Post first published 22/12/2011
Between 1966 and 1970, James Brown released three Christmas-themed albums; Christmas Songs, A Soulful Christmas and Hey America.
The records are a mix of Christmas standards (The Christmas Song, Charles Brown's Merry Christmas Baby), Christmas-themed throwaways ("Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto, Go Power at Christmas Time), obvious filler ("hey, let's do a blues vamp, throw snatches of vibraphone that quote Rudoloph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and title it something seasonal like, uh, I don't know, maybe Believers Shall Enjoy (Non-Believers Shall Suffer)) and stuff that has no obvious reason for being on a Christmas album (Say It Loud (I'm Black & I'm Proud)).
In some ways, they represent James's songwriting at its worst-- the lyrics usually sound like they were entirely ad-libbed-- but his gifts as a singer, a star and a bandleader are such that the records are pretty enjoyable. I was planning to post a bunch of rips, but I discovered that all of the tracks I wanted to post except one are currently available, including a gang that had been left off Rhino's classic James Brown Xmas reissue. So instead, I'll post the one omission and run down some other faves:
This is one of my favorite James Brown songs; when I listen to it, I feel transported. I can't explain why I find it so affecting, but for a few minutes I feel flush with benevolence and optimism like, hey, maybe we all can get along. Really.
I'm Your Christmas Friend, Don't Be Hungry
James's tendency towards maudlin sentimentality on these Christmas records can get really silly, especially when a song also includes lines like "I do the monkey, the mashed potato/Whenever I'm blue", but he infuses the "I'm your friend/I'm your friend" refrain with so much soul that it really moves me.
This song probably contains more WTF? moments than any other James Brown song, and that is saying something. James begins with a shout to those who've come to see him in concert in the past year, riffing about having seen "a million peace signs", before briefly slipping into some Christian fare ("God gave his son, let us celebrate") and then launching a hail of multi-cultural catchphrases, shouting "as salaam aleikum" and "danke schön" (which he pronounces "donkey Sean") and then singing snatches of ethnic-themed supper-club fare (Hava Nagila and Volare).
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