Friday, December 23, 2011

"Who's Got a Beard that's long and white?"

By Russel D McLean

I don't know about you, but I'm having a busy week of it. Given the nature of my day job, I've been a little tired upon returning home at nights. But its almost over. Its a lot of work for one day a year, but for me its never been about the gifts so much as its been about the family. And the music.

Chritmas at Casa McLean isn't about the usual Chrimbo tunes. We like to find the odd and the unusual. From Dad's obsession with redneck Christmas music to the whole family's recently discovered adoration of Bob Dylan's unfairly maligned Christmas album - here's Bob with Santa Claus (which was apparently filmed at Casa McLean judging by that party):



And of course we also have to bring in the funk. And who says Christmas more than James Brown?

James Brown - Santa Claus, go Straight to the Ghetto


To bring it down, we recently discovered that Dave Brubeck has an amazing collection of Christmas tunes. Like this - -Dave Brubeck - Walking in a Winter Wonderland


And then there's these guys. We're not a particularly religious family. For us, this time of year is about spending time with each other. But if you're going to bring a bit of gospel to your Christmas, you really can't do any better than these guys: Blind Boys of Alabama fear Tom Waits - Go, Tell it on the Mountain


Yes, today's post was a little lazy; a bunch of videos with a vague theme. But I just wanted to wish you all on behalf of Do Some Damage a happy holiday season, whatever you're doing with yourselves and however you choose to spend it. Take care and I'll see you on the other side.

Russel

*Answer - not Russel. At least not for a few years.

1 comment:

Scott D. Parker said...

Never knew about the Brubeck CD. I'll put that on track for next year--seeing as there's only two more days to listen to Christmas music. I vary widely in my tastes. I love big, brassy renditions of songs most of all, so that why I trend towards Chicago and Brian Setzer and Harry Connick and Tony Bennett. But I also love the unique, like Sting and Bruce Cockburn and Jars of Clay. And there's no bearing the sublime nature of the Guaraldi music to Charlie Brown. Thanks for the tip on Brubeck.