One of the most popular Christmas songs of the 20th Century is “White Christmas.” A lot of people don’t sing the intro verse of the song, which goes like this:
The sun is shining, the grass is green
The orange and palm trees sway
There’s never been such a day
In Beverly Hills, LA
But it’s December the 24th
And I’m longing to be up north
So, “White Christmas” is just a song about Christmas in L.A., written by a Russian Jewish immigrant while sitting poolside in Phoenix, Arizona.
The late, great Hadda Brooks, born and raised in Boyle Heights, offers her own variation of this theme in her song “LA Christmas Blue,” one of the best L.A. Xmas songs I’ve heard. Sometimes the “Queen of the Boogie” and sometimes a smokey lounge singer, Brooks kept recording and performing almost to the end of her life.
Amy Correia is your classic singer-songwriter who starts out in the club scene in New York, moves out to L.A. to make it big, gets screwed over by the record company, moves back to N.Y. and goes the indie route. Okay, I’m simplifying grotesquely, but while Correia was recording for Capitol Records in 2000, she did cut this number, featuring the Tinseltown Tabernacle Choir.
Hadda Brooks – LA Christmas Blue — BUY
Amy Correia – Christmas in L.A.
Tags: Christmas, Los Angeles, Hadda Brooks, Amy Correia
2 Responses
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Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey Says:
I can’t think of any Chicago Christmas songs. There must be some!
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Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey Says:
Well, here’s one.