We’ll take a quick break from our A&M tradition for this one. December 9, 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the first airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, a television special that is no doubt imprinted on many of our memories as an integral part of Christmas. The plot involves Charlie Brown searching for the true meaning …
Category: Holidays
Holiday Track: Miguel Rios, “Song of Joy”
While it technically is not a “holiday” song per se, “A Song of Joy” does occasionally appear on Christmas albums. It is also a great reason for us to feature A&M artist Miguel Rios, performing his #14 hit. The melody itself was an adaption of the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (also known as “Ode to Joy”), and the only Miguel Rios song to crack the Top 40 in the US. It was also released as a Spanish version, “Himno de la Alegría,” which reached the #1 spot on music charts around the world in 1970.
Holiday Track: Baja Marimba Band’s “Partridge in a Pear Tree”
Originally appearing on the third Baja Marimba Band LP For Animals Only, “Partridge in a Pear Tree” is an arrangement of “Twelve Days of Christmas.” Featuring the mallets of Julius Wechter, it would also appear among the ten tracks of the A&M Something Festive compilation.
Holiday Track: Shawn Phillips’ “A Christmas Song”
This is a swingin’ little folksy tune performed in a storytelling mode by Shawn Phillips, who recorded for A&M in the 1970s. This was originally a single, and it now appears on the reissue of his Faces album. It is somewhat a rarity, yet it’s one of A&M’s coolest holiday singles of all time!
Holiday Track: Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66’s “The Christmas Song”
One of the more popular rare Brasil ’66 tracks is “The Christmas Song.” It can be found on a couple of scattered holiday compilations (in a badly edited, extended version), but it is a non-album track that originally appeared on the A&M Something Festive compilation.
Holiday Track: Carpenters’ “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”
Long before Carpenters released their first Christmas album, two singles were released. Richard’s ear for a unique arrangement resulted in this slow rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” The original 1974 single mix appears on the 45RPM single, along with a rare Japan 3-inch CD box set of their singles, as well as a recent offering of their singles by PBS. The track would appear as a remix on their Old Fashioned Christmas album. They would record this song twice–the second version they would record was the more upbeat variety, as heard on their first holiday album, Christmas Portrait. Both albums are available in their original track lineups as Christmas Collection, albeit with remixed tracks.
This video contains footage from a television appearance, to which they lip sync the track.