Happy Holidays
Give me the classics....
Do you know how Christmas cards are made? They need pictures.
Pictures can't complete them I'm afraid; They need greetings.
Greetings say what's in your heart, that's what they are for,
But when loved ones are apart Christmas cards need more.
Do you know how Christmas cards are made? They need pictures and greetings,
Sunshine and raindrops, Snowflakes and reindeer,
Friendship and kindness, And most of all, they need love...
- Written by Hal David
This week’s journey was supposed to take us to Sun Ra, but it’s Christmas eve after all. So I thought I’d change course.
I realized the other day that I really don’t like pop/rock Christmas or Holiday songs. I’m old-fashioned - just give me the classics. Nothing will get me to tell Google to “Stop” more quickly than a cheesy pop/rock holiday song, except for two. The first one you hear from time to time, but the other is never played.
The first is Donny Hathaway’s This Christmas released in 1970:
This is an interesting release from the Chicago Atco Records label, recorded at Audio Finishers Studio on Ontario Street. It was first released as a 45rpm, but never really went anywhere, until it was rediscovered in 1991.
The first time I heard it was on Donny Hathaway’s 1990 Atlantic Records A Donny Hathaway Collection. I bought the album for all his other great songs and This Christmas was the last song on Side 2, right after You’ve Got A Friend with Roberta Flack. Since then, it has since become a very popular Christmas song.
The second one comes from a very unlikely source. Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown? is from the James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
This is probably my favorite Bond movie and certainly my favorite Bond soundtrack. I remember watching this around Christmastime when I was a kid. It has a winter and Christmas theme, so it played on the local TV station during the holiday season.
In the movie, I like how the song plays in the background of a Swiss Christkindlmarket, as Blofeld’s henchmen, led by the wicked Frau Bunt, chase after Bond. As they are closing in, he is finally saved by his recent lover Tracy (Diana Riggs). They are married later in the film - the only time Bond was married in the Ian Fleming Bond novels. Here’s my favorite Christmas song sung by Danish singer-actress Nina van Pallandt:
The simple beauty of the song juxtaposed with the drama of the chase works for me. Often, along with the feelings of joy that come with this time of year, we have feelings of tension and sadness.
So as our journey pauses, I wish you all joy this holiday season and throughout the new year!
Next week, On that Big River called Jazz, we’ll restart our journey and dig our paddles in to explore the waters of my earliest memories of Sun Ra, which will finally bring us officially from Fred Astaire to Sun Ra.
Please hit this link to buy me a cup of coffee, if you’d like to show your guide some appreciation for this and past journeys. Know in advance that I thank you for your kindness and support.
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Also, find my playlist on Spotify: From Fred Astaire to Sun Ra.
Feel free to contact me at any time to talk shop. I welcome and encourage that.
Until then, keep on walking….
Tyler, I dig your work - I’m going through your journey slowly and haphazardly, so far, all very cool. But your favorite Bond movie starred George Lazenby? I’m gonna forget you said that. Looking forward to Sun Ra! And I’d love to share my remembrances of the great Saturnian with you sometime as well.