A Guide to Some of the Most Soothing Blues Holiday Albums

The holiday rush is often a frantic season for taking down gift lists, scurrying through some last minute Christmas shopping, churning out numbers when setting our holiday budget straight, and ironing out some details for our holiday trip. When the tenseness of the season is starting to get to you, it's time to break some soothing holiday tunes. Christmas, after all, is supposed to be a festive and laid-back time for reminiscing and get-togethers, a time to celebrate the holiday cheer and an escape from the stresses of the past year.

BB King: A Christmas Celebration of Hope

The King of the Blues released his first Christmas album in 2001 with this album, which

BB personally selected. The album is definitely blues-tinged, and it's not your regular jazz Christmas standards track list. Here, BB brings his powerful and warm singing and his rich and sultry guitar playing to elicit complex layers of emotion on such Christmas classics as Back Door Santa and Please Come Home For Christmas. He brings an elegant, heartfelt blues twist to other Christmas standards like Blue Decorations, What A Wonderful World, and Christmas In Heaven. Don't worry for BB to dampen your Christmas, though, as his band swings gleefully to Auld Lang Syne and I'll Be Home For Christmas. This album is sure to bring an extra dose of warmth to your holidays.

Blue Yule: Christmas Blues and R&B Classics

There have been many a holiday blues compilations over the years, but this release cements itself over the pack. It's got some hot tunes from some the biggest names in blues, including Lightning Hopkins, Sonny Boy Williamson, Charles Brown, and John Lee Hooker. The songs are mostly Christmas standards, and the most delightful bit about this CD is the thrill of hearing very familiar songs rendered differently with tinges of blues and R&B. From swinging tunes to more intense, reflective numbers, this CD has the complete package. While it's ironic that we'd want to listen to blues artists belt out melancholic melodies during Christmas, one listen to this CD will explain just why.

Charles Brown's Cool Christmas Blues

This compilation contains the landmark masterpieces of Charles Brown, including his blues hits Please Come Home For Christmas and Merry Christmas Baby. Brown is probably the most venerable veteran of blues yule tunes and this compilation cements the classics of a genius. Brown brings such deep, rich layers of emotion to each track, from whimsical numbers to sentimental renditions, he's sure to ease the tensions in the air and give you the most laid back Christmas ever.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

What can be better than curling up to some smooth music that brings back crisp memories of childhood? Those who grew up watching A Charlie Brown Christmas are sure to delight at the soundtrack of that favorite cartoon. The tracks are jazz numbers, with arrangements by Vince Guaraldi kicks off with O Tannenbaum, to lighter, more whimsical numbers like Skating and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Few CDs can bring out the warmest memories of Christmas and childhood, all in a moment's notice.

Go Tell It On The Mountain: The Blind Boys of Alabama

If you haven't gone to any of their much-lauded annual Christmas concerts, then this Christmas release by the Blind Boys of Alabama is definitely a must-have. Their voices croon wonderfully and serenely through such Christmas classics as Joy to the World and Away in a Manger. It's a grand performance reminiscent of a blues-gospel group, with the special addition of guest performers that add such a sparkle to each number, including Aaron Neville, Shelby Lynne, Robert Randolph, and Chrissie Hynde, among others. It's an intensely spiritual experience, listening to this CD, and it's sure to transport you light years away from the hustle and bustle of the holiday frenzy.