Radio Faux Show Volume 3, Number 30: Top 20 Holiday Albums of All Time
This Week’s Theme: Top 20 Holiday Albums of All Time
This year’s Radio Faux Show Holiday Music Series wraps up with a Faux household Top 20 countdown. It also serves as the first of several Best Of lists that will wrap up the shows for the rest of the year.
As explained in the first entry in this holiday series (back in 2021), we listen to a lot of holiday music in the Faux household. After collecting holiday music for 25 years, we obviously have favorites. Trying to rank them is virtually impossible, but I’ve done my best to compile 20 of our main go-to albums when the season starts. We always start with the first Brian Setzer holiday album. We listen to the Carpenters while decorating our main tree (we have more than one…many more). We listen to old albums like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald when we are cooking. We listen to Phil Spector’s album on all occasions. We simply love holiday music.
Here are the Top 20 albums, in no particular order.
Brian Setzer: Boogie Woogie Christmas – This is now a holiday classic; one of the only modern holiday classics.
Various Artists: Jingle Bell Jazz – the fact that Miles Davis was talked into recording a new song for this holiday jazz album in 1962 is something all jazz fans should be thankful for because it is how he was introduced to a young horn player named Wayne Shorter. Thank you Santa.
Oscar Peterson: An Oscar Peterson Christmas – Recorded in 1995, two years after he suffered a stroke that removed him from performing for a short time, this is not a recording of the virtuosic pianist who helped define the instrument in the ’50s and ’60s. Still, it is a strong album of straight-ahead jazz versions of holiday tunes.
Elvis Presley: Elvis’ Christmas Album – If Nat King Cole isn’t your definitive holiday album then this probably is. The hymns don’t hold up as well as the rock and roll tunes, but those are some of the last true rock and roll recordings he made. For that reason alone, this one deserves to live on.
The Beach Boys‘ Christmas Album – If only modern day artists would still make holiday albums while in their prime. Mariah Carey did it and still reaps the rewards of that decision. Just imagine if there was a Duran Duran holiday album from 1984 or a Lynyrd Skynyrd holiday album from 1975!
Various Artists: A Christmas Record – In 1981, no wave label ZE Records released a collection of original holiday compilations by its stable of artists. Holy crap! What a great idea! This type of money grab usually results in a forgettable compilation, but this one is fantastic even without the now-classic “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses.
Ray Charles: Spirit of Christmas – This is The Genius of Soul’s only holiday album and the best record he made after the early ’70s (although I also love his late ’70s album True To Life, this one is better).
Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas – Charles M. Schulz loved jazz. You probably didn’t know that. That is why, when he was asked to produce his first TV special, he went to his favorite jazz artist and asked him to compose and perform for it. I think they both made the right decision!
Frank Sinatra: A Jolly Christmas – This was Ol’ Blue Eyes‘ first holiday album and it is still a gem.
Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas – This was her only Verve holiday album and it is still a gem.
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Nutcracker Suite – This should be a classic, but it seems to be overlooked by many. It is a hallmark in big band jazz arrangement, as are many Billy Strayhorn/Duke Ellington productions.
Stevie Wonder: Someday At Christmas – His eighth album was a holiday album. It is great. Thank you Motown.
Various Artists: Santa’s Funk and Soul Christmas Party, Volume 2 – There are now four volumes in this amazing series of holiday funk and soul compilations. The songs are curated from the depths of the lost funk tunes of the last half of the 20th century. This volume is the best because of “Deck The Halls” and one of the greatest arrangements of “Jingle Bells.”
Phil Spector‘s A Christmas Gift For You: This record presents the original version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and the now-standard arrangement of “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” (only the Motown arrangement can compete with this one).
Hall and Oates: Home For Christmas – It is common for artists to release holiday albums of lackluster material late in their careers. That is not the case here, as this is the duo’s best post-80s album.
The Carpenters: Christmas Portrait – This one dates back to Ms. Faux’s childhood as a personal favorite that was listened to annually by her family.
Barbra Streisand: A Christmas Album – Every song is gorgeous because no one has a voice like hers. Plus, this version of “Jingle Bells” is a classic.
The Ventures’Christmas Album – The use of early ’60s songs as a mode for presenting traditional holiday tunes adds a nice sense of nostalgia to what is essentially a fun novelty holiday album.
James Brown: Soulful Christmas – He recorded dozens of albums during a ten year period in the late ’60s/early ’70s, and luckily he threw some holiday albums in there. “Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto” is a classic, but the rest of the songs are great as well.
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: It’s a Holiday Soul Party – This is arguably the best holiday album of the 21st century. I’m not sure why they made it, but we should all be very glad that they did.
The next Faux Show will be a Best Of list for 2023. I’ve listened to so much music this year that I’ve broken my Best Of into multiple shows. Until then, as always, thanks for listening, and reading!
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