My Favorite Christmas Albums

It's no secret that we love Christmas music (and Christmas movies) around our house. We play it almost exclusively from well before Thanksgiving until after New Year's Day. We've even been known to listen to a Christmas song or two in July.

While we enjoy most all Christmas Music, here are my 10 favorites with a few extras thrown in at the end:



10. A Motown Christmas

With Motown's roster back in the day, this album had no choice but to be outstanding. Michael, Stevie, The Temptations The Supremes, Smokey and Marvin knocked it out of the park with this one.



9. Elvis' Christmas Album - Elvis Presley

I remember listening to this on my grandparents' console turntable when I was a kid. Man, does this one bring back memories. I always thought Blue Christmas was about blue Christmas lights, which may explain my fondness for them today.




8. A Very She and Him Christmas - She & Him

This one is a much newer than the others on this list, but it fits right in. This is pure Christmas retro fun.




7. A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra

If you're dressed up at a Christmas party with a cocktail in your hand, what else are you going to listen to?




6. Christmas Portrait - Carpenters

Let's face it, the holidays aren't always perfect. The thing that really made Karen Carpenter stand out from the other great singers of her era was always, for me, that touch of sadness in her voice. These aren't sad songs, but underneath it all, she can make you feel what we all feel from time to time during this season.




5. Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald

You've heard many of these songs in various movies, even if you didn't know it. The title couldn't be more appropriate, and this is one of the most fun Christmas albums out there.



4. White Christmas - Bing Crosby

One word: classic. This is probably the album we play the most around our house, and it (along with any of my top 10) could be my favorite Christmas album on any given day.




3. A Winter Romance - Dean Martin

This one isn't strictly a "Christmas" album, as most of the songs are just about the season of winter. That makes it a perfect listen anytime the weather is cold, so it lets you stretch the Christmas spirit well past the holiday season. Also, check out the cover art. Dean was truly one of the original players.




2. The Beach Boys' Christmas Album

This album feels like a drive along the PCH in Southern California with the top down and the sun out.




1. A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Another gem that puts me smack dab in Southern California. I guess you can guess where I'd want to live if money wasn't an obstacle and I wasn't such a southern boy at heart.

We all know Phil's crazy, but he made a masterpiece here.

Honorable Mentions



Soul Christmas - As a mid-south resident, it was hard not to pick this one as part of the top 10 (especially picking the Motown Christmas above it). It is still one of my favorites, and it gives a little grittier take on Christmas music. Clarence Carter's Back Door Santa is great, but maybe not suitable for the office Christmas party. Otis shines on this one as well.




Elf: Music From The Motion Picture - Honestly, this one is in my top 10, but all these songs are found elsewhere...many of them on other albums in this list.




Christmas With The Rat Pack - Like the Elf soundtrack, this one is a top 10 favorite, but the best songs are found elsewhere on the list.




James Taylor At Christmas - I know, it sounds like a Williams Sonoma store, but who can really hate on James Taylor? When I need some relaxing Christmas tunes, this is my go to.




Songs for Christmas: Sufjan Stevens - Christmas tunes for the hipster in your life.

I know there are many other's I've left off, and many of my favorite songs, like Andy Williams' Most Wonderful Time of the Year and Alabama's Christmas in Dixie, are on albums I really haven't listened to that much. Maybe I'll have to expand the list in coming years to make way for all the Christmas cheer coming out of our speakers this time of year.

Happy listening, and have a Merry Christmas!

Favorite Things: 2013 Edition

2013 was a very eventful year for us. As you'll see in the list below, we had many life-changing events. Here are my favorite things about 2013 (in no particular order).

• Jason Isbell's Southeastern album. Seriously, just go listen to this album 5 times and see if it doesn't blow you away. 

• Weddings! I got to attend two awesome weddings this year, as both my sister-in-law and my brother were married this year. The weddings and the weather were both very different, but I couldn't imagine either of them being more perfect. 

 

 

• Baby! My family welcomed a new baby girl this year, and now I'm an uncle times 2.  

 

• Oxford. I seems like I haven't gotten to explore Oxford for the last few years, and it was nice to spend a couple of days around the Thanksgiving break just exploring my old stomping grounds. Rowan Oak, Square Books, Boure and The Rib Cage were all on the list of stops, and it felt great to reconnect. I even went for a run in the park where I ran dozens of times in college. A special thanks goes out to my mother-in-law for joining us for part of our trip around town. 

• Grizzlies. We rode with the Memphis Grizzles all the way to the Western Conference Finals, and we didn't miss a single playoff game (and went to half of the regular season games). It was an incredible experience that I'll never forget. 

 

• Paul McCartney. Crystel and I went to see McCartney at the FedEx Forum this year, and it was more incredible than I could have ever imagined.

• A new house. We sold our 2 bedroom cottage in Memphis and moved to Germantown this year. You can give me all the grief you want about moving to the burbs, but I'm closer to family, have room for overnight guests, have a garage to work on our old cars, have a home gym, and I'm closer to work (much closer to some of my work sites). 

• My new duet partner. At Christmas, my niece Eliza finally joined in the family jam session. She gave me a list of songs to learn on guitar so she could sing, and we got to try them out. She's a natural, and with a few more practice sessions we'll be setting the stage on fire. 

 

• Santa? Oh yeah, Santa came by to visit our house on Christmas Eve. Not sure why he was shaking my dad's hand, but maybe he was letting him know he made the naughty list again this year. 

 

• Family. With the weddings, baby and new house I feel like we've been closer to family this year, and it's been a good change. 

 

• Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi. I bought this book by William Faulkner's niece, Dean Faulkner Wells on the aforementioned trip to Oxford, and it's become one of my favorite reads. If you are a fan of Oxford or Faulkner, I'd highly suggest it. 

• Day Trip Explorations. You never know what's just outside your door if you don't get out there. This year, we checked out the small Tennessee towns of Rossville, Covington, Arlington, Moscow, Somerville and Brownsville. We also went to Jones Orchard to pick peaches and took my first trip to Murfreesboro. You can find something cool wherever you go, and we found things we liked in each of these places. 

 

• Gerald and Joan. Crystel started a new business this year, and seeing her figure this whole thing out as she goes has been exciting to watch. Her new flexible schedule has also given us the time to think about what we really want out of life. 
• Professional growth. I feel like I've learned more and been challenged more in 2013 than any other time in my career. Life is much better when you enjoy going to work every day.
• My home gym. In 2014, I won't have an anxiety attack every time I try to work out around all the new year's resolutioners. Seriously, the gyms suck for the first two months of every year. Now I can squat, dead lift and bench press in peace.

• Our annual screening of The Apartment. I won't let myself watch this movie more than once a year, so I won't get tired of it. It really was ahead of its time, and quite scandalous. Watching a documentary about the making of the movie, I learned that they couldn't have made this film any earlier because the code the filmmakers followed wouldn't allow some of the scenes to be produced. 

All in all, 2013 was a fantastic year. It was exhausting, no doubt, but a good year. I can't wait to see what surprises 2014 has in store.

What were your favorite things about 2013?