Nicky鈥檚 Favourite Christmas Albums
As a committed, liberal, and radical Christian, I鈥檓 fond of and celebrate Christmas as the commemoration of the birth of Jesus and as a reminder of our hope for the future. Although my father wouldn鈥檛 let my mother go to church until I was fifteen and I was raised non-religious, Dad did allow Mom to have a manger scene and tell the Christmas story on Dec 24 every year. Otherwise, we mainly did secular Christmas, and I loved it as a child. Part of the Christmas season was its music. We had a few record albums, though not many, and the radio was on a lot. Listening to our old Firestone albums as an adult, I find I no longer have strong feelings about them, but Joan Baez鈥檚 狈辞毛濒 is still a favourite.
I have a collection of more than fifty Christmas CDs I鈥檓 fond of, mainly Early Music, folk, classical, and jazz. One of the first CDs I purchased at the end of the eighties when I got a job and could afford a CD player was the Taverner Consort鈥檚 Carol Album. No country and western鈥攏ormally I鈥檓 a big Bruce Cockburn fan, but his Christmas album is too country for me鈥攏o pop stars, and no Bing Crosby. I like his voice, but not his Christmas repertoire other than 鈥淲hite Christmas.鈥� Below is my list of favourites. Lots of them are Dorian Recordings and many are from the 1990s and early 2000s. Nowadays not everyone produces CDs and somehow my later acquisitions didn鈥檛 make this list鈥oo much trouble to go through the mp3 folders, perhaps. There is a fair amount of Canadian content. I鈥檝e listed them in order of original release, whether that was on LP or CD (in one case, I鈥檝e only got a cassette version and I list that).
So, if you鈥檙e looking for something a little different from 鈥淔rosty the Snowman鈥� and 鈥淩udolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,鈥� see if a title here appeals to you enough to check out on iTunes or YouTube!
Nat King Cole, The Christmas Song (1963)
I have a 1986 CD rerelease of the 1963 re-do of the 1960 LP. The album goes beyond the popular 鈥淐hristmas Song鈥� (鈥淐hestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire鈥�) and is mostly traditional European carols. Cole should not have tried to sing 鈥淥 Tannenbaum鈥� in German, but his wonderful warm voice is perfectly suited to the material here.
Joan Baez, 狈辞毛濒 (1966)
Baez鈥檚 quirky voice over gorgeous arrangements by Peter Schickele (yes, aka PDQ Bach!). Lots of haunting minor keys and a mix of standard carols with lesser-known early ones such as 鈥淚 Wonder as I Wander.鈥�
Boston Camerata, Medieval Christmas (1975, rereleased on CD)
What I love about this one is the mix of carols with readings in Middle English. It鈥檚 an Early Music classic.
Loreena McKennitt, To Drive the Cold Winter Away (1987)
While it sounds like just about every other Loreena McKennitt album, it鈥檚 nice to have those dreamy harp sounds for winter and Christmas music.
Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band, A Tapestry of Carols (1987)
I only have this one on cassette, from the days before I could afford a CD player, but you can get it now on YouTube. Like other albums by Prior et al., strong vocals, replica medieval instruments, and dancing rhythms. Not all the carols are medieval! They do a nice job of setting 鈥淚t Came Upon a Midnight Clear,鈥� for example.
Sneak鈥檚 Noyse & The City Waites, Christmas Now is Drawing Near (1988)
There are only seven tracks on this album, but they鈥檙e all five- to ten-minute sets (recorded in the same studio as Tapestry of Carols). This is lively old British folk music played exuberantly and dancingly. Lots of insistent drone sounds in the arrangements.
The Taverner Consort, The Carol Album: Seven Centuries of Christmas Music (1989)
While there鈥檚 a serious flaw in the recording in that the first track is at a much lower volume than the rest, this is a very strong collection and so well performed! They make a point of using pronunciations appropriate to the era and source culture. My favourites are 鈥淕lory to God on High,鈥� from an 1805 New England publication, and 鈥淪tille Nacht鈥� (鈥淪ilent Night鈥�) performed with the original tune鈥攊t wasn鈥檛 meant to go up that high at the end!
The Toronto Consort, Nowell Sing We: A Treasury of Renaissance Christmas Carols (1991 expanded rerelease)
Early carols from five different European traditions, plus 鈥淭he Huron Carol/Iesous Ahatonnia鈥� in the original Huron (not the awful English version stuffed full of native stereotypes). I like all the tracks on this one!
The Chieftains, The Bells of Dublin (1991)
One of the Chieftains鈥� collections with various guest performers: in this case, I give special shoutouts to Jackson Browne (for 鈥淭he Rebel Jesus鈥�), Elvis Costello (for 鈥淭he St. Stephen鈥檚 Day Murders鈥�), and the McGarrigle sisters (for a set of French carols). Varied and lots of fun.
Ottmar Liebert, Poets and Angels (1991)
Spanish guitar, sometimes with a Moorish feel to the arrangements. It works together as a nice whole, and I forgive his inclusion of 鈥淛ingle Bells.鈥�
Anonymous 4, On Yoolis Night: Medieval Carols and Motets (1993)
I love anything Anonymous 4 does! They鈥檙e an a cappella group that does both early music and Americana.
The Baltimore Consort, Bright Day Star: Music for the Yuletide Season (1994)
I think I own every album the Baltimore Consort ever made, and this is one of my favourites. Custer LaRue is outstanding on vocals, and I especially like 鈥淭he Cherry Tree Carol鈥� (the only Christmas song to suggest that Mary had pregnancy cravings?) and 鈥淗ey for Christmas!鈥� (a broadside ballad from the seventeenth century in which a party gets wilder and wilder).
Ensemble Corund, Navidad Ib茅rica: Spanish Christmas Music and Villancicos from the Renaissance (1997)
This album includes not only the obligatory 鈥淩iu, riu chiu,鈥� but also quite a lot of Tomas Luis de Victoria, rich and uplifting.
Simon Shaheen, Tarun Bhattachanya, et al., Nomad Christmas (1997)
Lively blend of lots of Middle Eastern and South Asian sounds with a wide range of Christmas songs from different traditions.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Christmas Attic (1998)
From their series of rocked-out narrativized collections, this one is my favourite. It鈥檚 mostly original compositions, but also includes strong rock versions of some traditional carols, including 鈥淗ark, the Herald Angels Sing鈥� and 鈥淎ngels We have Heard on High.鈥�
The Barra MacNeils, The Christmas Album (1999)
Comforting Canadian folk album. I鈥檒l highlight 鈥淐hristmas in Killarney鈥� and their renditions of 鈥淐arol of the Bells鈥� and 鈥淥ld Lang Syne.鈥�
Robin Bullock, Al Petteway, and Amy White, A Midnight Clear: A Celtic Christmas (2002)
A lovely collection that鈥檚 now hard to come by, mostly strings (guitar, mandolin, harp), gentle and charming.
Metropolitan United Church, Gaudete! (2002)
The second album by all the choirs and bell groups of this large Canadian church, and it鈥檚 my favourite largely because of the inclusion of a wonderful Early American setting of 鈥淪ons of the Morning.鈥�
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If you got down to the end of the list, here are a couple of bonus singles, especially for people who feel blue at Christmas: Greg Lake, 鈥溾�� (1975); Stan Rogers, 鈥溾�� (1979)