Your favorite lesser-known Christmas recordings

Cafe Society
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You may interpret “lesser-known” however you like. As a guideline, though, think about that local radio station that plays Christmas music all season, and then think of something you probably won’t hear there.

It can be an original song. It can be a version of something traditional. It can be anything, really - just looking for something I don’t hear a thousand times every December.

I’ll start with Art Carney’s weird and wonderful beatnik-rap rendition of “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” from 1954:

(There may be some overlap here from @Saint_Cad’s Spotify list thread; that’s OK. But I think this is a different enough idea to have its own thread.)

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Mine are over here:

I think all my suggestions there, except Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Harry Connick, I came across by wading through Christmas music at the George Blood archive.

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This is, hands down, my favorite Christmas song:

I first heard it on the Muzak Christmas station at work. I have not heard it anywhere else.

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“Logs To Burn” by Golden Bough. I love everything on Winter’s Dance, but this is my favorite.
Logs to Burn - YouTube

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This is fun; added to the George Blood archive just a couple weeks ago.

“You need a special kinda nose for a special kinda job!”

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kitap beat me to the song, but I get to post the best performance.

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This thread, despite the semi-misleading title, is also about obscure loved (and hated) Christmas songs. With lots of good cites in both directions.

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Gaudete by Steeleye Span.

Little bit o’ Latin for Christmas.

j

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A good deal of my musical taste was formed by Christmas in High Fidelity by George Melachrino. This particular track was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1955, with the aid of a telephone line running to a nearby church. (They didn’t have multitrack then, so it had to be mixed live.) Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - YouTube Listen to it loud.

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My all time favorite Christmas song is Merry Christmas Baby by Charles Brown, but I don’t think is qualifies as lesser-known. So here’s Denise LaSalle: Santa Claus Got The Blues - YouTube

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Jorma Kaukonen: Downhill Sleigh Ride

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Lemmy’s cover of “Run Rudolph Run” is an underappreciated classic.

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I came here to mention this one. Really like this song.

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Koledy - Polish Christmas Songs

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“All I Want for Christmas is You”

“What,” you shout, “how is that a lesser-known Christmas recording?!”

No, not the crappy Mariah Crappy one, the REAL one, by Vince Vance and the Valiants (with Lisa Lane on vocals).

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“Amber Christmas” is a recording of various carols by Canadian artists Pamela Morgan and Anita Best. Here are two tracks:

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Tried to copy. Twisted Sisters Oh Come All Ye Faithful.

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I don’t know how “lesser known” it is, as it was (and still is) fairly popular in my circle of friends, but the 1997 album “Merry Axemas” has always been a holiday favorite of mine.

The full album is on YouTube, maybe iTunes (I can’t check just this moment), and the CD is, obviously, available on Amazon.