Let me start by saying - and I am unshakeable in my conviction here - that this is the single best Christmas album ever recorded.
For those too preoccupied to follow the link, it's "We Three Kings" by The Roches. In days to come, I'm hoping to have a sample here. I've written to their management to ask permission, because I feel really strongly about unauthorized duplication and distribution of artists' work. For the time being, you'll have to find samples where you can, or - better yet - simply take my word for it. The. Best. Christmas. Album. Ever.
The songs (Two dozen of them!) are mostly very familiar, but the arrangements and stunningly original harmonies make them fresh and interesting and fun and - incredibly enough - as new as if you're hearing them for the first time. The original material is brilliant. "Star of Wonder", written by Terre Roche, is one of the most achingly beautiful songs you will ever hear - you can feel the shepherd's uncertainty as she gazes in wonder at the sky above and grapples with whether to follow that bright star or remain with her sheep. It never fails to make me mist up, and I'm not generally a misty kinda guy.
For about ten years now, this has been the music we put on when we decorate our tree. To all our family, it signals the start of the Christmas season. And while we're still a day or two away from December, I'm giving you this info now so you can look for this album online or in a well-stocked record store and give yourself an early gift that will serve you well for years to come.
Now, what are some of the contenders for the second best Christmas album ever ...?
They had a huge album around 1980 just called "The Roches" which was a high school party favorite with my nerdy set. Still is.
Posted by: Alan | November 29, 2004 at 09:51 PM
I nominate EmmyLou Harris' "A Light in the Stable" album for second best... so good that every family apparently needs two copies!
Posted by: Allie | November 30, 2004 at 05:10 PM
My bad... "Light of the Stable"
Posted by: Allie | November 30, 2004 at 05:11 PM
My darlin daughter refers to an incident in which I came home delighted that I had finally found Light of the Stable in CD format after several years of looking for it. Evidently, I'd forgotten the delight I had experienced the year before, when I had also found it on CD. I maintain that I was happy to have scored an emergency back-up copy, in case our first gets as worn out as the record album did.
And anyway - she's right, it's a great Christmas album.
Posted by: Nils | November 30, 2004 at 08:38 PM
Thanks for the tip. I know the Roches from some of their other albums. I'll be checking out their Christmas album too if I can (I live far away so it might be harder than you think). Believe it or not, the Von Trapp family singers have an old album of Christmas music called the Sound of Christmas that you can get on Amazon for four dollars which is the saddest, most beautiful (to my mind) Christmas music ever. I put the web page up as my url. I know, I know, "The Sound of Music" starring Julie Andrews springs immediately to mind, but the real Von Trapps were something completely different, something that the movie fails in every possible way to capture.
Posted by: Lisa Howard | December 01, 2004 at 05:21 PM
What can I say about this! It is without doubt one of the most thoughtfully chosen Christmas albums. Each track is outstanding. Most notably Star of Wonder for its timeless appeal. Also We Three Kings never seems to lose its festive magic. The only glaring omission seems to be any music from the Bludgeon and Ball Christmas catalog. Never the less this is a must for anyone's Christmas stocking. Even Saint Nick would listen to it!
Posted by: John Mud | November 25, 2005 at 11:20 AM