Search - Various Artists :: Blue Yule

One Of The Better Christmas Blues Compilations!

deepbluereview | SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA | 05/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I tracked this down during this Christmas season after hearing Canned Heat's "Christmas Baby" on a Heineken commercial of all places. Immediately hooked, I sent off an e-mail asking Heineken for the name of the song and to my surprise, they responded. Searching on Amazon, I found it on this CD and purchased it. What was bought for one song soon became my favorite Christmas compilation complete with Big Jack Johnson, Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson. Even the lesser known Poppa Hop and The Pilgrim Travelers make notable contributions on this disc.
A good pick for this upcoming Christmas holiday."

More Blue Than Yule!!!

chris meesey Food Czar | The Colony, TX United States | 12/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, let's see. As I write this review, the date is December 8th, 2004, and it's another two weeks and three days till Christmas finally arrives on the 25th. Since virtually every place in Creation started playing Christmas music on November 1st, you've had 38 days to become thoroughly SICK of the same dozen songs played over and over again from every radio station and retail establishment. Want some relief? How about an album chock-full of great Christmas BLUES music, that truly sounds more like blues that like standard, overplayed holiday ditties? Well, folks, get this CD!! It's nice and long (18 tracks) and only one or two numbers are overly familiar (and one of those, Charles Brown's immortal "Merry Christmas Baby," is usually considered the top Christmas blues recording of all time!) Standouts include Canned Heat (Their song is straightforward blues, not the novelty track they spun with ALvin and the Chipmunks), Detroit Junior with his hard-driving boogie "Christmas Day", the Pilgrim Travelers and their delightful, close-harmony doo-wop gospel classic, "I'll Be Home for Christmas," and the always-irrepresible Louis Jordan with "Santa Claus, Santa Claus." There's not a bad number in the bunch, but the pick of this holiday litter must go to Edddie Campbell and his delicious take on the Junior Wells masterpiece, here titled "Santa's Messin' With the Kid". So don't delay! Order today, there's still time to get it rushed to you by Christmas. Do it, and the best yuletide blues and r and b will be home to you, if not by Christmas, then by New Years night."

Look what Santa did!

Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 12/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Blues musicians don't record Christmas songs that often, but Rhino Records managed to find 18 Christmas blues songs for this CD. Charles Brown's definitive recording of "Merry Christmas Baby" is well known, but the rest of the tracks are pretty obscure. There are a lot of good songs here, with my personal favorites being the ones by Eddie C. Campbell and Canned Heat. If you have any interest in the blues, this is the Christmas CD to get."