Elvis Presley - Christmas Album - CD

It may seem weird to call a seasonal album "essential", but along with Phil Spector's Christmas Gift for You, this is arguably the finest rock & roll Christmas album of all time. Recorded in 1957 at the height of his artistry--when he truly could be called the King of Rock & Roll--this album demonstrates Presley having a lot of vocal fun with a variety of styles, whether it's a carol ("Silent Night") or pop standard (Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus"). He does one of the greatest versions of "White Christmas" ever recorded, basically using the Drifters' version as a blueprint--and then singing all the parts himself. His "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is definitive--but the best moments are the "new" tracks written specifically for this release, including the classic "Blue Christmas", Lieber & Stoller's "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" (one of the most sexually suggestive holiday tunes ever), and the wonderful, pop-based "Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me". All these tracks are available on the King of Rock 'n' Roll box set--but if you don't own that, this belongs under any Christmas tree--though Elvis fans have been known to listen to tracks from this in the middle of July!

Now considered among the greatest Christmas albums of all-time, ELVIS' CHRISTMAS ALBUM was originally mired in controversy. When the album was first released in 1957, many Americans considered Presley a menace to society, an amoral hip-shaking freak. The idea of this "punk" profaning Christmas and Christianity (the album, after all, includes four gospel songs) set off the type of uproar most publicists only dream about. Upon hearing Elvis' version of "White Christmas" (actually a close copy of The Drifters' earlier recording), songwriter Irving Berlin mounted a campaign to prevent radio play of the song. Deejays were actually fired for playing the track!
Nonetheless, ELVIS' CHRISTMAS ALBUM quickly ascendedthe pop charts and established itself among the handful of holiday perennials. Whether crooning a solemn classic like "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" or rocking through "Santa BringMy Baby Back to Me", Elvis is clearly in command of the material, often sounding like he's having the time of his life.RCA reissued the album many times, adding and/or omitting numbers and resequencing the album. The original twelve-song version, starting with the raucous "Santa Claus is Back in Town" and ending with "It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)", is the best.

 

Track Listings