I guess it’s time to wrap it up for Christmas 2010. I thought I’d go out with a couple R&B/soul songs – one of my favorite varieties of Christmas tunes.
Gatemouth Moore, backed by the Tiny Grimes Swingtet, offers a classic plea directed at santa Claus. The final lines are one of my favorite set of lyrics in any Christmas song.
Moore was a blues shouter in the Forties. After a conversion in 1949, he spent the next 30 years as a preacher.
The late, great Solomon Burke was also spiritually inclined. He preached his first sermon as a teenager, earning the nickname “the Boy Wonder Preacher.” He began his pop singing career in the Fifties, earning dozen of his singles over a 15-year period. In the early Seventies, he renewed his focus on religion, establishing a church in Inglewood, California. In recent years, he had revived his singing career with some terrific albums.
“Presents For Christmas” was released in 1967. Burke puts the soul on simmer and delivers a very compassionate view of the holiday, pointing out along the way that he’s “fat enough to be the world’s biggest Santa Claus.” I also love the shout-out to “all the policemen and all the pretty girls.”
In October of this year, he passed away at the age of 70. He had 21 children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.
Gatemouth Moore – Christmas Blues — BUY
Solomon Burke – Presents For Christmas — BUY