Favorite Christmas Singer

As my Walmart has already put up the Christmas decor and set out the Christmas albums, I'd like to ask you all about who your favorite Christmas singer is.

For me the voice of Christmas is Bing Crosby, besides a few, to me most Christmas recordings Bing made are the definitive versions. Perry Como comes in second for me as he is able to deliver versions of Christmas songs almost on par with Bing Crosby as Perry has that same warmth. Nat King Cole comes in 3rd because of his 'The Christmas Song' album.

 

Darlene Love

 

Andy Williams
Burl Ives

 

Bing Crosby
Dean Martin
Nat King Cole
Andy Williams

 

Bob Dylan
David Bowie

 

Buck Owens
Robert Goulet

 

Sequentia
Anonymous 4

 

Elvis and Perry.

 

Sufjan Stevens

 

Justin Hawkins

 

There's no current or singer within the past 20 years worth listening to when it comes to Christmas music.

 

Joseph Spence

 

Dean Martin (paired with some nice Scotch of course)
Johnny Mathis/Percy Faith arrangements

 

The Blenders, from Fargo/Minneapolis. Freshest arrangements, audiophile-quality recordings, and I only listen to them for the season.
Solo voice though, I've got a soft spot for Kate Rusby.

And, hey - how'd we get all the way to the bottom of the page without Saint Karen coming up? (Is Bobby Morrow out of wifi range...? )

 

Gene Autry, of course.

 

I completely forgot about him, his album with Rudolph and dialogue between songs was the first Christmas album I ever got.

 

Some of my earliest Christmas memories include going to my grandparents house and listening to their Gene Autry Christmas record(s). We still listen to his Christmas songs every year while we put up Christmas decorations.

 

Dino and Nat

 

Burl Ives
Thurl Ravenscroft

 

I love Nat's album of Christmas songs, and I would've included Dean among my favorites for Christmas, but I don't like the "hipper" sounding arrangements on his Reprise Christmas album, I love "A Winter Romance" though.

 

Carl Finch

I've been enjoying Brave Combo's album It's Christmas Man lately

I also like the Christmas stuff Ringo Starr has done

 

Bing Crosby

 

Elvis, Dean and Frank.

 

Gotta add Elvis Presley!

 

One of the things I'm grateful about celebrating Christmas is, I have enough alternatives, that I don't need to celebrate with, what I most generously call, "other people's music" (that is, the Bings, the Frankies, the Amys, the Nats, the Elvises, and all the others that you always hear far too much of all over the radio far too early into the season). When you've been exposed to it as relentlessly as a guy who works in radio does, I think I deserve to celebrate the alternatives that most people take for granted, as they bob their heads endlessly to yet another royalty-check-cashing of "Wonderful Christmastime". I've always gone into the season searching for a fresh voice or a fresh song that will help me identify this Christmas differently, rather than the nostalgia that tugs at others' hearts.

"My" artist in that respect, should be Johnny Mathis, as Mom had him on throughout the holiday, and who can forget those great Percy Faith arrangements. But, throughout my young life, she also had about 5 other Mathis albums without reindeer or snowmen in them, so I would hear him throughout my young life, so there was no identifying him (or, thank heavens, Andy Williams) specifically with "Christmas". So I don't begrudge others for having their favorites that tug their holiday heartstrings, I just need something different every holiday, to cleanse that palette.

So...who's gonna be my JD McPherson or Ingrid Michaelson this year...?