This version was all the more poignant for being released in the wake of the death of Redding, who had been killed the previous December at the age of 26 in a plane crash. & the MGs – who co-wrote Redding’s iconic hit “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Redding’s version of Irving Belin’s classic festive song “White Christmas” was released as a single in October 1968 by ATCO Records, with “Merry Christmas, Baby” on the B side. Otis Redding’s graceful, bluesy version of “White Christmas” was produced by acclaimed songwriter and guitarist Steve Cropper – a founding member of Booker T. “Christmas Blues,” a straight blues boogie in the early Canned Heat style, was produced by Skip Taylor and co-written by singer Bob Hite, bassist Larry Taylor, guitarists Alan Wilson and Henry Vestine, and drummer Adolfo De La Parra. 31 on the Billboard charts in December 1968. The festive song “Christmas Blues” was the B-side to “The Chipmunk Song,” which peaked at No. In late 1967, LA blues band Canned Heat were recording their album Boogie with Canned Heat with Dr John, when they added on the recording of a couple of singles with novelty band Alvin and the Chipmunks. “Blues for Christmas” features Jimmy Miller on trumpet, Johnny Hooks on tenor saxophone and Tom Whitehead on drums in the moody, slow blues lament for better festive times.īB King’s chart-topping 2001 album, A Christmas Celebration Of Hope, contained festive classics such as “Please Come Home For Christmas,” but one of the real highlights of the album is his own composition, “Christmas Love.” The instrumental track showed that, even at the age of 76, he had lost none of the skill that had made him one of the world’s most brilliant guitarists. John Lee Hooker has one of the most mournful voices in popular music and the singer-guitarist composed the bleak song “Blues for Christmas,” which included the lines “blues for Christmas/blue as I can be/I’m sitting here drinkin’/trying to drink my baby back.” The song was recorded in Detroit in 1949, in the era when Hooker was recording for the famous Chess label. Clapton’s album, which also features a version of “Silent Night” that is worthy of inclusion among the best Christmas blues songs, was co-produced by Clapton with Simon Climie and features cover art designed by the legendary guitarist. Grammy-winning Eric Clapton released his own Christmas album in 2018, after figuring out, as he put it, “how to play the blues lines in between the vocals of holiday songs.” His solo on “Christmas Tears” is eye-wateringly good. “Christmas Tears” was blues legend Freddie King’s Christmas anthem, written and recorded in 1961. (For something that’s got a little bit more swing and boogie, try “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’.”) King, who was known as “The Velvet Bulldozer” because of his smooth singing and size (he was 6’ 6”), adds some funk and blues for Christmas time. We didn’t know it was going to be a great big hit, but I thought it was unique.”Īlbert King: Christmas (Comes But Once A Year)Īlbert King took the song “Christmas (Comes But Once A Year),” which had been a hit for Amos Milburn in 1960, and gave it a makeover, playing some sizzling blues guitar. “I wrote the title ‘Merry Christmas Baby’, and I wrote the words, how I was going to sing it, and I mapped it out, played the piano, and I presented it to Johnny Moore. Brown, whose delicate slow-paced style influenced blues performances for two decades, said he helped Lou Baxter with the composition. “Merry Christmas” is probably the only song that has been covered by both Bruce Springsteen and Mae West, but the definitive version was released in 1947 by singer and pianist Charles Brown as part of Johnny Moore’s vocal group Three Blazers. (For a more upbeat bit of Christmas music from Berry, be sure to check “Run Rudolph Run.”) Louis days, including Jules Blattner (guitar) and Brian Hamilton (saxophone), offers a reminder of how good he was at singing ballads. Berry, backed by old friends from his St. The song is nostalgic, with Berry singing about being far away from home, far away from loved ones, and dreaming of wrapping Christmas presents. Chuck Berry’s most sentimental song, “Spending Christmas,” was recorded for Chess Records in Chicago in December 1964, and produced by label owners Phil and Leonard Chess.
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