A
Christmas Catch All
by
Kristin Battestella
Music,
vinyl, or specials – this holiday trio offers a little festive
something for everyone!
Tennessee Ernie Ford: Christmas – Try and keep up, for although the
rousing “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “O Come All Ye
Faithful,” “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” “What Child is
This?,” and “Away in a Manger” repeat from Tennessee Ernie Ford's Christmas Special –
itself a double LP combining his previous Sing We Now of
Christmas and O Come
All Ye Faithful albums – this
CD compilation is not
the same album as any of those. Bellowing carols “O Holy
Night,” “It Came upon the Midnight Clear,” “Silent Night,”
“Hark The Herald Angels Sing,” and “Joy to the World” are
also repeated from The Star Carol: Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings His Christmas Favorites, but this
isn't that complete session gone digital, either. The download
version, however, lists some of the songs herein as 1971 re-records,
so unfortunately Ford fans looking to upgrade their scratched vinyl
have to pick and choose individual tunes. Of these fifteen tracks,
remaining songs that don't appear anywhere else include a lofty “The
First Noel” before a jolly, family friend “Up on the House Top/
We Wish You a Merry Christmas” medley and the deep, somber “O
Little Town of Bethlehem.” “O
Christmas Tree/ Deck the Halls” and “Jingle Bells” end the set
with traditional festiveness for all, and while frustrating thanks to
its confusing set list, this forty minute CD fits the bill for
boomers nostalgic for a good old fashioned baritone Christmas.
A Very Terry Christmas – NBC invites viewers to Get Cozy
with Terry Crews as the Brooklyn 99 sergeant
embraces the ever lovable Bob Ross The Joy of Painting model with a fireside canvas and holiday brush strokes. Calming
Christmas music accents the relaxing blue skies, and it's fascinating
to see our burly, funny favorite's soft spoken delight over the two
inch brush and his gentle satisfaction while equating mixing paints
to playing in the mud. Breezy inspirations and lighthearted
instruction create art therapy with no wrong moves. It's all good –
paint over what you don't like because Terry's always wanted to say
“Happy little trees.” For those who have never actually watched
Bob Ross or only know of his recent resurgence in pop culture, this
ode may be too unusual or boring. This presentation expects viewers
to know the format and doesn't explain itself, for the wonderfully
nostalgic and comforting recreation adds it's own spin, including
Terry working left handed and portraits of co-star Andre Braugher's
Captain Holt hanging beside the Christmas tree. Although this was
originally a 2018 streaming event on a twenty four hour loop, now the
one off forty minute special remains bemusing on its own, and I'd
love to see Terry make more holiday painting appearances. The
question isn't “Why should we watch a former football player paint
a Christmas tree?” but “Why not?”
You
Make the Call
Amy Grant: A Christmas Album
– The Contemporary Christian flavor of this 1983 debut holiday hit
gets to the country strings immediately with the snowy, sentimental,
and slightly dated saccharin “Tennessee Christmas.” “Hark the
Herald Angels Sing” lets Grant's voice shine with an a cappella
start before the choir and music swell for the big finish and the
festive, instrumental “Preiset Dom Konig (Praise the King)”
interlude. Though a chart topper in its day, the electronic sound,
tech beats, and synthesizer mixing of “Emmanuel” now sounds more
like it belongs over an eighties action movie montage than on a
Christmas album. Some who like Christian Rock may still find this
hip, but break dancing over the Wonderful Counselor and Prince of
Peace won't be for everyone. Several of the tracks segue into one
another, and it's tough to tell where “Little Town (O Little Town
of Bethlehem medley)” begins thanks to similar keyboard edge
interfering with Grant's delivery. She can hold the big notes so the
over produced orchestration is unnecessary on centuries old carols
that have stood the test of time. “Christmas Hymn” is a much more
heartfelt original, reverent with its choir echoes and crescendos
while “Love Has Come” combines the family holiday with praise and
worship verses in obligatory Contemporary Christian style. It's not
that this is a bad song, in may ways there's nothing wrong with it.
However, it reminds me exactly what I don't like about contemporary
worship music – the need to make Jesus hip. Yeah! Rock on! Hold up
the lighters for Christ! Fist bump! John 3:16! Why does it feel the
need to make the Messiah cool as if he hasn't done enough already?
o_O “Sleigh Ride” is much better, a familiar medley and jolly
pace that showcases Grant's vocal alongside the long, lingering,
mellow notes of “The Christmas Song,” which is arguably the best
tune on the album. “Heirlooms” lays on more sentiment, starting
off cozy and seemingly secular before switching to adoration –
pretty, but thematically a little all over the place. Why would you
equate Jesus to random trinkets? Again, the style tries to say
something powerful but comes off forced when the orchestral prelude
of “A Mighty Fortress/Angels We Have Heard on High” is stronger.
This longest finale track brings down the house with traditional
chorales and uplifting high notes peppered with classical accents.
Though definitely dated with an of the moment, doing too much
contemporary movement capitalization that will be off putting to some
listeners, this thirty-seven minute brevity can be a fine
accompaniment to baking cookies or wrapping presents.
More
somber and seriousness follows with Slumber
Song of the Infant Jesus. This rendition doesn’t feel sing a long-able,
it’s more of a sit back, listen, and be awed by Ernie’s down home church singing
and power. I think sometimes with all our contemporary pop wintertime tunes, we
forget that it is okay to be moved by the stillness of the season. Also
becoming more and more rare, Bring a
Torch, Jeanette, Isabella is upbeat and lighthearted and not operatic as
usually heard. Big T carries the choir as if this were a festive nursery rhyme.
Hush, hush, up up- good little girls and boys won’t want to wake the baby even
if they don’t understand the rest of the lyrics. Likewise, Good Christian Men Rejoice is hardly heard anymore, but it is darn
catchy nonetheless with a joyous message, fun rhythms, and high notes to finish
O Come All Ye Faithful’s Side 1. 
Previously,
I’ve also written upon the 1958 best seller The
Star Carol: Tennessee
Ernie Ford Sings His Christmas Favorites. If you’re seeking the big name
carols and reverence, then that’s the album to find the likes of Joy to the
World and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Despite this combination reissue, it
doesn’t appear that any songs overlap here or on Ernie’s two other seasonal
albums, 1963’s Story of Christmas and
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S from 1971. Though Story of Christmas seems part and parcel available on CD, most of
Ernie Ford’s holiday sessions appear unavailable digitally. The current Christmas Favorites CD looks to be the same
as The Star Carol, but it seems like
chasing vinyl is the best way to get your Ernie Ford December fix.