So I wanted to share my favorite Christmas songs with you — I thought about just posting a Facebook status on this, but quickly realized I had too many opinions to fit into a little Facebook status. Me? Opinions? Who would have thought, right?
These are songs that I remember singing in the car with my brother and sister or songs that help me remember the true meaning of the season. And, I want to make sure you realize that the artist singing these songs is just as important to me as the song itself. Because there are like 10 gazillion versions of Christmas songs out there, but I am super picky about my favorite versions.
- Beautiful Star of Bethlehem by The Judds. Love, love, love. It's the Judds singing about the place of Jesus' birth and the importance of Jesus in our lives as the "star". How could you not love this?
- Happy Birthday Jesus by Alabama. Another song that reminds us of the true reason for the season. And it reminds me of being a little kid and singing a different Happy Birthday Jesus song in our Christmas children's program at church.
- The Birth of the King by Clint Black. I don't think poor Clint gets enough credit sometimes, but I grew up listening to his Looking for Christmas album, and this song is very powerful. I couldn't find the full version on YouTube, so you will have to make do with this sample. Other songs to check out on this album include Slow as Christmas and Looking for Christmas.
- There's a New Kid in Town by George Strait. It's George. Singing about baby Jesus. Need I say more? Only a sample, but you get the idea.
But his year, I was also on a quest to spice up my Christmas playlist. Even though I still love the songs and artists I mentioned above, my musical taste has changed and broadened so much in the past few years that I knew there had to be some cool new Christmas songs out there. So I searched and searched the WWW for Christmas songs sung by some of my favorite Texas country artists. No such luck. Seriously, when is Reckless, Micky, Stoney and Cody gonna make a Christmas album? I would buy it.
And then I stumbled upon this.
And even though most of the artists on the album are emerging, they all rock. And track #2 makes my heart happy every time I listen to it. This is totally my type of Christmas music. So Marca, I'm sharing this specifically with you, because you will also get all nerdy excited with me about this album, and about some Blue Christmas with Micky. Love this. Go download it now. Now.
I also found this.
A very ecletic mix of some newbies and oldies, but worth checking out the samples. I am partial to acoustic versions of songs. And I do love me some Willie and Ricky.
And finally, the power of Facebook has proven itself yet again. Thanks to some of my awesome Facebook friends sharing these links with other friends or talking about them, I have discovered the awesomeness that is Beta Radio (thanks Catherine) and The Civil Wars (thanks Shana). You can still download four Christmas songs from Beta Radio for free, but the free download of O Come O Come Emmanuel will now cost you 99 cents from The Civil Wars.
So, if you have any Christmas song or album recommendations for me, please share! I am always on the lookout. As I'm sure we all are.
And I was going to leave you with a picture of my beautiful Christmas tree, but my beautiful Christmas tree is still in its tree bag. In the living room. Just waiting for me and Brady to put it up. Sorry Christmas tree.
Yay! I am glad you like Beta Radio! Just a tidbit of information. Beta Radio is 2 guys - 1 of which (Brent) is an awesome photographer. Brent and his wife Amanda are photographers at Millie Holloman Photography in NC. That's how we know of Beta Radio! Since you are a photographer too, I thought you would like to know!
ReplyDeleteI"m glad you included some George on your list! I was just listening to his xmas cd in my car!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're enjoying The Civil Wars ... L-O-V-E beyond measure, but I think you know that already! I'd like to add a couple classics from my own list:
ReplyDelete"Mary Did You Know?" by Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd (takes on a whole new meaning once you're a momma!)
"O Holy Night" by Martina McBride (I'm partial to hers more so than Carrie Underwood's, probably in part because of my age!)
Great stuff! Of course, given that you have kids now, you'll need to add the Charlie Brown Christmas CD to your collection, if only for "Linus & Lucy."
Forgot one -- "It Wasn't His Child" by Sawyer Brown. A group before their time, much like Foster & Lloyd! I could listen to Mark Miller's voice sing anything, but the words for this one absolutely resonate!
ReplyDeleteOkay, going to download these all now! Oh, and I should add that Kassidy's favorite is The Christmas Song by Alvin and the Chipmunks...I think it's the squeaky voices!
ReplyDeleteOne more -- then I promise to stop. Or, at the very least, commenting:
ReplyDelete"Merry Christmas, Mary" by Paul Overstreet