Upon returning from our trip to frozen Antarctica after Thanksgiving, while others were busy rushing around trying to get bargains on sweaters and toys, I took out my ever-burgeoning collection of Christmas music to listen to through December. My collection, amassed now over many years, continues to grow each year as we jointly enjoy one of the great aspects of being an American.
The collection includes a wide range of music from classical to pop to rock to country to folk to soul to blues and even punk rock. When you become a fan of Christmas music, you find that just about every major artist (and most minor ones) has a Christmas album. Of course, one must have Frank, Dino, and Sammy, not to mention A Rat Pack Christmas. A must is to include the King (Elvis) and Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You, and of course the All-American group – The Beach Boys. One could just go on forever.
This year I added some new friends, Samara Joy and Jennifer Hudson. I also added some more country CDs by Little Big Town and Brett Eldredge. The country stars often get into it and write some new songs to go along with the Christmas classics. Seth MacFarlane, (yes that guy) has an excellent Christmas CD. And if you don’t like his big band sound you can go for Pentatonix or Straight No Chaser. They make great Christmas music without any instruments.
How did this Jewish boy become so enamored with Christmas music? It started back in elementary school which in itself is a little strange. That is because I grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, made up of about 85% Jews, 10% Italians, and the rest were mutts. We had a Christmas pageant every year where all the kids participated in a choir performing classic Christmas music for our families. I cannot imagine something like that going on today with the culture wars in our country. After a few years of singing Silent Night, Deck the Halls, Silver Bells, and The Twelve Days of Christmas, the music gets stuck in your head, and you cannot wait for the next Thanksgiving to start listening again.
So, I decided I cannot depend on a radio station; I wanted my own music. I had to have the classics like The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Eugene Ormandy conducting the great Philadelphia Orchestra and Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. Then I filled in with modern classical like Mannheim Streamroller. You need to get the “must haves” like Nat King Cole and of course Vince Guaraldi (Charlie Brown) and Mel Torme′. From there you just start going crazy because you must have all those classic artists: Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and then the two together.
I proudly tell people that I am the Jew with the largest collection of Christmas music that anyone they will ever meet.
This contagion does not stop with me but has spread throughout my entire family. My wife and kids love the music just as much as I do. “Hey, Honey — let’s listen to Karen (Carpenter)” or “Daughter, you want to listen to my man, Cee Lo’s Christmas Album”? Or my son tells me how he got Dave (the new king of Christmas) Koz’s Smooth Jazz Christmas. Then #1 son arranges for us to see Koz’s Christmas show with his all-star friends. This year he turned me on to the Christmas album by Booker T. and the MG’s.
The collecting never stops as great albums come out every year. Rockin’ Rod (Stewart) released his interpretation of Christmas music and so did Michael Buble′. Mariah Carey has tried to take over Christmas. God bless her. Or you go back and get long-time Christmas all-stars like Andy Williams. There are even fascinating takes like Beatmas which is The Rubber Band singing classic Christmas songs to Beatle music — you have to love it.
Christmas has an incredibly special meaning for people. It is a deeply religious holiday and as Jews we would never want to infringe on that in any way. And many of us are peeved that some people want to tone down the religious aspect of Christmas in this country. The holiday will not survive as a secular celebration. Though we will never share the religious aspect of what Christmas stands for, we can certainly share the joy of the time and the music. I admonish people when they wish me the politically correct “Happy Holidays.” I tell them it is Merry Christmas and then I tell them that is coming from a nice Jewish boy.
This in its way is a thank you to the Christian majority of this country. Sure, there have been challenges and some troubled times and some bad people during America’s history. But there has never been a country in the history of the Jewish people that ever accepted Jews in such a full and complete way as America has. The only other country where we have ever been so accepted, appreciated, and actually honored is Israel. It is a tribute to the humanity of the Christians of this country who in a unique way accepted the teachings of Jesus.
Merry Christmas to you all! Now, I must go listen to Darlene Love sing Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – which is a required “two-fer” as is listening twice — and pre-order my Chinese food for Christmas (Yes, it is true – it is a Christmas tradition for Jews.) God Bless.
