Hit “Refresh” on Your Christmas Song Standards
One of the challenges of American radio listening in the months of November and December is the number of stations that have gone to an “All Christmas Songs, All the Time” format. It might be easier if it weren’t “All the Same Versions of Christmas Songs All the Time.”
Just take the ‘W” Bing! Having the biggest selling single of all time (50 million copies) should be enough — give other folks a chance.
If you hear “White Christmas” this Christmas, chances are it’ll be Bing Crosby crooning it. If it’s “The Christmas Song,” it must be Nat King Cole. And the only question on that song about Rudolph is whether you’ll be listening to Gene Autry’s #1 single version from 1939 or Burl Ives’ take from the TV special. If you somehow avoid hearing the same-old versions on commercial radio, they’ll be pumped through the air around you in grocery stores, malls or elevators. And even in the privacy of your own headphones, you won’t be able to escape Wham’s “Last Christmas” or Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” – those songs have, to date, been played 1.9 and 1.5 BILLION times on Spotify.
It’s not that other artists haven’t tried to get their own versions in your head. It seems like a rite of passage for any new recording artist to do a Christmas album; they generally manage this with all the enthusiasm an artist can muster in July and all the creativity of a bowl of oatmeal.
And so the agreed-upon versions of the songs persist.
But YOU can stop this. There are good, fun, creative, thought-provoking alternatives to the most-played recordings of popular Christmas songs. Here are ten that I think will delight you (including which of the 3700 (!) covers of Silent Night you should try)!
First a quick summary of my recommendations (these are best to listen to on a streaming service, but all are also available on YouTube):
1. “Little Drummer Boy” Give a rim shot to Sinatra, but The Temptations do it better
2. “My Favorite Things” You’ll always have Julie Andrews; try John Coltrane for a change
3. “Rudolph” Burl Ives didn’t answer the real questions as well as Jack Johnson
4. “Baby It’s Cold Outside” Leon Redbone is pretty creepy singing the original lyrics to Zooey Deschanel in the most popular modern version; in this new version John Legend calls Kelly Clarkson an Uber
5. “Home for the Holidays” No mo’ Perry Como; try Randy Travis
6. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” Let’s be Frank; there are a lot of other options
7. “White Christmas” ding Bing; try Otis Redding
8. “Santa Baby” scratch Eartha Kitt; play The Christmas All Stars
9. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” if you’re tired of the pathos of Johnny Mathis, try Rascal Flatts
10. “Silent Night” Mr. Crosby, meet Enya (or The Temptations)
That’s it for those of you who just want to get on to the listening. For those of you asking “WHY?” here’s my rationale:
“Little Drummer Boy” – The Temptations (1970): The go-to version of the song is from Frank Sinatra. Normally I love me some Frank, but there are sooo many other interesting versions. For sheer coolness and variety (in many ways), I could recommend versions you can watch on video by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, with a drummer wandering near the Arctic Circle or the Pentatonix’ version with a mouth drum, but the GOAT of drummer boys is on the GOAT of Christmas albums, by The Temptations. That’s because the Temps feature what almost all the covers miss – um, THE DRUMMER. Their version manages to fully bring the funk without spoiling the message of the song. Irresistible.
John Coltrane reimagines “My Favorite Things” —
a gazillion times in 13 minutes.
“My Favorite Things” – John Coltrane - Remastered Version (1961): There are some who argue that “My Favorite Things” is not a Christmas song (probably the same people who question whether “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie), but “Things” does have sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles. And you do hear the Julie Andrews or Andy Williams versions a lot during the Christmas season. What you don’t hear nearly often enough is what John Coltrane did with it. Admit it: you’ve always wondered how many different variations on the tune a soprano sax could play in 13 minutes. No? Well, Coltrane answers the question anyway (bonus: McCoy Tyner on piano for the track).
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” – Jack Johnson (2002): If you’re like me, you always wondered how Rudolph reacted when his friends rhino-mocked him and Santa assumed he could pull it off despite his reindeer-games-exclusion. Did he ever feel like rubbing their noses in it during the post-sleigh-guiding high-hoofing? Gene Autry and Burl Ives never answer those questions in the most-played versions. With an infectious guitar rhythm and an understated vocal, Jack Johnson’s take finally gives Rudolph a voice and forces his friends to answer for the dissing.
