RICHMOND, Va. -- I love Christmas music. I would listen to it year-round were it socially acceptable (my wife says it is not).
Actually, it is probably more accurate to say that I love good Christmas music. There is a lot of stuff that gets played around the clock during the holiday season that is pretty awful.
Don’t worry, I’m here to help. Below you’ll find a list of, in my opinion, the best Christmas songs and albums ever.
In most cases, I am talking about specific recordings of songs. Example: I don’t like Bing Crosby’s famous version of ‘White Christmas’ at all. But I love the versions by The Drifters, Elvis (basically a remake of The Drifters’ take) and Darlene Love, to name a few.
Now, don’t take that to mean I don’t appreciate other parts of Bing’s holiday catalogue. Count me as a fan of ‘Mele Kalikimaka,’ ‘Christmas in Killarney,’ and his version of ‘Here Comes Santa Claus.’
So fire up Apple Music, Spotify, or YouTube… or travel back in time and pull Napster up on your crumby iMac, and seek out the following.
This is going to be A LOT of music, but just throw it all on a playlist, hit shuffle, kick back, and start smashing some of those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey’s Kiss in the middle.
Merry Christmas! And I’m open to suggestions!
Here are the full albums I would include:
Phil Spector - A Christmas Gift for You
Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
Frank - A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra
Dean Martin - A Winter Romance
Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
Stevie Wonder - The Christmas Collection
Elvis - Elvis’ Christmas Album
The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album
The Temptations - Christmas Card
The Miracles - Christmas with the Miracles
Jackson 5 - Christmas Album
Ramsey Lewis Trio - Sound of Christmas
Kenny Burrell – Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas
Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Tony Bennett - A Swingin’ Christmas (make sure it’s the version that includes Christmas Auld Lang Syne as the final track)
Tony Bennett – Snowfall (make sure it’s the version that includes a live I’ll Be Home for Christmas as the final track)
Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Ray Charles - The Spirit of Christmas
Willie Nelson - Pretty Paper
Joel Paterson - Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar
Gregory Porter - Christmas Wish
Duke Ellington - The Nutcracker Suite
Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra – Pops Christmas Party
Count Basie Orchestra – A Very Swingin’ Basie Christmas!
John Denver and the Muppets – A Christmas Together (no joke, has one of the all-time best versions of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas)
Wynton Marsalis – Crescent City Christmas Card
And these are individual tracks I would add:
Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (without question the greatest Christmas song EVER)
Bruce Springsteen - Merry Christmas, Baby
Bruce Springsteen - Blue Christmas
Bruce Springsteen - Auld Lang Syne
The Drifters - White Christmas
Frank Sinatra - Let It Snow (up-tempo version recorded in 1950 before he left Columbia Records)
Frank Sinatra - I Believe
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin - A Marshmallow World (live version from the Christmas with the Rat Pack compilation)
Bobby Darin - Christmas Auld Lang Syne
Wilson Pickett - Silver Bells
Brenda Lee - Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
Andy Williams - Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season
Andy Williams - It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Andy Williams – Christmas Is a Feeling in Your Heart
Perry Como - There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays (1959 version)
Bing Crosby - Looks Like a Cold, Cold Winter
Bing Crosby – Happy Holiday
Bing Crosby – Good King Wenceslas
Louis Armstrong - Winter Wonderland
Louis Armstrong - Christmas Night in Harlem
Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald - I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
Ella Fitzgerald – The First Noel
Ella Fitzgerald - Santa Claus Got Stuck
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan - Baby It’s Cold Outside
Dexter Gordon – The Christmas Song
Dexter Gordon – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
U2 - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
Duke Ellington - Auld Lang Syne
Darlene Love - All Alone on Christmas
Otis Redding - Merry Christmas, Baby
Otis Redding - White Christmas
Billy Squier - Christmas is the Time to Say “I Love You”
Chet Baker - Winter Wonderland
Eagles - Please Come Home for Christmas
Donny Hathaway - This Christmas
Brian Setzer Orchestra - The Nutcracker Suite
The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
James Brown - Please Come Home for Christmas
The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra - Midnight Sleighride
Detroit Junior - Christmas Day
Charlie Parker – White Christmas
Sammy Davis Jr. - Christmas Time All Over the World
Burl Ives - A Holly Jolly Christmas
John Lennon - Happy Christmas
Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
Brook Benton - This Time of the Year
Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby
Lena Horne - Jingle All The Way
Lou Rawls - Christmas Is
Bill Evans – Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (version from his Trio 64 album)
The Impressions - Amen
Avett Brothers - Auld Lang Syne
Booker T and the MGs - Winter Wonderland
Booker T and the MGs - Jingle Bells
Old Crow Medicine Show - Auld Lang Syne
The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy’s Christmas
Aretha Franklin - Winter Wonderland
Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run
Band Aid - Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Tom Petty - Christmas All Over Again
John Coltrane – My Favorite Things
Oscar Peterson Trio – It’s a Marshmallow World
Andrew Bird – Auld Lang Syne
Stan Kenton – The Holly and the Ivy
Stan Kenton – Good King Wenceslas
Harry Belafonte – Mary’s Boy Child
The Kinks – Father Christmas
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