Cool Christmas Blues
Charles Brown is responsible for one of the bluesiest Christmas tunes ever, "Please Come Home for Christmas." Countless individuals and groups have covered this heartbreak classic because it so readily embraces the theme of being home for the holidays with loved ones. Brown's golden hit is just one of the highlights on his 1994 Christmas album, along with "Merry Christmas, Baby," a blues tune almost as popular as "Please Come Home for Christmas." Some of the newer tunes he's written for this record are almost as savory, including "Christmas Comes but Once a Year," a rockin' little number featuring the legendaryJohnny Otison vibes; the jazzy, six-minute-plus meditation on the holiday "A Song for Christmas"; and a couple of forthright love songs, not to mention "Christmas in Heaven" and "Bringing In a Brand New Year."--Martin Keller