Christmas 2006

I hate to say this but we are not going to have a white christmas this year. The winter storm that dumped two feet out in Denver stayed north and west of here. We did a good soaking and fog, but the kids will be disappointed that once again we're going to miss out.

Really doesn't break my heart. My opinion of snow changed after a blizzard to which i spent most of the night stuck outside of Solon for four hours. But I do feel sorry for the children that won't be able to slide down the hill outside of Crabb Manor here in Ioway.

This Christmas, I did managed to find a couple of CDs for the holidays that matter. First up was The Jethro Tull Christmas Album (Fuel 2000-2003) and it's a good listen. Ian Anderson has always seem to get a bad rap ever since the GRAMMYS gave Tull the best heavy metal album of the year with Crest Of A Knave. Best folk record I could see but even Ian didn't bother to pick up the award since he too thought it was a farce. I think he could have left Bouree off this album, but the interplay between him and Martin Barre is still breathtaking in it's own right.

Christmas Eve with Jackie Wilson (Brunswick 2000) shows Mr. Excitement in good vocal form but the arrangements have not held up over time. It still sounds like 1963 and even it's half hour form tends to drag. But I got it for a dollar so it was worth a play.

Christmas with Jimmy McGriff (Collectibles 1996) is JM's holiday offering when he was on Sue Records and Nina's Discount Oldies reissued it when they managed to licensed the Sue Recordings. Winter Wonderland is done in a over the top, pompous and belligerent and overstays it's 5 minite 54 seconds, and some of the songs do a bit too much grandstanding at the end and Hip Santa suffers from a very bad mono mix. Had he chosen to do a more jazzier funky sound like he did on Christmas With McGriff this album might be worth a listen next year. But then again I think Christmas With McGriff sounds like a rewrite of his Gospel Zone which does rock, but geezus fade it once and for all Jimmy.

There were new releases to speak of. Hall and Oates did made a christmas album for the FYE music chain, Billy Idol also did his very own christmas album and seeing Billy dressed up in a full shirt is shock waves on itself. But I settled upon local band The Townedgers and their Christmas With The Townedgers (Radio Maierburg 2006) to which they go acoustic and actually rock out with Drummer Boy and turn Santa Claus Is Coming Into Town into a brooding blues number. With throwaway numbers such as Christmas Time Next Year and One Of Everything You Got, they're not such throwaways but truthful observations about the trials and tribulations of last minite christmas shopping, but also the greatest gift of all; the gift of surviving another christmas just to live to see the next one. With 2 bonus cuts, the 14 songs barely crack the 30 minite mark, thus making this the shortest album of the TEs career. It's short and to the point and except for the downer Christmas Without You, a fun record to unwrap your gifts to.

Happy Holidays.