Twelve Songs of Christmas

A packed episode with new Christmas music from Phoebe Bridgers, Nick Lowe with Los Straitjackets, and guitarist Patrick Droney, who covers Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" as part of this season's Spotify Singles.

This week I have two interviews. First, I talk to singer Judith Owen and comic actor and satirist Harry Shearer, who have hosted "Christmas Without Tears"--a holiday Christmas party on stage--yearly since 2005. They talk about the event, Christmas music, and their plans to stream "A Very Virtual Christmas Without Tears" on Friday, December 11. Normally, they would have musical guests from the cities they perform in; this year, they'll have performances from Richard Thompson, Jon Cleary, Steve Lukather with Ringo Starr, Julia Fordham, Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony, The Stanton Moore Trio, burlesque artist Trixie Minx, Chris Difford of Squeeze, actor John Goodman, Donald Fagen, and many more. 

I interviewed Owen and Shearer about Christmas music for MySpiltMilk.com in 2012, and recently I talked to Shearer about his new album, The Many Moods of Donald Trump. 

After that, I talk to actress Amy Carlson (FBI: Most Wanted, Blue Bloods, The Society) and guitarist Seth Jabour (Les Savy Fav, 8G Band) to discuss Office Romance, their project with Syd Butler, also of Les Savy Fav and the 8G Band. So far, they have got together to record two Christmas records, the most recent of which, Holidays of Love, was released this fall. We talk about Amy's love of the classic Christmas compilations--the kind I talked about with Joe Adragna of The Junior League last year--and how Jabour and Butler's job making music for The Late Show with Seth Meyers helped them write music for the album. 

For the occasion, Carlson put together a Spotify playlist of songs that inspired her or that we talked about in our conversation.

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This week's episode represents two opposite ends of the musical spectrum--the quieter, romantic sounds of pianist Jim Brickman and the prog-rock power of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Both are associated with Christmas music and have recorded more than their fair share of it, and both were scheduled to be on tour this year during the holiday season.

I talk to Brickman about the series of live-streamed shows he will undertake via Zoom starting on November 29 that will in part benefit the venues he was scheduled to play while tour, all of which have faced severe financial hardship since they can't present shows. Fans will have multiple chances to see him this December, while Trans-Siberian Orchestra will play one live-streamed show on December 18. How the TSO spectacle will translate to the television or computer is an open question.

Brickman talks about the close relationship between his seasonal music and the music he makes the rest of the year--an affinity so close that it makes sense that he has recorded numerous Christmas albums.

I talked to Al Pitrelli, musical director for TSO in 2018. Today I talk to drummer Jeff Flake - a TSO lifer - about what a TSO member does during the fall when he or she doesn't have a tour. And what does he listen to for Christmas? 

This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and if you need some music to help you be thankful this year - an understandable condition - here's a Spotify playlist from listener Michael Maling to help you feel the day. Masked. At a distance. 

If you like this week’s show, subscribe or follow 12 Songs at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and now, Pandora.

The Flaming Lips have recorded a lot of Christmas music, and Steven Drozd and I talk about why that makes sense for the psychedelic rock band as we talk about their Christmas output. He goes back to the version of “Little Drummer Boy” that they worked out in the van on the way to an in-store in Minneapolis and comes forward to 2019’s cover of David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” and his own “Christmas Snowflakes on the Autobahn,” which he describes as “Kraftwerk meets Mannheim Streamroller.”

The conversation meanders to cover not only their output over the years including Atlas Eets Christmas, a project he initiated that was released under the name Imagene Peise. He talks about recording the title track with Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon, and singer Wayne Coyne’s deep commitment to Christmas. We discuss the musical mystery that is Jackie Gleason, his feelings about Christmas on Mars, his podcast, Sorcerer's Orphan, and The Flaming Lips’ 24-hour Guinness World Record tour, which I covered for Spin.

The Flaming Lips’ most recent album, American Head, is out now, and the band has scheduled socially distanced concerts on December 10 and 11 in Oklahoma City’s The Criterion, where 100 fans will watch from the space bubbles that Coyne employs to walk over the fans at concerts. The shows have sold out, but watch CriterionOKC.com for additional shows, and follow waynecoyne5 on Instagram in case additional shows are scheduled.

For the occasion, Steven curated a Christmas music playlist, which you can find in the show notes and at TwelveSongsOfChristmas.com. 

If you like this week’s show, subscribe or follow 12 Songs at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and now, Pandora.

For a musical record of 12 Songs so far that doubles as a solid soundtrack for the holidays, check out our “12 Songs of Christmas So Far” Spotify playlist. 

The American rock band Low recorded one of the newer contenders for a spot in the Christmas music canon when it cut "Just Like Christmas" for its 1999 EP, Christmas. As Low's Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker reveal, the EP emerged spontaneously, driven in part by wondering whether they could intentionally write a body of Christmas songs. 

The EP became an important part of the life of the band in a number of ways as it helped to get them attention and money at a time when they needed both. It has become enough of a part of the band's story that Low has returned to Christmas music a couple of times--in 2008 with "Santa's Coming Over" (which doesn't appear in the podcast) and in 2016 with "Some Hearts (at Christmas Time").

