Christmas Cheer - Part 12 and Out

For the past few weeks we've been posting just a bit of background on each of the 37 tracks on my 19th and most recent holiday holiday mix, Christmas Cheer. Today, with two shopping days left to go before December 25, I'm proud to share some information about the final three tracks on the mix. I believe this is the earliest we've ever completed this task, and because we started early we were able to proceed at a pleasant and leisurely pace with nobody getting upsot. There's a lesson in the somewhere, though I'm darned if I can figure out just what it is!

Track 35
Yonder, The Sisterhood (1974)

Track 35 is the last of the song-poems on this year’s mix, and while it appeared on an M.S.R. Records album titled "Christmas Album," the lyrics don't seem to have anything to do with December 25. Frankly, it’s not immediately apparent just what they are about:

 

Yonder with a village view sits a village queen

And around all reading through planted with all colors of green

A little boy far traveled,

Might also care to travel back

With a seaboard, crates and masts

He is educational, years of more track

 

Towards yonder, where all work is done

With harvest enduring years

And more of distribution begins where all reading is shown by far and nears

 

[Repeat both stanzas]

 

Where all reading is shown by far and nears

Far and nears

 

The song is credited to The Sisterhood, a group of several female singers who worked for the M.S.R. label. The lyrics are by a fellow named Thomas Jackson Guygax, Sr., a Springfield, Missouri resident who wrote at least ten sets of lyrics that were ultimately set to music and released by M.S.R.

To say Guygax had an unusual style would be an understatement. Many of his efforts read like a jumble of random words that tumbled out of a high-speed blender in no particular order — and yet . . .  there’s a certain weight, even majesty, to some of them.

The Sisterhood

Song-poem enthusiast Phil Milstein has speculated that English may not have been Guygax’s first language, which would certainly explain the jumbled syntax. Or maybe he just wrote to the beat of a different drummer.

In any case, I’ve grown rather fond of “Yonder” over the many years since I first heard it. I guess I never really paid too much attention to the lyrics, however, for it was only recently that I figured out that this isn't a Christmas song at all. All M.S.R. had to do is include the tune on one of its several holiday releases and that was apparently all I needed to park it in an honored spot on this year's mix.

Before we bid adieu to M. Guygax, allow me to share another set of lyrics from one of his ten M.S.R. releases:

Thomas J. Guygax

 

A POET

(Thomas J. Guygax, Sr.)

as recorded by Dick Charles

 

A poet once sat among his papers

Letters from here and far across the sea

He scribbl'd with his pencil a moment

Saying, "My! what's happen'd to me?"

"Should I wrote poetry or prose?

Heaven only knows!

I wish I had something to write about

Then I wouldn't have to sit here and pout

So let's call Jerry and dance about."

 I think that pretty much says it all, n’est-ce-pas?

Track 36
Happy Holidays, Robbie Robertson (2019)

I surprised myself by finishing this year’s mix in early September, roughly three months ahead of my typical schedule. The way I have to assemble these things today makes it very difficult to make any changes to the mix once it's complete, so I really figured it was done until the first weekend in November when I happened upon this song on YouTube. I knew instantly that I had to include it, so I removed what had been the penultimate track (“The True Meaning Christmas,” by Ambulances) and stuck this one in its place.

Robbie Robertson has long been one of my favorite artists, and news of his death this past August cast a long shadow over 2023 for me — a year that started off on a sour note with the January 18 death of another of my all-time favorites, the legendary David Crosby. I used to try to include tracks by those artists I really liked who’d passed each year but discontinued the practice because the lists of departing celebrities were beginning to get too long. But I certainly wanted to honor Robertson and this is a terrific and appropriate track to do it with.

Recorded during the sessions for his last solo album, Sinematic (2019), “Happy Holidays” is Robertson’s playful attempt at pointing out the yin and yang of the modern holiday season.

“We love Christmas and the holidays,” Robertson said in statement quoted in Rolling Stone. “[They] brings good cheer, and also stress and depression, so I wanted to do a song that celebrates both sides and have a little fun.” This is evident from the very first verse:

Please don’t leave Old Saint Nick

Too much milk and cookies

’Cause by the time he gets round to us

He won’t be able to get

His fat ass down the chimney.

