Christmas Song of the Day: Friday, December 4

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by the Ventures
(from THE VENTURES CHRISTMAS ALBUM)

(Download to listen here: http://www.mediafire.com/?vnnjy0t5dvo)

Yes, it is starting off with the opening riff of the Beatles' "I Feel Fine." The whole album is like this. There's a version of "Sleigh Ride" on this album that starts off with the Ventures signature "Walk Don't Run" riff before kicking it into high gear on the sleigh ride! Imagine that: the world's first mash-up 40 years before mash-ups became popular!

I played this for Nathan this morning on the way to school. I think he liked it. We started making up lyrics:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it, you might say that I feel fine!

Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say:
"Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you help on our hard day's night?"

Then how the reindeer loved him, as they shouted out with glee:
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, don't you know that she loves you!

Or something like that.....

Anyway, the Ventures are my all-time favorite rock band. They are to me what Metallica is to Nathan: the band from which I learned most of what I know about how to play the bass and the guitar. I've been listening to the Ventures since before I learned how to walk, and I've virtually destroyed every Ventures record my dad had (remember yesterday's comment about being infatuated with spinning records at an early age? These got the majority of the abuse!). Finding this album on CD over ten years ago was such a treat, and I'm glad I snagged it cuz I don't think you can find it anymore. BUT, if you've got a record player and a Half-Price Books (or a Doc's Records!) near you, this can be had fairly cheaply.

Enjoy!

Christmas Song of the Day: Thursday, December 3

"Here We Come a-Caroling" by the New Christy Minstrels

(download to listen: http://www.mediafire.com/?miky3w3lnlq)

My Mom's Christmas albums were always a source of joy when I was growing up, and this song has more than its fair share of memories. (It also has more than its fair share of pops, crackles, surface noise, etc. This is what happens when one gets infatuated with spinning records at a very early age!) Probably the happiest memory involves my daughter Amanda. In 1992, when she was five years old and her mother and I were engaged, we were driving somewhere and listening to Christmas music and this song was on the tape we were listening to. She liked it enough to want to hear it again, and we taught ourselves to sing it while we were driving. The "aaaahhhhhhh" in the middle..... every time I hear that, I hear Amanda singing that!

When I bought a record player (after having been without one for about six years or so), and then when I got it hooked up to my computer, Mom's Christmas records were the first thing I saved to CD (well, that and my Styx records!). Before then, I'd been relying on an old cassette tape of the records which was stretched beyond capacity. You can imagine the joy I felt when these records came caroling outta the car speakers, scratchy sound & all! Plus, this song is a lot of fun to sing along with. Just pick a part, any part!

Enjoy!