By thecount (64.53.143.173) on Monday, December 02, 2002 - 08:18 pm:

I thought this would be a good topic being CHRISTMAS is near.
Going through my CHRISTMAS doo-wop albums,I came across the "A MOTOWN CHRISTMAS" album and had to listen to the TEMPTATIONS-"The Little Drummer Boy.
Thats my favorite ,with the head phones on,it is motown like no other motown could be for that holiday sprit.
Merry Christmas to all and have a kool yule.
na,na na, seeta,dont diss the santa clease
the vato with the boney knees,
hes comming down the street wuth no choose on his feet.Hey Ralph,come over man,like I need some help man. "COUNT"

By Friday (209.244.237.1) on Monday, December 02, 2002 - 08:22 pm:

"Give Love On Christmas Day"-The Jackson 5.A very nice tune.

By Promises Kept (12.227.139.195) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 12:02 am:

"Deck the Halls/Bring a Torch Isabella" from Smokey & the Miracles!!

By Vickie (205.188.209.38) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 12:07 am:

I just love any Supremes Christmas song...
doesn't matter which one - all of them...

Vickie

By STUBASS (205.188.209.38) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 12:12 am:

"STEVIE'S"..."SOME DAY AT CHRISTMAS",,,WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!...STU

By PhilH (203.220.101.87) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 03:20 am:

Me too, Stu. The Supremes' "Little Bright Star" isn't far behind, though.

Phil

By DF (24.168.8.162) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 03:50 am:

Temptations: "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". Love that Eddie Kendricks rendition.

Jackson 5: "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town".


Santa Claus. Come Straight to the ghetto. (Oops! That's James Brown!)

By John Lester (217.40.231.91) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 06:49 am:

The one I play the most is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer from the Temps.........

By Lynn Bruce (64.53.143.164) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 09:11 am:

White Christmas by the Drifters, Merry Chritmas Baby by Charles Brown and Santa Claus please go to the Getto by James Brown.

Those songs and all the Christmas carols with a crackling fire, a snifter full of single malt scotch,a christmas tree with more lights then seems possible.and my wife by my side .
NOW THATS A CHRISTMAS EVE!!!

SLAINTE VA,LYNN
P.S My wife says Jorgy Jorgensons "I just go nuts at Christmas reminds her of me. I was hopeing for more of a Charles Brown image with the ladies. I guess I'll have to work on my coolness a little more.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 10:11 am:

If memory serves me correctly we discussed this last Christmas season. It's probably in the archives. Soulful Detoit has definitely been on the scene a while now. Happy holidays once again everyone.

By Nish (66.119.33.167) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 10:12 am:

My favorite Motown Christmas song is really any Miracles' tune, but particularly "Let It Snow," because Claudette leads and it's kind of funky.

I also LOVE "MY FAVORITE THINGS" by the Supremes. One of Diana Ross' greatest vocal performances to me.

:-)

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 10:57 am:

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' Christmas Album from 1969-70 as well as the Tempts' "Christmas Card" LP are among my favorite holiday recordings.

Favorite song - "The Little Drummer Boy" by the Jackson 5 (1970).

Regards,
Kevin "KevGo" Goins

By JoeR (170.148.92.23) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 11:08 am:

For me it's got to be the following:

o The Christmas Song - Nat 'King' Cole
o Silent Night - Temptations (w/ Glenn Leonard on Lead)
o White Christmas - Temptations Christmas Card LP
o Someday At Christmas - Stevie Wonder

o The entire Jackson Five Christmas album; considered (among my childhood buddies) the greatest Christmas album of ALL-TIME

JoeR

By skip (12.2.196.17) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 11:14 am:

for me it's give love on christmas day by the jackson 5.

By Eddie Hubbard (195.92.67.71) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 02:40 pm:

My fave is " I Want To Come Home For Christmas " by Marvin , as he plays the part of a prisoner of war [ Vietnam ? ] Brilliant song with Marvin in great voice , and not corny at all !! Best,Eddie.

By Jerry Hipkiss (195.188.41.154) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 07:50 am:

The one for me has to be Stevie Wonders "What Christmas means to me" - I get that old spine-tingling feeling from that as much as the Spector Christmas album!

By HW (68.37.219.140) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 07:55 am:

BTW - the double-album 'A MOTOWN CHRISTMAS' was reissued on one CD with that great Marvin Gaye song as a bonus track.

By Common (209.2.55.143) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 08:24 am:

Hello everyone,

HW: is that CD still in print?

By cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 10:07 am:

I would have to say Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by the Supremes. The arrangement is incredible, as soon as you hear the ladies sing "Woooooo! look out, look out, he's coming, coming," I start to feel like Christmas. It was back when the girls were truly a trio and having fun, and there are incredible layers of harmonies as the song builds. I am also partial to the The Jackson Five's Give Love On Christmas Day.