Proceeds from the song were donated to the American Indian College Fund. Robertson himself had indigenous roots, as his mother was part Cayuga and part Mohawk, and two of his six outstanding solo albums focus on Native American themes.

This is the second holiday song of Robertson’s I’ve used. My 2012 mix Gee Whiz . . . It's Christmas (Again!) included The Band’s song “Christmas Must Be Tonight,” which Robertson wrote for their 1977 album Islands.

I was familiar with Robertson’s work as a member of The Band but became a really big fan with the release of his first self-titled solo album in 1987. I loved the video for the first single off the album, “Somewhere Down the Crazy River,” which was directed by Martin Scorsese. I was also wowed by Robertson’s appearance on Saturday Night Live around that same time, which featured the rock song “Testimony” that he recorded with U2.

Over the next 35 years, Robertson released a string of outstanding albums, including Storyville (1991), Contact from the Underworld of Redboy (1998), How to Become Clairvoyant (2011) and Sinematic (2019). In 1994 he collaborated with the Red Road Ensemble on a collection of stunningly beautiful songs written to accompany a TBS documentary, later released as an album called Music for the Native Americans,

He also worked closely with Martin Scorsese, scoring a series of the famed director’s biggest films. Shortly before his death, Robertson completed the score to Scorsese’s latest release, Killers of the Flower Moon.

Robertson was one of a kind, and he’ll be sorely missed.

Listen to Robbie Robertson on Marc Maron's Famous WTF Podcast

Robbie Robertson Discusses His Parents' Backgrounds and How He Got Started in Music

Track 37
One Tin Soldier, Cher (1972)

This year's mix goes out pretty much the same way it came in, with an excerpt from the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. This track features Cher singing her version of the 1969 song "One Tin Soldier," written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and originally recorded by the Canadian pop group The Original Caste. It was later recorded by the group Coven for the 1971 Warner Brothers film "Billy Jack." Cher's version begins with her singing an excerpt from the classic carol "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," followed by Cher singing Coven's version of the song over a video created by animator John David Wilson:

I remember loving this song as a child, although I recall it took me a few listens to understand its principal message. It's profoundly sad to think that 50 years later we're no closer to world peace than when the song was first released.

Well, that's it, folks. I hope you've enjoyed many of these tracks and that you have a most enjoyable holiday with family and friends!

My Christmas Time Philosophy, Part 3

Let's continue with the next three tracks on this year's mix:

Track 9
I Like Christmas (But I Can't Stand the Cold), by Tangarine (2013)
Tangarine is a Dutch folk duo consisting of twin brothers Sander and Arnout Brinks. They've been playing and writing songs together since they were 12 years old, and initially served as their own promoters and business managers as well. They were signed to the Excelsior label in 2013 and subsequently released an album called Seek and Sigh and this non-album holiday track:



Track 8
Hanukkah Hymns, by the Cast of Saturday Night Live, featuring Alec Baldwin (1998)
Alec Baldwin's been a key SNL player for the past couple of seasons portraying an appropriately idiotic Donald Trump, but he's got a history with the show that goes back many years. In fact, he's hosted the show a record 17 times -- more than any other performer. The eighth track on My Christmas Time Philosophy is an audio version of a 1998 clip featuring Baldwin as the pitch man for a fictional holiday album called Hanukkah Hymns:




Track 7
Jingle Bell Rock, by BoDeans (1989)

I first heard of the band BoDeans way back in 1987 -- not in connection with anything the band had done per se, but rather because a couple of the founding members sang back-up for Robbie Robertson on several of the tracks from his first wondrous solo album, Robbie Robertson. Sam Llanas (credited as Sammy BoDean) also appeared on the video for one of the album's most memorable tracks, "Somewhere Down the Crazy River," which was directed by Martin Scorsese:



It's a long way from the sultry summer heat of that track to the snowy world of the Christmas song, but I remember reading once that BoDeans had cut a few Christmas tracks over the years and so I went searching for them as I started pulling together the tracks for this year's mix. The first of the two BoDeans tracks I've included this year is a tune called "Jinga Bell Rock," which was released in 1989 as a double-sided 45 RPM single backed by a tune called "Christmas Time." I'm embarrassed to say that the track list for most of the CDs I distributed this year refers to this track as "Jingle Bell Rock," which, of course, is not correct. "Jinga Bell Rock" is an infectious tune that's likely to get stuck in your head for a long while once you listen to it, but I can think of far worse tracks to have stuck there.

