Gifts & Wishes -> Soundtrack Songs (Holiday Edition): The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)

Alvin & The Chipmunks: Christmas Don't Be Late

[purchase]

Okay, I'm cheating a little here. Technically, this song does NOT count for our coming theme, as it was recorded in '58, sans visual imagery, and went on to top the charts, garnering its author and sped-up tripartite singer Ross Bagdasarian three Grammys: Best comedy performance, Best children's recording, and Best engineered record (non-classical).

But given how famous it made the Chipmunks themselves, it's no surprise to find that the song managed to feature prominently in several subsequent television incarnations, from the short-lived sixties cartoon The Alvin Show to the '81 Alvin and the Chipmunks special A Chipmunk Christmas.

Which means that if you're young enough, like me, you can't help but visualize the characters themselves when you hear it. And here's the true test, really: if you picture the Chipmunks as cartoons with the above personalities, then you, too, have the boob tube image in YOUR head - for the original record sleeve showed three fairly realistic chipmunks, not the cartoonish characters with personality we all recognize.

Really. Check it out:



Looks wrong, doesn't it?

And that's the point of our coming theme, after all: to post songs which we cannot help but see in our mind's eye, due to their origin in the films and television specials of the holiday season. Now that this "cheat" is out of the way, we can focus on those songs - both originals, and particular versions of classic carols - which really do spring from the screen. Expect some nostalgic images atop this week's post, folks. And enjoy the season, both on and off the tube.

Gifts & Wishes: We Three Kings of Orient Are

Gregg Miner: We Three Kings of Orient Are

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Of course the three kings are the original Christmas gift givers. But it seems odd that the three kings/wise men would travel all the way from the Far East and still get there in time to see the Baby Jesus while he was still a baby, until you realize that the term "the Orient" used to refer to what we now call the Mid-East. As the Europeans' knowledge of Asia expanded, so did the meaning of the word.

And so multi-instrumentalist Gregg Miner gives the song an appropriately Middle-Eastern feel, with the oboe, the Egyptian oud and the Turkish saz leading the way. Gregg released two wonderful instrumental Christmas albums that are essential for anyone with a fetish for unique instruments. His collection of mostly stringed instruments (from "The Miner Museum of Vintage, Exotic, and Just Plain Unusual Musical Instruments") is only surpassed by his ability to play them all. This is the guy I always wanted to be. And the beautiful booklets that accompanies the two CDs are pure instrument porn for someone like me.

Gifts & Wishes: Wassail Song

Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum: Wassail Song

[purchase]

Caroling is a nice part of the holiday season. There is a knock at your door, and when you open it, you are greeted by a cluster of people singing seasonal songs. Often, there are a few parents and a great many more children among the singers. Nothing could be sweeter and more innocent, yes? But the tradition of caroling comes from wassailing, an activity that was, at various times, banned by the church.

Wassailing was not an activity for children. Usually a group of men would take a wassailing bowl, fill it with either ale or mulled hard cider, and go door to door. In exchange for their songs of good wishes for the new year and a sip from their bowl, the wassailers expected a treat or sometimes a payment. If they did not get it, they would sometimes curse the house of the person who did not compensate them, or even vandalize their house. Another wassailing tradition is to visit an apple orchard, and ritually wake the trees. This is done by making as much noise as possible, and then making an offering to the trees by pouring some cider from the wassailing bowl on the base of each tree. This was done to insure a good apple harvest. You can find more information on the wassailing traditions here.

The Wassail Song performed by Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum is a variation on the familiar Gloucester Wassail. Lewis and Rozum perform the song with some older and less known lyrics, and the arrangement emphasizes that this is an old song. But, old though it may be, Lewis and Rozum make it sound fresh.

Gifts & Wishes: All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle

Dora Bryan: All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle

[unpurchaseable]

A totally sixties love song penned and sung by Brit stage actress Dora Bryan, who at 39 sounds so eager to cash in on Beatle-mania she doesn't seem to care that her song a) is a bit over-orchestrated for the teen set, and b) states no preference as to which Beatle Santa brings, which, as anyone who has even read a book about the sixties can tell you, was a social gaffe of the highest order. It's got a sort of naive charm, though - something light for the holidays, if nothing else.

Bryan's short single is notable for being the first novelty record about the Beatles - it was actually released in '63, before the band had even released their first single on American shores - but it certainly wouldn't be the last. In fact, Marsh and Propes' book Merry Christmas Baby notes several more holiday tunes along these lines, including "Ringo Bells" by the Three Blonde Mice, "Christmas with the Beatles" by Judy and the Duets, "I Want A Beatle For Christmas" by Becky Lee Beck and "I Want the Beatles for Christmas" by Jackie and Jill.

I've heard Becky Lee Beck's '64 original, and found it a bit like Annette Funicello taking on The Munster's Theme - trust me, this isn't worth passing along even for the novelty, though you can check it out on YouTube if you have two minutes of your life you never want back. But I'd love to hear that last one; bonus points to anyone who can find it to share.