By Bebopman (67.37.75.20) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 10:53 pm:

The Temps, Supremes and J5 all had great Xmas alblums. But, by far the best to me is The Tops "Christmas Here with You". It features Levi and Arehta Franklin together on a couple selctions. All around a superb production. I highly recommend it!

By STUBASS (152.163.188.68) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 11:58 pm:

GREETINGS ALL: I WOULD LIKE TO CAST A SECOND VOTE (I MUST BE IN CHICAGO), FOR "STEVIE'S" SOMEDAY AT CHRISTMAS"! LISTEN TO THE MESSAGE AS WELL AS THE TRACK AND VOCAL PERFORMANCE...GREAT TUNE...BUT!!!...AND YOU KNEW THAT "BUT" WAS COMING...I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT MY FAVORITE "SOUL" CHRISTMAS SONG...MOTOWN AND NON-MOTOWN...THE NOD HAS TO GO TO DONNIE HATHAWAY'S VERSION OF "THIS CHRISTMAS". IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER...AND THAT COMES STRAIGHT FROM A MEMBER OF THE JEWISH FAITH...STU

By soulie dave uk (62.254.64.5) on Thursday, December 05, 2002 - 02:25 am:

Stevie's "What Christmas means to me" a Nothern Soul Christmas Record. Keep on dancin'

By john lester (217.40.220.65) on Thursday, December 05, 2002 - 07:07 am:

Also......White Xmas...Jackie Edwards...

And Nish.......My favourite Things......spot on there.....

plus, Sleigh Ride - Ronettes....in fact Xmas aint Xmas without Spector's Xmas album

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, December 05, 2002 - 11:40 am:

Stu:
Amen on the Donny Hathaway classic. You know it's Christmas when you hear "This Christmas" (and what a KICKIN' arrangement!).

Stevie's "What Christmas Means To Me" - great dancer indeed!

Regards,
Kevin Goins - "KevGo"

By Mark Speck (65.56.63.191) on Thursday, December 05, 2002 - 08:03 pm:

"Someday At Christmas" gets my vote...what a song and what a message! Words to live by for ANY time of the year, not just the holidays.

A couple of non-Motown Christmas songs that make the holidays special for me:
"Little Drummer Boy"--Lou Rawls (one of my heroes!)
"Christmas Ain't Christmas (New Years Ain't New Years Without the One You Love)"--The O'Jays (my neighbors to the south of Cleveland, down in Canton)

Best,

Mark

By Vickie (64.236.243.31) on Thursday, December 05, 2002 - 08:15 pm:

Does anyone know of a Tammi Christmas recording..
I have not heard of any..HW - do they exists anywhere in that vault??
She only had 2 Christmas seasons at Motown..
65 & 66, by 67 she was already sick.

Vickie

By Millie (68.40.209.129) on Friday, December 06, 2002 - 12:06 am:

Ok...since I'm Jewish my number one choice for a holiday song would be "Dreidel, Dreidel", however, my all time rave fav would be "Merry Christmas Darling" by the Carpenters. Karen Carpenter's voice was amazing.

By Millie (68.40.209.129) on Friday, December 06, 2002 - 12:09 am:

Ok, even though I'm of the Jewish persuasion, and "Dreidle, Dreidle" is my favorite Hanukkah song, "Merry Christmas, Darling" by the Carpenters is my rave fav! Seriously...Karen's voice was truly a gift from God.

By Vickie (64.236.243.31) on Friday, December 06, 2002 - 12:32 am:

Oh Yeah Millie!!!
Karen and Christmas just go together..

By R&B (138.238.41.145) on Friday, December 06, 2002 - 02:35 pm:

NOBODY DOES CHRISTMAS BETTER THAN MOTOWN,BUT IF I HAD TO CHOOSE ONE SONG IT WOULD HAVE TO BE THE ALMOST UNREAL BEAUTY {SILENT NIGHT}SUNG BY THE MIGHTY TEMPTATIONS WITH EDDIE KENDRICKS ON LEAD AS ONLY HE COULD.OH BY THE WAY I MEAN THE FIRST VERSION DONE IN 69.

By Greg C. (209.71.79.203) on Friday, December 06, 2002 - 04:21 pm:

Favorites? "Born of Mary" and "Silent Night"on the Merry Christmas The Supremes album. "Silent Night" is very special because it's got Florence Ballard on lead.

By SteveS (68.41.251.33) on Saturday, December 07, 2002 - 09:21 am:

Stubass and KevGo - I'm with you on This Christmas. It's a great tune, great arrangement (big fat flat 5 chord right in the middle of every chorus) and I've always loved the thing they do with the time signature at the end of the tune. I think it's a lick stolen from Bartok but I've never been able to identify it. As Stravinsky said "a mediocre composer borrows, a grear composer steals".

