Los Straitjackets' Christmas albums--2002’s ‘Tis the Season for Los Straitjackets and 2009’s Yuletide Beat--are inventive in a way that you don't expect from surf rock and might not expect from Christmas music. They're respectful of their tradition, so much so that their version of "Sleigh Bells" owes a lot to The Ventures' version from 1965. But they're not hamstrung by their respect for their genre and open with "La Bamba" en route to "Feliz Navidad."
In the recent Christmas season, the band released Los Straitjackets' Complete Christmas Songbook, which also includes loose tracks including a live version of Vince Guaraldi's "Linus & Lucy" recorded in 2015 when the band spent the Christmas season on tour backing Nick Lowe.
Guitarist Eddie Angel talks to host Alex Rawls about Nick Lowe, Christmas shows, mash-up arrangements, and his relationship to Christmas music. The show also includes Christmas music by The Ventures and Nick Lowe.
The episode also features the return of Nashville songwriter Jim McCormick to talk about The Band's "Christmas Must Be Tonight." The song from 1977's Islands is sincere in a way that most Christmas rock and pop isn't, and it prompts Jim and Alex to talk about The Band, Bob Dylan and his Christmas album, Christmas in the Heart, and one of the many roles Christmas music plays in the culture.
Pink Martini
Jimbo Mathus of Squirrel Nut Zippers
Johnny Mathis
Lowland Hum
Scott McCaughey of The Minus 5
Darling West
The 179 Days of Christmas
Chris Butler of The Waitresses
Rodney Crowell and Flow Tribe
PJ Morton, and "All I Want for Christmas is You"
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Kristin Chambers and Mars Williams
Delicate Steve, and Outkast's "Player's Ball"
Wizards of Winter, and Faith Hill's "A Baby Changes Everything"
The Sultans of String and The Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling"
Robert Earl Keen
Michael Cerveris and Kimberly Kaye of Loose Cattle
Ben Schenck of the Panorama Jazz Band
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