Be a Santa, Part 2

Here's some more background on tracks from Be a Santa!, my holiday mix for 2021:

Track 6
Candy Cane Madness, The Factory, featuring Lowell George (1967)

        The Factory, featuring Lowell George (c. 1967)

Better known for his work in Little Feat and Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, Lowell George's first real band was called The Factory, which he co-founded in 1965 and funded by the sale of some of his grandfather's stock. George sang and played rhythm guitar for the band, which later grew to include future Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward. My one real-time memory of The Factory is their appearance on the 1960s sitcom F Troop, where they played a pop group called The Bedbugs. (F Troop was one of my favorite shows as a kid, and I can also remember when the soldiers teamed up with Wrangler Jane to form their own band and performed Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man.")

"Candy Cane Madness" is immediately recognizable as a product of the mid-1960s, and while it doesn't appear to have been much of a hit at the time, it's a great souvenir of the year that gave us the Summer of Love. The Factory disbanded within a couple of years of this song's recording, after which George went on to record with the Mothers of Invention before reportedly being asked to leave by Frank Zappa in 1969. He co-founded the group Little Feat shortly thereafter serving as principal vocalist, guitarist and songwriter until he disbanded the group shortly before his death ten years later.

Watch Lowell George and The Factory Guest Starring on F Troop

Track 5

Coal for Christmas, Ben Smith (2014)

Ben Smith

Singer/songwriter Ben Smith has been producing fine independent music for over 20 years including an impressive number of provocative holiday tunes. "Coal for Christmas" is the story of a young man who seems to be following a decidedly bad path with no illusion about the likely results:

It's wintertime, it's getting cold
there's only embers in the stove
and ma and pa conspire some design

I'm eight years old and uncontrolled
I'm too wild for the house to hold
I've never met a rule I can abide

Well, I'm getting coal for Christmas
each and every year
but I'm gonna save each square and say my prayers
gonna light them up and watch the show

By the time I'm nine, I've kicked the cat
I've cursed and swore behind their back
and sometimes I don't bother turning round

By the time I'm ten, I steal the keys
I'm as friendly as a swarm of bees
flying from a hole under the ground

Well, I'm getting coal for Christmas
each and every year
but I'm gonna save each square and say my prayers
gonna light them up and watch the show

Now I'm 16, and I'm all bent
A ne'er do well, a malcontent
ma and pa won't look me in the eye

Mama's wine and daddy's beer
That's what I call Christmas cheer
The blinking lights begin to multiply.

Well, I'm getting coal for Christmas
each and every year
but I'm gonna save each square and say my prayers
gonna light them up and watch the show

I understand that Smith's day job is teaching high school English, which makes a certain amount of sense, I guess. Chances are he's met at least a couple of ne'er do wells and malcontents in his classes over the years. Luckily he's had time to produce a bunch of good music, much of which can be ordered from the links below.

Visit and order music from Ben Smith's Bandcamp site

Check out Ben Smith's Tumblr site

Track 4

Christmas Song, Andy McCoy, featuring Ville Valo (2016)

Born in Finland in 1962 as Antti Hulkko, Andy McCoy is perhaps best known as the lead guitarist for the band Hanoi Rocks, a Finnish rock group that was also popular in the U.K. and Japan in the 1970s and '80s. Following that group's break-up in 1985, McCoy played with a series of other bands, released some solo recordings and worked with other musicians including Iggy Pop. I love this song, and thought it would fit in well on this year's mix.

Order Andy McCoy's "Christmas Song" from Amazon Music

I'll be back before long with background on some additional tracks.