“Baby It’s Cold Outside” – John Legend, Kelly Clarkson (2019): The version we hear most often these days, recorded for Elf in 2003 by Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone, is almost magical – but it’s hard these days not to hear the man as a manipulative sexual predator. Jimmy Buffett and Nadirah Shakoor tried solving the problem by just reversing the genders, but that just meant she was slipping him a Roofie. The lyrics were due for a rewrite. In this version with John Legend and Kelly Clarkson, Legend flips the script, falling all over himself to get his date safely home in an Uber. Just as clever as ever and ready for another generation.
“Home for the Holidays” Randy Travis (2021 remastered) The classic Muzak performance of this song comes from Perry Como, who performs it with a 60’s Lawrence Welk orchestra and a besequinned bunch of backup singers who must have just been listening to “The Wells Fargo Wagon” from Broadway’s Music Man. To chase that schlock out of your mind, listen as Randy Travis shows you how to do it bouncy and bluegrass.
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (pick ‘em) I went down a deep rabbit hole on this one and ended up with no final pick – just a recommendation that there are a lot more great versions than the one that is most often played by Frank Sinatra. I started off wanting to give my remake recommendation to Luther Vandross, who can transform any song into a cool slow jam. But then I found a bunch of other versions that were just as interesting for different reasons. The biggest-selling one, by Sam Smith, is amazing, spare and haunting. Diana Krall’s take on it, with just a piano and brush drums, has the same effect. Josh Groban and John Legend both hit number one on adult contemporary charts with very different approaches. Groban gives a Broadway performance; Legend (with Esperanza Spalding) does a bouncy arrangement and stays in conflict with the drummer for most of the song. If you have a streaming service (like Spotify or Apple music) I’d invite you to just type in the name of the song and follow me into the rabbit hole.
“White Christmas”- Otis Redding (1968): The reason we hear Bing Crosby’s version so often is because it is so good – he was at peak croon, oozing confidence and reassurance. And then there’s the drop-the-mic-awesome whistle verse. Still, with more than 2100 cover versions out there, you may need some help in finding an alternative. Otis Redding avoids the temptation to try to imitate Bing and instead gives us an angsty slow jam that makes my tear ducts glisten as my ears listen to sleighbells in the snow.
“Santa Baby” The Christmas All Stars (1997): Forget what you thought this song was about when you hear Eartha Kitt sing it – this version takes it in a more-sobering direction while still keeping the infectious chorus hook. The Christmas All Stars, with verses from Snoop Dog, Diddy and others, chorus by Salt-N-Pepa, the song is definitely worth taking a close listen to.
Rascal Flatts’ version of “I’ll Be Home” will make your day.
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” Rascal Flatts (2008): Bing Crosby recorded the first version of this song during World War II; Elvis Presley did a popular cover in 1957 just before entering the Army; the most-played version is an over-the-top version by Johnny Mathis. But try Rascal Flatts. They rediscover the simple pain of the song: it really hurts to be away from family and friends over the holidays. Gorgeous a capella harmonies.
“Silent Night” (Oiche Chiun) – Enya (1997): As of this week, there were more than 3700 versions of this song, making it the most covered song of all time, so chances are you have heard a lot of takes already. Most popular still is Bing Crosby’s version. But try Enya instead. Her version captures all the beauty and mystery and holiness of the song and sounds like what you might have heard in Franz Gruber’s church in 1818 if he had angels available to perform it for him and they spoke Gaelic in Oberndorf. As good as it is, it only beats out The Temptations’ version because I am limiting myself to one song per artist.
So that’s it. I hope you enjoy some of these as much as I do. Please share your favorite alt-versions in the comments…..
-Leslie
References:
Most streamed Christmas songs: https://leadership.ng/top-10-most-streamed-christmas-songs/
Norwegian version of “Little Drummer Boy”: https://youtu.be/-VGQZwIlWiU?si=uhJ_GW14GHsyCmiD
The musical case that Die Hard is a Christmas movie: https://www.tiktok.com/@therealalfieboe/video/7306138946176584993?lang=en
Silent Night most-covered song ever, White Christmas #3: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2023/12/08/silent-night-covers/