded this is 1958 when she was just 13 years old. Nobody liked it, so they released it again in ’59 – still no takers.  Finally, in 1960, she came out with the song “I’m Sorry”.  Instant hit, and suddenly “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” also caught everybody’s fancy and now it’s a Christmas standard.  Lee had a few hits in the early 60’s, but when her voice started to mature her career pretty much tanked.  Fickle public…

Singers, if you’re not performing this song during the holidays, you’re missing out.  It’s fun, clever, and very recognizable.  We now use this arrangement, which is a little quicker than the original.  I always thought Brenda’s was too slow anyway.  I used a square wave generator on the lead because it’s the only thing I’ve got that sounds like a 13-year-old kid.  Take out the lead on track 16 and make it your own.

Merry Christmas everybody, and stay away from the egg nog this year!