I’m here, wrapping up another semester, and getting ready to hit the road (well, the tracks — Amtrak, that is) for the Northwest to see the family for the holidays. It’s that time of year when we’re all beset by the busy-ness of the season. Shopping, cooking, office parties, or whatever keeps you busy this year, you know what I mean. Given this, I hope you’ll forgive a slight retread of last year’s holiday post. Here’s a playlist winter holiday selections for the rest of the year. While the bulk of them are for Christmas, there are several that will work for any of the winter holidays – Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even Festivus (for the rest of us).
Happy holidays, whichever you celebrate! Here’s the column from last year.
You’ll find some Christmas bluegrass classics, including Ralph Stanley’s “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem,” or the Louvin Brothers’ “The Friendly Beasts.” I tried to avoid standard Christmas songs (go to your local shopping center if you want to hear “Silent Night” or “Jingle Bell Rock” endlessly for the next couple of weeks), but I felt I had to include a couple, including Wilma Lee Cooper’s version of “O Come All Ye Faithful” and Larry Sparks’ soulful “Blue Christmas.”
It seems a lot of bands want to cash in on that big bluegrass coin by recording songs that jam words like bluegrass and Christmas together—for example, “Bluegrass Christmas” (The Del McCoury Band), “Bluegrass Kinda Christmas” (The Roys), or “Bluegrass, White Snow” (Patty Loveless). But, you’ll also find some intriguing originals, including Jimmy Martin’s “plumb pitiful” “Daddy Will Santa Claus Ever Have to Die?” (which gets my vote for greatest Christmas song title ever) and “Christmas is Everywhere Except in My Heart.” (Jimmy Martin gives us lots of choices. Check out his To Mother at Christmas album for a lot more selections). A couple other interesting cuts are Tim O’Brien’s “Bah Humbug” and Del McCoury’s “Call Collect for Christmas.”
If you’re ready to celebrate Solstice, there are several choices hailing the coming of cold (in much of the northern hemisphere, at least), including Sideline’s cover of the great Gordon Lightfoot’s “Song for a Winter’s Night,” Doc Watson’s “Winter’s Night,” and Aubrey Haynie’s fiddle tune, “Long Cold Winter.”
For those who celebrate Hannukah, you’re aware there isn’t exactly a canon of bluegrass Hannukah songs, but there are a good number of songs about candles and light, all of which are nicely appropriate. My favorites include “There’s a Light,” by Emmylou Harris, or a Texas swing instrumental, “Candle Light,” by the Western Texas Folk Band. I’ll leave it to one of you bluegrass bands to cover “The Dreidel Song” or “Light One Candle.”
I’ll admit I know the least about Kwanzaa, but its seven pillars include concepts such as creativity and community, and some of its symbols include candles and crops, especially corn. I can listen to Jim and Jesse’s “Remember Me When the Candle Lights are Gleaming” all day. I’ve also included “The Fields Have Turned Brown” (The Seldom Scene) and “Home of Light and Love” (Bob Paisley & The Southern Grass).
And, in case you’re wondering what “How Many Times” (Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick) or Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man?” (Carolina Chocolate Drops) are doing there, these songs address one of the pillars of Festivus: the airing of the grievances.
I had to throw a couple of country classics in among the bluegrass: Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas” and Merle Haggard’s “Santa Claus and Popcorn” (runner-up for greatest Christmas song title ever). If you’re wondering about “Petals in My Pocket” (Open Road), or “Zuzu’s Petals” (Moon Mountain Ramblers), just think… It’s a Wonderful Life.
I’ll leave you with a final holiday thought by J.D. Crowe, which expresses well the theme of this playlist: “You Go to Your Church (and I’ll Go to Mine).”
Here’s the full playlist, which you can find on Spotify:
1. Bah Humbug – Tim O’Brien
2. Beautiful Star of Bethlehem – Ralph Stanley
3. Blue Christmas – Larry Sparks
4. Blue Christmas Lights – Chris Hillman
5. Bluegrass Christmas – The Del McCoury Band
6. Bluegrass Kinda Christmas – The Roys
7. Bluegrass, White Snow – Patty Loveless
8. Call Collect on Christmas – Del McCoury
9. Candle Light – Western Texas Folk Band
10. Christmas in Dixie – The Larkins
11. Christmas Is Everywhere Except in My Heart – Jimmy Martin
12. Christmas Memories – Mac Wiseman
13. Christmas Story – The Nashville Bluegrass Band
14. Christmas Time At Home – Rhonda Vincent
15. Christmas Time On Rocky Top – The Osborne Brothers
16. Christmas Time’s A Coming – Ricky Skaggs
17. Coldest Day of Winter – James King
18. Daddy Will Santa Claus Ever Have to Die – Jimmy Martin
19. Every Light in the House – Pickin’ On Series
20. Everybody Got a Light – Daughters of Bluegrass
21. The Fields Have Turned Brown – The Seldom Scene
22. The Friendly Beasts – The Louvin Brothers
23. Hard Candy Christmas – Dolly Parton
24. A Hazy Shade of Winter – Pickin’ On
25. Holiday Pickin’ – The Nashville Bluegrass Band
26. Home of Light and Love – Bob Paisley & The Southern Grass
27. How Many Times – Laurie Lewis
28. I Can’t Go Home This Christmas – Paul Williams
29. I Saw the Light – Bill Monroe
30. I’m Going Home, It’s Christmas – Balsam Range
31. In the Bleak Midwinter – Jerry Douglas
32. It’s Christmas Time – Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
33. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning – Red Molly
34. Lights in the Valley – Carolina Chocolate Drops
35. Long Cold Winter – Aubrey Haynie
36. The Northern Lights – Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
37. Come All Ye Faithful – Wilma Lee Cooper
38. Come, O Come, Emmanuel – Bluegrass Christmas Performers
39. Our 12 Days of Bluegrass Christmas – The Del McCoury Band
40. Petals in My Pocket – Open Road
41. Put My Little Shoes Away – Ralph Stanley
42. Remember Me When the Candle Lights Are Gleaming – Jim & Jesse
43. Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man? – Carolina Chocolate Drops
44. Santa Claus and Popcorn – Merle Haggard
45. Slowly Fall the Snowflakes – Bill Carroll
46. Song for a Winter’s Night (Single) – Sideline
47. Suzy Snowflake – Fiddlestix
48. The Sweetest Gift, A Mother’s Smile – Hazel Dickens
49. Tennessee Christmas – Rhonda Vincent
50. There is a Light – Dave Adkins
51. There’ll Be Joy, Joy, Joy – Dennis Cash
52. There’s a Light – Emmylou Harris
53. This Little Light of Mine – Marty Stuart
54. Toy Heart – Ricky Skaggs
55. Wait for the Light to Shine – Charlie Monroe
56. When It’s Snowin’ in the Mountains – Wildwood Valley Boys
57. When It’s Lamplighting Time – Hot Rize
58. When the Snow Falls on My Foggy Mountain Home – Pete Wernick
59. Winter’s Come and Gone – Lonesome Traveler Bluegrass Band
60. Winter’s Night – Doc Watson
61. With Bells On – The Roys
62. You Go to Your Church – J.D. Crowe
63. Zuzu’s Petals – Moon Mountain Ramblers
As before, if you’ve looked at the lists carefully, you’ve probably thought of dozens of song titles I haven’t included or couldn’t track down. Feel free to copy my playlists and add and delete songs to your liking.
And, Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice, Happy Hannukah, Happy Festivus, and Happy Kwanzaa to all. In other words, happy Holidays!