By Keith Herschell - London (213.122.143.129) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 03:57 am:

Seasons greetings.
I'm going to stick my neck out on this one. I've been exclusively a soul/R&B fan for 35 years now
(I can hear you all shout surely not, you don't look that old), but for me the ultimate christmas record is "Blue Christmas" by Elvis. He never sang more soulfully in his life, and backed up with a chorus that sound like Angels. Coming a close second is "Christmas, baby please come home" by Darlene Love. I think the reason I like those 2 in particular is that they could be played at any time of the year, they don't sound just like christmas records.
And remember, a pet is not just for christmas. Make it a turkey and it can also be for dinner.
PS How's the weather over in the States. It's freezing here.

By Sue (205.188.209.38) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 09:26 am:

What's "freezing" to y'all?
We have a high of 27 degrees Fahrenheit today in Detroit...

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 09:58 am:

I don't know of any Tammi Christmas recordings,
but "Little Bright Star" by the Supremes was
recorded by Tammi for her LP with different
lyrics, but same backing track. Also, some
people have responded to this thread with
non-Motown recordings as their favorites!(?)

Randy Russi

By HW (68.37.219.140) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 09:59 am:

Common - that CD 'A Motown Christmas' and its companion Volume 2 (incl. stereo Kim, Marvin Live, the Twistin' Kings, Supremes, Funk Brothers et al) disc are still in print and at a decent price.

Vickie - if there were any Tammi Xmas recordings they would have been out by now... UNLESS there is a track in the vault whose title has nothing to do with the season but the content does. Then again, as you know, I have looked at everything Ms. Montgomery ever did, so... no.

By 45 (68.113.15.28) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:01 am:

The Best R&R/R&B Christmas Song?
MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY by Charlie Brown, although the Spector album runs a close second.
The Worst R&R/R&B Christmas Song?
LITTLE DRUMMER BOY by Bob Seger.
It's almost enough to drive me to athiesism. Besides, why try again when SOCK IT TO ME SANTA was so good.

By Vickie (205.188.209.38) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:16 am:

Thanks Harry....

Vickie

By MEL&THENSOME (195.219.7.55) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:23 am:

Santa Claus is coming to town,
the stompin'
Phil Spector production
MEL.

By Common (209.2.55.145) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 10:42 am:

Hello HW,

Thank you for the info. Much appreicated! :o)

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 12:11 pm:

Millie:
I have to admit the Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling" is one of my faves as well - especially the ending with Karen's & Richard's multi-layered harmonies in high-gear (thank God for A&M's then-state-of-the-art recording studio!).

Sounds amazing in stereo!

Regards,
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Clay (66.73.184.222) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 04:56 pm:

Nate King Coles"Chestnuts Roasting" is my all time favorite as a Xmas single,but the Temptations Xmas Card is my all time favorite Xmas record with Rudolph
at the top of the list as the classic version of a
ever so popular Xmas song. There will never be a Xmas
record like the Xmas Card,because of the personel and
angels in the studio when it was recorded. Peace.

By thecount (64.53.143.173) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 05:42 pm:

YES MILLIE AND KevGo,"MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING",
BUT, by THE SKYLINERS(Jimmy BEUMONT)
"COUNT"

By dowoplady (24.46.200.124) on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 - 06:11 pm:

Although not Motown (but then alot of choices listed here are not Motown), one of the best (IMHO) is the 5 Keys on Capitol "Every Heart is Home At Christmas". This beautiful song was never released on a 45. The only way it came out was on a CD called "Christmas Classics From Capitol's Early Years - Christmas Kisses". It's been out-of-print for many years. Most of the other tunes on the CD are not R&B or soul or doowop related at all! Regarding the later vintage, Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles did some nice harmony tunes on "Blue Christmas", "White Christmas", "O Holy Night", "Silent Night" & "Auld Lang Syne" (for New Yrs).

In harmony,

Nikki
http://www.harmonytrain.com

By Eli (152.163.188.68) on Saturday, December 28, 2002 - 06:13 am:

Twinkle Twinkle Litle me, The supremes
Someday at Christmas, Stevie
Give Love at Christmas Day, J-5

By Julian (64.12.97.7) on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 02:15 am:

"Christmas Everyday" Smokey & the Miracles (I know this is unique)
Non-Motown - "What Do The Lonely Do At Xmas" - Emotions

By Eli (64.12.97.7) on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 06:56 am:

Silent Night-The Tempts
Up On The Housetop-J-5
My Favorite Things-Supremes
My Christmas Tree-The Supremes

By dvdmike (65.208.234.61) on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 07:01 am:

For me it would be the Supremes "My Favorite Things" from '65. Harvey Fuqua produced that in L.A. I don't know who the arranger was, it might have been Gene Page. Wonder what studio they used. Anybody know?

By Eli (152.163.188.68) on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 07:51 am:

At that time it might have been United/Western.