Back someday soon with more.

Gee Whiz ... It's Christmas (Again!), Part 12

Here are a few quick thoughts on the two remaining tracks from my 2011 holiday CD:

Track 43

Christmas Must Be Tonight, by The Band (1977)

Robbie Robertson

Many years ago, my elementary school band teacher, Mr. Whittaker, gave our class some wise advice about performing for an audience. The two most important parts of any performance, he said, were the beginning and the end. Start strong and you grab the audience’s attention. Finish strong, and that’s the memory they’ll take away. I think of Mr. Whittaker when I start to assemble each of my new holiday CDs, and I pay particular attention to creating coherent sets of tracks at the beginning and end that set the appropriate tones. I tend to end each CD with a couple of quieter songs with deeper meanings, for as much fun as Christmas undoubtedly is, there are serious principles to reflect on as well. For the final song on this year’s CD, I selected “Christmas Must Be Tonight,” by the venerated group known simply as The Band. Written by the great Robbie Robertson, this song was originally recorded in 1975 for The Band’s Northern Lights, Southern Cross album; in fact, there were plans to release it that year as a holiday single. However, the track was pulled at the last minute, and was ultimately featured on the group’s final studio album, Islands, which was released in 1977, after The Band had formally dissolved. Robertson wrote the song shortly after the birth of his son, Sebastian, and one can sense his reverence for the miracle of birth and the beginning of each new life. Some of the lyrics are lifted directly from the King James version of the Bible, but Robertson recounts the story from a populist perspective, and while he pays due deference to the magnitude of this event, one gets the sense that he might paint a similar picture were he to write about the birth of your son or daughter. In this version of the song, the lead vocal is handled by Rick Danko rather than Robertson, although Robertson subsequently recorded two additional versions of the song as a solo artist, one of which appears on the soundtrack to the 1988 movie Scrooged (see HERE). I’m a huge fan of Robertson’s, but I prefer Rick Danko’s version myself – not only over Robertson’s, but also the dozen or so others who have covered the song, including Darlene Love. For me, this song is nothing less than a modern day Christmas classic, and it’s one of the few songs from the past 50 years that’s worthy to stand next to "Silent Night," "Joy to the World" and the like as legitimate carols. It tells this most miraculous story in simple yet beautiful terms, and it never fails to move me.

Track 42

The La La Christmas Song, by Sherwin Sleeves (2008)

Sean Hurley (or is it Sleeves?)

This song was written and performed by Sherwin Sleeves, an older fellow in his mid- to late 70s, I'd guess, who lives in a small cabin on top of Marked Mountain, in Lemon, New Hampshire. Sleeves writes songs for fun, and he does a great deal of walking. Due to his lack of technological sophistication, he relies on a neighbor named Sean Hurley to record his songs and serve as his public spokesman. As near as I can tell from Sean’s reports, Sleeves wrote this song in 2008 with the idea of submitting it to a radio station’s holiday songwriting contest. It's not clear whether he won or not, but from the feedback on the station’s website, it sure looks like this was the popular favorite. The song itself is filled with beautiful imagery, and there’s something very poignant in the notion of an older man respectfully observing his town’s pre-Christmas activities from afar, with love. 

Sleeve and Sean Hurley share a little community of websites, and you might begin your exploration of them HERE, should you be so inclined.

UPDATE (3.25.14): I recently stumbled on a piece featured on New Hampshire Public Radio that tells the fascinating story behind this wonderful song. Check it out!

Thus ends this lengthy exercise, and just in time to celebrate Christmas Eve tomorrow. More later. Anything is possible, if you’re good.