Where Will You Be Christmas Day? (2004)

About this title: A holiday compilation with a difference, this assembles a couple dozen Christmas-themed recordings from 1917-1959 that represent roots music of all stripes -- blues, gospel, early jazz, early country, Appalachian folk, and even some ethnic sounds of Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Italy, and Ukraine. There are some pretty famous names here, like Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, and Lightnin' Hopkins, as well as some artists who are not as famous but still pretty renowned, like Rev. J.M. Gates, Buell Kazee, and the Maddox Brothers & Rose. Yet as was the case on the Dust-to-Digital label's extraordinary six-CD ... read more

Tracks:

1. The Last Month of the Year
2. Christ Was Born on Christmas Morn
3. Christmas Is A-Coming
4. Christmas Is a Joyful Day
5. Dance Under the Willows (Tanec Pid Werbamy)
6. Décimas de Nacimiento
7. Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (Pastorale di Natale)
8. Lady Gay
9. Sherburne [Tate]
10. Holy Babe
11. He Was Born in a Manger
12. The Wrong Way to Celebrate Christmas
13. Santa Claus [Davis]
14. Gee, Ain't I Good to You?
15. At the Christmas Ball [Longshaw]
16. Papa Ain't No Santa Claus (And Mama Ain't No Christmas Tree)
17. Christmas Morning Blues [Murphy]
18. Christmas in Jail -- Ain't That a Pain
19. Christmas Morning the Rum Had Me Yawning
20. Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over
21. Breaking Up Christmas
22. Happy New Year Blues [Berlin]
23. Happy New Year [Ellen]
24. Jingle Bells

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.