Thursday, October 18, 2012

Charlie Daniels Band/Marshall Tucker Band Christmas Albums

Merry Christmas to all & Carolina Christmas
Charlie Daniels is sure-enuff the genuine article, an artist unfraid of taking a high-minded stance and doing things his way. That said, what you'd expect from CDB's Christmas CD is delivered. And that's just fine by me.

Charlie is down-home, but don't classify him too tightly. Remember, he played on The Beatles White Album and has a list of accomplishments stretching through the decades. Nobody can pull that off without tons o' talent.

Charlie and Co. blend holiday standards and newer stuff, all with his trademark sound.

This is one of my very favorite Christmas CDs from 2002. It'll be an annual joy to slide this in the CD changer and get into the holiday mood every year.
In the liner notes Doug states that MTB had started talking about doing a Christmas CD in the early 70s... I've wanted them to do one for years too. I'm sure Tuckerhads everywhere have! Now we all get our wish... and it was certainly worth the wait. I know Christmas will have an extra special glow this year.

Doug gets the festivities rolling with White Christmas, sung in a traditional style but after the last chorus the band kinks it into jammin' overdrive. Very cool! Christmas in Carolina is a joyful celebration - just what you'd expect from Chris. His music always seems to lift your spirit and this original is no different. David Muse plays sax and horns and takes it over the top.

Doug's daughter, Gabrielle, sings vocals on I'll Be Home for Christmas. We were first introduced to her on the Gospel CD when she duetted with her Pops on His Eye Is On the Sparrow. She sounded like a songbird then and I'm glad she was given the reins on a song all to herself. She is one angelic singer! Cousin Clay Cook plays a perfectly subtle acoustic guitar. Brushes offer a sultry edge to a song that would have sounded perfectly at home on the radio in the 40's. This young lady has a voice like the classic torch singers from that era. I'm not sure what she's been doing since Gospel but she needs to release a CD of her own. Her voice is pure ear candy!

The boys give their Tucker treatment to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. I think Tommy would be proud. For some reason this song brought him to mind... Could be that Jerry plays the sax on this one... or it could be Stuart's lead guitar, which sounds a lot like Toy... or mybe it's Paul Hornsby's keyboards. Whatever the case, it sounds like vintage Tucker, circa Together Forever era...

Clay delivers a perky rendition of Let Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Our favorite sound engineer, Keith Glenn, plays bells and does a mighty fine job! A soulful version of Silent Night is delivered full force by Chris with an equally powerful sax solo from David Muse. Chris takes lead again on Snowfall in Georgia - and once again it sounds like classic Tucker, from Paul Hornsby's piano to the nimble guitar work of Stuart and Chris. This song goes down as easy as warm cider on a cold winter's day.

No comments:

Post a Comment