Track Listing

1. Jingle Bells
2. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
3. Winter Wonderland
4. White Christmas
5. Christmas Song
6. Silver Bells
7. Merry Christmas, Baby
8. Blue Christmas
9. Sweet Little Jesus Boy
10. Silent Night
11. We Three Kings
12. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4901 in Music
• Released on: 1991-10-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Album Description
Spend the holidays with these Memphis legends as they serve up a lip-smacking instrumental menu of Christmas classics, warmed by the down-home glow of a barbecue's savory coals -- all from the original Stax analog masters.

Amazon.com
There's no reason to believe the little drummer boy didn't break into a danceable groove every now and again--and no cause to think that Christmas music has to be listened to from an easy chair. This legendary rhythm & blues combo spreads the spirit of the season in much the same way it did its many chart- toppers--with a greasy backbeat and a heaping helping of cool keyboards courtesy of Booker T himself. Originally issued in 1966, this disc lets the MGs strut through deftly arranged versions of Christmas standards like "Winter Wonderland" and "Silver Bells" with sass, class, and more than enough panache to keep it on your system through the New Year. --David Sprague

Customer Reviews

Booker T. is coming to town
This is Booker T. and the MG's classic Christmas album. It is, of course, performed in their traditional soul instrumental style. If you are familiar with Booker T. and the MG's, you know what to expect. It is a lot of fun to listen to. One of the fun things about this album, is that they will play a few bars of another Christmas song during the song. For instance, "Silver Bells" features a few seconds of "Frosty the Snowman, and "We Three Kings" contains several seconds of "O Come All Ye Faithful". I would recommend this album to anyone who likes classic soul music.

Birth of the Christmas Cool
Wow. Booker T makes these standards sound as if they were written for a four-piece R&B band. The first two sounds you hear are Duck Dunn's driving bass and the light "shing-shing-shing" of jingle bells on the title track. As Duck's bass propels the rhythm forward, Booker slowly brings the organ in on melody, with Cropper's adding fills on rhythm guitar about halfway into the song. From that point on, this is the most laid-back, mellow, relaxing and just flat-out **cool** Christmas music you're likely to hear this side of Jimmy Smith's "Christmas Cookin'." or the Charlie Brown Christmas album. Absolutely get this record if you like Paul Desmond, Jimmy Smith, or Ben Webster; and if Booker T. is new to you, then this album may only stay on your CD player into March or April.

Ahead of their time back in 1966 and still cool now
Back in 1966 when the vinyl version of this CD first hit the streets, people were somewhat stunned at the jazzy instrumental treatment of Christmas traditionals. The CD is still very cool today. If you liked "Green Onions" and the other Booker T music back in the day, you're going to like this vintage CD. I was very surprised and pleased to see it available.