![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/alligaotr_christmas2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy late 1992, the first vinyl era was drawing to a close. At its peak in 1977-78, vinyl LP sales in the U.S. approached 350 million units per year. With the switchover to compact disc as the format of choice, record production plummeted, taking sales along with it. In 1992, just over two million records were sold. So it was no surprise that Alligator Records followed suit: when the venerable blues label compiled The Alligator Records Christmas Collection<\/i>, the 14-song album would be released only on CD and cassette. Now in 2023, the catalog release returns for its first-ever vinyl pressing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Collection<\/i> draws from a who\u2019s who of Alligator artists; each delivers a heartfelt holiday tune. Some are original compositions, while others are blues-flavored readings of traditional songs or hymns. Koko Taylor, Kenny Neal, Lil\u2019 Ed & the Blues Imperials, William Clarke, Tinsley Ellis, Lonnie Brooks, Little Charlie & the Nightcats, Saffire \u2013 The Uppity Blues Women and Clarence \u201cGatemouth\u201d Brown all turn in original numbers.<\/p>\n
Taylor\u2019s funky \u201cMerry, Merry Christmas\u201d opens the album in gritty style. Neal\u2019s laid back \u201cChristmas Time in the Country\u201d focuses on his winning harmonica. \u201cI\u2019m Your Santa\u201d is a fun, uptempo number from Lil\u2019 Ed, with lively guitar work throughout. Clarke\u2019s wailing harp is the centerpiece of \u201cPlease Let Me Be Your Santa Claus.\u201d Tinsley Ellis\u2019 blues-rock \u201cSanta Claus Wants Some Loving\u201d is a guitar fest.<\/p>\n
Lonnie Brooks\u2019 \u201cChristmas on the Bayou\u201d ventures the farthest from blues, but it\u2019s a solid tune. Little Charlie & the Nightcats dig into a retro feel for \u201cSanta Claus.\u201d Saffire emphasize the melancholy side of the holidays on \u201cOne Parent Christmas.\u201d Gatemouth injects a bit of jazz styling into the record with his \u201cChristmas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the traditional selections, Katie Webster\u2019s update of \u201cDeck the Halls\u201d leans into a New Orleans boogie woogie piano vibe. Accompanied only by some sleigh bells, this spare recording is sprightly, and Webster is in fine voice. Her spoken message at the song\u2019s end is good for a chuckle, too. \u201cBoogie Woogie Santa Claus\u201d was first cut by Mabel Scott in 1948; Charles Brown\u2019s reading of the classic features a more stripped-down arrangement, but the spirit remains.<\/p>\n
Lowell Fulson\u2019s sultry 1950 \u201cLonesome Christmas\u201d is covered by Son Seals; this version emphasizes Seals\u2019 electric guitar work and vocal. Elvin Bishop\u2019s instrumental take on \u201cThe Little Drummer Boy\u201d features some tasty horn charts and a dependably soulful lead guitar break. Charlie Musselwhite closes the set on a solemn note with his take on \u201cSilent Night\u201d; his harmonica playing is accompanied only by Stu Blank\u2019s gospel-infused piano.<\/p>\n
The record\u2019s credits \u2013 reproduced from the original CD release \u2013 note the players, engineers, producers and (sometimes) studios involved in the making of these recordings. What they don\u2019t do is list the recording dates. But it\u2019s reasonable to assume that most if not all of these 14 tunes were recorded especially for the album, with production coordination by Alligator founder Bruce Iglauer and his staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By late 1992, the first vinyl era was drawing to a close. At its peak in 1977-78, vinyl LP sales in the U.S. approached 350 million units per year. With […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,37,64,65,73],"tags":[3844],"class_list":["post-26313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-holiday","category-reissue","category-review","category-vinyl","tag-alligator-records","cat-9-id","cat-37-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26316,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26313\/revisions\/26316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}