It is without a doubt the strangest holiday album of all time, and chances are that’s exactly how Bob Dylan intended for folks to feel about his new release Christmas In The Heart.
The master lyricist tries his hand at some heavyweight classics on this disk, including Little Drummer Boy and The First Noel. Though his vocals are as course as ever, the folk hero somehow comes out on top with this endearing, if strange, collection of holiday favorites.
Want to see just how bizarre this project got? Check out this video for Must Be Santa:
REVIEW OF REVIEWS
Bob Dylan celebrates the Christmas hit parade the old-fashioned way: He plays it straight, as much as his pitted baritone allows, with a band that mixes David Hidalgo with R&B guitarist Phil Upchurch. There are hymns (“Hark the Herald Angels Sing”), chestnuts (“Little Drummer Boy”) and tinsel: Backup choristers add wholesome glitz. Dylan’s singing is often nimble and clear — he goes high in “The First Noel” without a hint of gravel. The effect is like a Woodstock snowfall with the defiance of 1970’s Self Portrait: another way of saying his roots are everywhere.
The first few seconds of Bob Dylan’s first Christmas album, “Christmas in the Heart” (Columbia), sound like something off a Ray Conniff Singers record: sleigh bells, chiming marimba, a choral vocal as smooth and plain as soft-serve vanilla ice cream. Dylan has always had a soft spot for certain creaky-sounding pop styles that predate rock ‘n’ roll. That appreciation manifests itself in a Christmas album replete with signifiers of Yuletide’s past, when Nat King Cole, Gene Autry and Mitch Miller crooned songs of good cheer.
TRACKLIST
1. Here Comes Santa Claus
2. Do You Hear What I Hear?
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
5. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
6. Little Drummer Boy
7. The Christmas Blues
8. O’ Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
9. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
10. Must Be Santa
11. Silver Bells
12. The First Noel
13. Christmas Island
14. The Christmas Song
15. O’ Little Town Of Bethlehem
VIDEOS
BEST SHOTS
photo credit: different2une
photo credit: Garyisajoke