In the episode, we talk about Low's "Taking Down the Tree" from Christmas, and mention but don't play Tracey Thorn's cover of the song. It's excellent and well worth hearing. We also talk about a Gap ad from 2000 that featured Low's version of "Little Drummer Boy."

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When 2020 started, The Goo Goo Dolls had no plans to record a Christmas album, but it’s November and we have It’s Christmas All Over. Today The Goo Goo Dolls’ John Rzeznik tells the story of the album and talks about his relationship to Christmas music growing up. How do fans of rock ’n’ roll who have been historically suspicious of sentimentality sing such sentimental songs? And how do guys who learned to play by making their own songs handle some of the Christmas classics?

It’s Christmas All Over was released on October 30, as was A Tori Kelly Christmas. Today, host Alex Rawls reviews Tori Kelly’s new album, which includes two new Christmas songs and her version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” from the movie, Sing!

If you liked today’s episode, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts—Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or Spotify.

 

Singer Ana Cristina Cash released her album Shine in early 2020 and had prepared to tour and promote it before Coronavirus forced her to change those plans. Instead, the Americana singer and wife of John Carter Cash recorded a cover of “Male Kalikimaka” as a way of going to her and her daughter’s happy place. It was Cash’s second Christmas release in two years; In 2018, she released My Christmas Collection.

We talked about both projects, touching on how being a mother and the daughter of Spanish-speaking immigrants from Cuba affected her choices. We talked about her work in the Cash Cabin Studio, and about her thinking before she recorded “Baby It’s Cold Outside” as a duet with her husband. She hears the song as “rapey,” as many do. For those who are curious, here are two interesting defenses of the song that focus more the woman's agency. They don't necessarily change the way the scenario sounds, but they add some useful context.

https://bigbutterandeggman.tumblr.com/post/154013148291/teachingwithcoffee-its-time-to-bring-an-end-to

https://www.thejustice.org/article/2019/12/understanding-baby-its-cold-outside-in-a-positive-light

 

Country singer Janie Fricke's music still sounds like country music, which is rare these days. In late September (when according to Rod Stewart, you really should be back in school), Fricke released A Country Cowgirl Christmas, the first Christmas album in her 43-year recording career. She is now her own label, and she talks about the whole project is based out of her Texas ranch, from figuring out what songs to do at the dinner table to filling CD orders in her home office. Along the way, she focuses on the songs as extensions of her life. 

In this week's episode, I also talk about singer Debbie Davis and her husband Matt Perrine's efforts to record a second volume of their Oh Crap! It's Christmas so that they can pay New Orleans musicians to work. She's trying to crowdsource funding for the project, and you can find out how to help at her website. Debbie and I talked about Christmas music on the podcast last season.   

The first crossover episode for "12 Songs"! 

Sooner or later, it happens to every podcast. In this case, I'm talking to husband and wife team Jonathan and Julia Pretus, who host the "Ranking the Beatles" podcast, which ranks Beatles songs, working from the bottom up. Jonathan appeared on "12 Songs" last year to defend Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime," and this week he and Julia help break down The Beatles' annual fan club-only Christmas messages, which range from the relatively straightforward to borderline musique concrète. 

These tracks are not easily purchased, but they can be found on YouTube and mp3 blogs online. One song, "Christmas Time (is Here Again)," was released in 1995 as the B-side of "Free as a Bird." You can, however, find Ringo Starr's faithful version from his 1999 album, I Want to Be Santa Claus.

In this week's episode, I also review Dolly Parton's third Christmas album, A Holly Dolly Christmas. 

Our theme music comes from AF the Naysayer, who now has the vinyl seven-inch version of his new single, "Adelheid." You can hear it and get it at his Bandcamp page. 

Before our conversation, bluegrass musician Rhonda Vincent never thought about the lack of Christmas music in her house growing up. She played in her family band, The Sally Mountain Show, but they didn't play Christmas music onstage or at home.

Vincent chews on that with Alex Rawls while talking about the ideas behind her two Christmas albums, Beautiful Star (2006) and Christmas Time (2015), and her upcoming residency in Branson, Missouri, "Christmas in Branson." She talks about the challenges posed by Christmas shows, bluegrass and country Christmas standards, and the challenge of singing Christmas songs.

Before that, Alex reviews Carrie Underwood's new Christmas album, The Gift. 

In the episode, Rhonda talks about "Beautiful Star." While preparing for the interview, Alex ran across this history of the song. Producer AF the Naysayer made the 12 Songs theme music, and he has a new single, "Adelheid," on Strange Daisy Records.

Rapper Mega Ran recorded A Very Random Christmas in 2011, then updated in in subsequent years to make it what he calls "a living album." In our conversation, he talks about how A Charlie Brown Christmas inspired the album, and how the project emerged from a desire to fill the Christmas hip-hop void.

As a part of the conversation, we talked about the sketchy history of Christmas hip-hop including OutKast's "Player's Ball" and Jeremih and Chance the Rapper's Merry Christmas, Lil' Mama, and the songs that were a part of his Christmas growing up. 

New Orleans' producer AF the Naysayer provided our theme music, and he has a new seven-inch 45, "Adelheid," on Strange Daisy Records.