Chesney hails holidays in Margaritaville mode
By Dave Tianen
Knight Ridder News Service
The last big-hit Christmas song was John and Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)."
That was 32 years ago. Before that, you have to go back another decade to Bing Crosby's "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
Obviously, writing a Christmas song isn't as easy as fallin' off a one-horse open sleigh. Christmas albums, however, remain a seasonal staple in the music business, possibly because you can reheat the leftovers every year.
This year's Christmas bonanza is a bit modest by the usual standards. Probably the biggest star to leap into the nutmeg is Whitney Houston, and even she is a bit past her glory days. On the other hand, Kenny Chesney, one of the hottest younger acts in country music, has done a Jimmy Buffett-ish Christmas disc.
Here's our take on some of the top new holiday offerings:
"One Wish: The Holiday Album," by Whitney Houston (Arista): Given the frequent speculation about her health and personal problems, it's good to report that Houston sounds fine in this Christmas set. Although she's guilty of excessive showboating on "The First Noel" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," this is a better-than-average R&B holiday outing.
There's an interesting, contemporary twist on "Deck the Halls" and an appropriately jubilant, raise-the-roof collaboration with the Georgia Mass Choir on "Joy to the World."
"All I Want For Christmas Is a Real Good Tan," by Kenny Chesney (BNA Records): I'm a little shocked to say this, but this is one of the best new Christmas albums. As the title tune suggests, this is Kenny in his Margaritaville mode, and the cover shows him lounging beneath a palm tree in a Santa cap.
It is a consistently likable, genial outing that blends contemporary country pop with a streak of calypso. Randy Owens and Willie Nelson guest for duets on their hits "Christmas in Dixie" and "Pretty Paper." There's also a rather charming rendition of "Silent Night" in which Chesney is joined by his mom and aunt, appearing as the Grigsby Twins.
"American Idol: the Great Holiday Classics," by various artists (RCA): Obviously some of the winners in the "American Idol" series have fine voices. Who they are as musicians, however, remains something of an open question, because the show cast them singing familiar pop standards rather than original music of their own choosing. What you essentially have is karaoke with production values.
The same dynamic operates here with Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, Tamyra Gray, Justin Guarini and others tackling very predictable arrangements of such obvious fare as "Silver Bells" and "The Christmas Song."
"A Very Acoustic Special Christmas," by various artists (Lost Highway),: The first of these Special Olympics fund-raisers helped launch the revival of Christmas music back in the '80s. This most recent entry in the series is different in that it's both acoustic and almost completely country with a lineup that includes Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson, Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, Earl Scruggs, Wynonna and Norah Jones.
The songs mix carols with modern tunes, and as the format and talent might suggest, it leans toward a bluegrass celebration.
Our favorite was Earl Scruggs' bluegrass reinvention of "Jingle Bells." Alan Jackson brings his usual laid-back warmth to a new song, "Just Put a Ribbon in Your Hair."
"December," by Moody Blues, (Polydor): With its lush production and Old English prog-rock bent, the Moody Blues slip fairly easily into a Santa suit. Perhaps the biggest surprise on this disc is the lack of traditional carols aside from the somewhat less traveled "In the Bleak Midwinter." There is a swipe at Bach on "In the Quiet of Christmas Morning," several modest originals and a cover of one of the better new songs of recent years, "When a Child Is Born."
In a genre where one album often sounds like the next, the Moodys have delivered a disc with its own distinct personality. One significant development for fans: The band is now a trio with the retirement of Ray Thomas.
"Harry for the Holidays," by Harry Connick Jr., (Sony): This is Connick's second and most adventurous Christmas album. There is, for instance, a jazz-sax reading of "I Wonder As a I Wander" and a funky and playful arrangement of "Mary's Boy Child." But originality bleeds into quirkiness with several mediocre originals and the odd choice of Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy" as a Christmas song.
"Joy For Christmas Day," by Kathy Mattea, (Narada): One of the better Christmas albums of recent years was Mattea's Grammy-winning "Good News." She builds on that success with this tasteful follow-up. Mattea largely stays away from the usual familiar batch of cookies here, with a mix of originals by modern writers such as Marc Cohn, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Melissa Manchester. Mattea is a smart, classy artist. This time out, however, she hasn't quite found any new Christmas gems to match "Mary Did You Know?" or "There's a New Kid in Town."
"Go Tell It on the Mountain," by The Blind Boys of Alabama, (Realworld): The good news is that there has rarely been a Christmas album with a more glittering cast than "Go Tell It On the Mountain." The bad news is that there has rarely been a Christmas album with a more glittering cast than "Go Tell It on the Mountain."
The backup musicians include Duke Robillard, John Medeski and Richard Thompson. The guest vocalists include Aaron Neville, Shelby Lynne, Tom Waits, Solomon Burke, Mavis Staples, Chrissie Hynde and Me'shell Ndegeocello.
Obviously, there are some very hip, talented people here. The problem is that those hip, talented people often take the lead vocal parts, with the result that the Blind Boys end up as backup singers on their own album.
"The Jethro Tull Christmas Album" by Jethro Tull, (Varese): Like the Moodys, Tull brings a certain Old English jauntiness to the party. Ian Anderson writes some refreshingly honest liner notes: "I'm not exactly a practicing, paid-up Christian," and brings a refreshingly ribald outlook to the proceedings. On "Last Man at the Party," Stinky Joe ends up barfing in the outhouse.
For me personally, Tull works best in small doses. All those flute solos start to blur after a while. But for the Tull faithful, this is an album to get a leg up for. I sort of wish they had called it "Thick as a Fruitcake," though.
"Singers and Songwriters: Christmas Songs," by various artists (Legacy): New anthologies of old material repackaged and reassembled are something of a Christmas staple. For boomers of a certain age, this set from Legacy promises to be a bit classier than the norm, with a guest list that includes Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Linda Ronstadt, Joan Baez, Jose Feliciano, Jim Croce, Judy Collins, Dan Fogelberg and Art Garfunkel. The irony given the title is that almost everybody is singing traditional material they didn't write.
