Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Saturday Night at the Oldies: Christmas Tunes

BoulevardierMerry Christmas everybody.  Pour yourself a drink, and enjoy.  Me, I'm nursing a Boulevardier.  It's a Negroni with cojones: swap out the gin for bourbon.  One ounce bourbon, one ounce sweet vermouth, one ounce Campari, straight up or on the rocks, with a twist of orange.  A serious libation.  It'll melt a snowflake for sure. The vermouth rosso contests the harshness of the bourbon, but then the Campari joins the fight on the side of the bourbon. 

Or you  can think of it as a Manhattan wherein the Campari substitutes for the angostura bitters.  That there are people who don't like Campari shows that there is no hope for humanity. An irrational prejudice against artichokes? Razzismo vegetale!

Cheech and Chong, Santa Claus and His Old Lady
Canned Heat, Christmas Boogie

Leon Redbone and Dr. John, Frosty the Snowman
Beach Boys, Little St. Nick.  A rarely heard alternate version.

Elvis Presley, Blue Christmas.  

Captain Beefheart, There Ain't No Santa Claus on the Evening Stage

Charles Brown, Please Come Home for Christmas

Eric Clapton, Cryin' Christmas Tears
Judy Collins, Silver Bells

Ry Cooder, Christmas in Southgate
Bob Dylan, Must Be Santa

Is this the same guy who sang Desolation Row back in '65?  This is the 'stoned' version.  It'll grow on you! Give it chance. YouTuber comment: "The original was already the stoned version." An alternate version for the true Dylan aficionado with period shots of Albert Grossmann, et al.

Bob Dylan, Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache. Not Christmasy, but a good tune.  Remember Bob Luman? His version. Luman's signature number.

Who could possibly follow Dylan's growl except

Tom Waits, Silent Night.  Give it a chance. 

The Band, Christmas Must be Tonight

A surprising number of Christmas songs were written by Jews.  


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

6 responses to “Saturday Night at the Oldies: Christmas Tunes”

  1. Joe Odegaard Avatar

    A carol form Russia, with English subtitles. Very beautiful and hopeful. The group is “Otava Yo” (Little Apple). They have been together for 20 years, They are sort of the Chieftains of Russia. Enjoy.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJeYu35eRlU

  2. oz Avatar
    oz

    Happy Christmas from London. I have the ingredients for both a Boulevardier (Jack’s) and a Negroni (London Gin) but not made one yet.

  3. Malcolm Pollack Avatar

    It’s nice to see Beefheart make the Saturday night list!

  4. BV Avatar
    BV

    Oz,
    You could celebrate Kwanzaa with the Negroni and New Years Eve with the Boulevardier.

  5. BV Avatar
    BV

    Malcolm,
    And it is nice to see you blogging again. Good to see you back in the groove.
    You mentioned Western Rifle Shooters. The following piece by Chris Hedges, which I found there, is something you might want to respond to. https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-culture-of-deceit

  6. Joe Odegaard Avatar

    Here’s some real Western Rifle Shooting, at the “U-pick Sagebrush Ranch.” Enjoy !
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLZcmLAMGcU
    Portae Inferi Non Praevalebunt.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *