Santa Won't Be Blue

We're still keeping at it, sharin' all the toys for bad little girls and boys!

Just a reminder, our World Famous Best of the Year list follows all this whoo-ha, starting December 26th!  Odds are currently being taken on what's gonna be #1!  (though I bet astute and regular readers might already have a good guess). 

Keeping tidings joyful today, with some rollin' R'n'B from Jimmy Charles,  followed by a little Bakersfield-style Country Xmas courtesy of Buck Owens and Susan Raye.  And finally, one of our favorite Garage-Soul bands, The Bellrays, keep us jumpin' up and down the chimney.

Santa's on Shuffle!

Jimmy Charles: Santa Won't Be Blue This Christmas (mp3)

Buck Owens and Susan Raye: Tomorrow is Christmas Day (mp3)

The Bellrays: Gimme Some Funk For Christmas (mp3)

Don't forget the damn Xmas cookies!

Reindeer Hoofers

Shopping is done!  How's yours going?

Get on yr dancin' elf shoes today, cuz we got a Yuletide party goin' on!

Mosh along to Yo La Tengo's raved up version of Jan Terri's "Rock'n'Roll Santa"!  Git down 'n' groovy with J. Hines and the Boys' insanely catchy and deep thumpin' "A Funky Christmas to You"! And swing, swing, swing the festive night away with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra's "Christmas Night in Harlem"  (which features Johnny Mercer and Jack Teagarden)! 

Santa's got a party goin' on!


Yo La Tengo: Rock'n'Roll Santa (mp3)

J. Hines and the Boys: A Funky Christmas to You (mp3)

Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra: Christmas Night in Harlem (mp3)

As ever, please give what you can this Holiday season, and year round.  Times are tough, and money's tight for all of us, but sometimes even a dollar can help get someone a hot meal.  Thanks for stoppin' by.

Daddy Rockin' Santa

How's yr tree comin' along?  Stuffed yr stocking yet? 

We had a correction on our last post, and we'd like to thank the person who pointed out our mis-credit.  We'd also like to thank all the kind folks who have sent Xmas tunes and/or suggestions our way.  Y'all have been generous to us, and we'd like to return the favor.

Mixed (Santa's) bag today.  A little more soulful doo-wop inspired Xmas R'n'B from the Sherwoods.  The Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers bring us some some ragtime, jug-bandy, holly roller gospel blues for the season.  And the Queen of All Country, Loretta Lynn, does sad Christmas exactly the way it should be done,  sad but not schmaltzy (there's a reason we worship her).

Santa's got a crazy bag!

Sherwoods: Happy Holiday (mp3)

Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers: Christ Was Born on Christmas Morn (mp3)

Loretta Lynn: Christmas Without Daddy (mp3)

Thanks for stoppin' by.  Have a great Holiday season.  Be good to yourselves, and others as well!

Snow Girl

Awright!  Keepin' the blades on our sled sharp!  Remember, we're the cure for all that's oh so very  bad about Xmas music.  Joy! Joy!

It's all about the love today.

Ron Winter start things off this fine wintry morning with "Snow Girl", a stomping Bo Diddley meets Surf City ditty.  Nifty!  Old-timey rockabilly takes the stage next with Harry Lee's "Rockin' on a Reindeer".  Hoedown!  And we'll wrap these swell gifts up with The Uniques and a soulful little doowop-y number, "Merry Christmas Darling".  A surprisingly sweet tune (at least coming from us), but what can we say?  We can't always be cynical little bastards, can we?

Santa Claus loves the ladies!


Ron Winter: Snow Girl (mp3)

Harry Lee: Rockin' on a Reindeer (mp3)

Uniques: Merry Christmas Darling (mp3)

Thanks, as ever, for visitin'.  Support yr local, independent stores this Holiday season.  Please.

Junk Dealin' Santa

Ulp.  Missed a day of our Xmas madness.  Shame on us.  Been under the weather.  Gonna have a re-post today of one of the favorite Holiday mixes from years past.  There's been some demand for these, so we might have more of these popping up as bonuses over the next few weeks. 

Back the "new" stuff tomorrow (or, at the least, the previously un-posted stuff). 

As ever, the mp3 link follows each track listing.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain Junk Shop Christmas

1. Christmas Wish (Andre Williams)
2. Be-Bop Santa (Babs Gonzalez)
3. I'll Be Walking The Floor This Christmas (Ernest Tubb)
4. To Heck With Ole Santa Claus (Loretta Lynn)
5. Rocket Ship Santa (The Bellrays)
6. There's Trouble Brewin' (Jack Scott)
7. Santa's Doing The Horizontal Twist (Kay Martin and Her Bodyguards)
8. Empty Stockings (Floyd Dixon)
9. We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo (Big John Greer)
10. Santa Done Got Hip (Marquees)
11. Truckin' Trees For Christmas (Red Simpson)
12. I'd Like to Have An Elephant For Christmas (Hank Thompson)
13. Put The Loot In the Boot Santa (Mae West)
14. My Last Christmas (The Dirtbombs)
15. No Christmas For John Quays (The Fall)
16. Christmas In Jail (The Youngsters)
17. Christmas Date Boogie (Big Joe Turner)
18. Boogie Woogie Santa Claus (Mabel Scott)
19. Rockin' and Rollin' With Santa Claus (Hepsters)
20. I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus (Brenda Lee)
21. Dasher With The Light Upon His Tail (Kitty Wells)
22. Old Toy Trains (Roger Miller)
23. Blue Christmas Lights (Buck Owens)
24. Lonely Christmas Call (George Jones)
25. Christmas Comes But Once A Year (Amos Milburn)
26. Good Times Are Coming (Eddy Clearwater w/Los Straightjackets)


Big Rock Candy Mountain Junk Shop Xmas (mp3)


Please consider supporting independent businesses this Yuletide.

A Very Velveeta Christmas

Welcome back, happy Holiday ho ho's.   Got a special treat today, a few Country groaners so cheesy or painfully emotional as to be almost brilliant.  Almost.  This may not be our only post where we dip into the fondue.  Oh, my.

Dave Dudley has created some of the best trucking tunes in the world.  Unfortunately, he also gave "Lonely Christmas Again", a miserable wreck of a weeper.  King of Western Swing Bob Wills does him one better with "Empty Chair at the Christmas Table".  And finally, we lighten the mood with a tune from Boxcar Willie, in which a very special little tow truck helps Santa out for Christmas.  "Timothy the Tow Truck" could be an after school special for the drooling 4-year old set.  The song even features a singing (shouting) kid choir, oh yes indeed.

Santa's bringing boxes of Velveeta as stocking stuffers this year!

Dave Dudley:  Lonely Christmas Again (mp3)

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys: Empty Chair at the Christmas Table (mp3)

Boxcar Willie: Timothy the Tow Truck (mp3)

We wish to really, really, really apologize for today's post. 

Santa's Personality Crisis

More wintry Yule logs for y'all today.

Call and response, sorta, with Ron Holden and the Thunderbirds serving up a greasy, sleazey sax R'n'B raver in "Who Sez There Aint No Santa Claus".  Well, punk legends The Damned seem to think there aint one, or at least they  think "There Aint No Sanity Clause" (nice reference to The Marx Brothers).

Then we reach way back in the day, with Blues legend Blind Blake, and a tune for the broken-hearted. 


Santa Has A Personality Crisis


Ron Holden and the Thunderbirds: Who Sez There Aint No Santa Claus (mp3)

The Damned: There Aint No Sanity Claus (mp3)


Blind Blake: Lonesome Christmas Blues (mp3)

Thanks for stoppin' by.

Candy Cane Madness

Hey now!  Back for more wacky, wintry treats!  Aw yeah!

We've got some links to the right for more keen Holiday sites.  Check 'em all out, and if you run a site, or have a fave rave that we don't have listed, let us know. 

On with the show.

We've always been a big Mark Lanegan fan, even back in his Screaming Trees days, when the band was unfortunately lumped into the grunge ghetto.  After leaving the band, Lanegan has carved out a killer career as a burnt desert, midnight rambling, whiskey growled performer.  Pairing him with Isobel Campbell of Belle and Sebastian should not have worked, but it most certainly did.  A brilliant collaboration, sweet and sour, dark and light, angels and demon.  On the following track, "Time of the Season", Lanegan and Campbell nail one of the most bittersweet Holiday tunes you'll ever hear.  Country-stringed, down'n'out, with hope sitting just a bar stool away,  Lanegan and Campbell trading and sharing vocals, beauty and sadness under blinking Christmas lights.  Maybe our favorite song this Holiday season.

Following that, things ramp up with the mighty Davie Allen and the Arrows, and a Nuggets-style garage romper, "Santa on the Run". 

And finally, Lowell George and the Factory.  Bit of a misnomer there, as this being George's pre-Little Feat band, he's more of a member than the guiding spirit.  Regardless, "Candy Cane Madness" is a swirling psych garage slice of acid-washed overdose.  Yummy!

Santa's a little trippy!

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan:  Time of the Season (mp3)

Davie Allen and the Arrows: Santa On the Run (mp3)

Lowell George and The Factory: Candy Cane Madness (mp3)

Don't forget our animal friends this season, as the weather gets colder.  Maybe throw a few bucks to the ASCPA or your shelter of choice.  

Party This Christmas

Well, hell, here's Day 2 of our regularly scheduled Holiday kookiness!  Remember, Xmas kiddies...we're doin' this daily, so keep yr computers on stun.  

Who loves you best?

Oh, and we've got a few artists we need to cover over the next month before the big, big, world famous Big Rock Candy Mountain Best of the Year List (coming soon!), so you might get some double posts coming up.  Good Gravy!  Who says we aint generous?

So what do we got today?   Let's review...

King Salami kicks us off with a with a greasy-fried trash-garage take on a classic. Rockin' Sidney follows it up with some spiked-Yule boozy zydeco goodness.  And let's round it off with more corn likker, alt-country (whatever that is)  festiveness from Buzz Zeemer. 

Man, can you beat this Holiday goodness????  Well, yes you can...cuz we've got more stocking stuffers comin' yr way over the next few weeks...who could ask for anything more?

Santa's a drunken polka dot!

King Salami and the Cumberland 3: Black Santa (mp3)

Rockin' Sidney: Party This Christmas (mp3)

Buzz Zeemer: Psychedelic Santa Santa (mp3)

Give what you can. Support what independent businesses you can.  Help those less fortunate than you are. 

Psycho Santa

So.  Here we go.  Our Xmas/Holiday/whatever begins now.  Daily posts!!!!  Joyful and fucked-up garage, punk, Country, Blues, and Soul Xmas tunes from here til Shane MacGowan's birthday (December 25th for the more traditional amongst us).  Sick of the Wal-Mart Holiday crap?  Sick of hearing the same damn "traditional" tunes over and over again.  We're the cure for your Blue Yule.  We've done this for god (goddess, etc.) knows how long, and the schtick is that we don't repeat anything we've posted before.  But...and there's always a but....we have no problem re-posting some of the classics we've done before.  You just have to ask....So kick back, pour yourself a festive beverage, and enjoy this year's round of Holiday, non-traditional goodness.  Our Best-Of list follows this madness between Xmas and New Year's.  

Let's get goin' then, shall we?

And who better to start off with than the mighty Andre Williams.  A slight variation on a previous Holiday posting, but what the hell...it's a very filthy Xmas tune, perfect for yr x-rated stocking-stuffing fun.

Following that, Vincent Lopez brings the Big Band ba-da-bing with "I'd Like to Find You In My Stocking".  Yep, I'd like to be in her stocking...

And finally, we've got a little yee-haw Xmas, with Western Caravan exploring the nature of a Psycho Santa Claus...is there any other?

Santa's a Horny fetishist!

Andre Williams: Night Before Xmas (mp3)

Vincent Lopez: I'd Like to Find you in my Stocking (mp3)

Western Caravan: Psycho (Santa) (mp3)

Please drop some dough into yr favorite charity's bucket of choice.