The Alligator Records Christmas Collection is a classic recording, with performances by blues legends like Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, Gatemouth Brown, Son Seals, Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop, along with artists who would have been seen as “youngbloods” in 1992, like Kenny Neal, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, William Clarke and Tinsley Ellis. It’s crammed with 14 tracks, including eight new originals written for the album, and six very bluesified holiday standards.
We thought that a lot of you younger writers and DJs might not have heard this joyous collection, and the rest of you folks might enjoy relistening to the album, which has been lovingly remastered under my personal supervision.
Tracklist:
| SIDE A: 1. |
Merry, Merry Christmas | 4:30 | ||
| 2. | Christmas Time In The Country | 4:34 | ||
| 3. | I’m Your Santa | 2:55 | ||
| 4. | Deck The Halls With Boogie Woogie | 2:59 | ||
| 5. | Please Let Me Be Your Santa Claus | 4:31 | ||
| 6. | Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’ | 3:23 | ||
| 7. | Boogie Woogie Santa Claus | 3:12 | ||
| 8. | SIDE B: Lonesome Christmas | 5:13 | ||
| 9. | Christmas On The Bayou | 4:46 | ||
| 10. | Santa Claus | 2:57 | ||
| 11. | The Little Drummer Boy | 2:52 | ||
| 12. | One Parent Christmas | 3:35 | ||
| 13. | Christmas | 3:13 | ||
| 14. | Silent Night | 2:43 |
Koko Taylor
With her huge, gritty voice and enormous stage presence, she was known as “The Queen Of The Blues.” But Koko came up the hard way. She left school to pick cotton on her family’s sharecroppers’ farm, was orphaned as a teen, came to Chicago in the back of a Greyhound bus with “thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz Crackers,” and worked as a laundress and housemaid. The great blues songwriter/producer Willie Dixon spotted her sitting in with Howlin’ Wolf and brought her to Chess Records, where she scored the label’s last big blues hit single, Wang Dang Doodle. When Chess was sold and the gigs dried up, she returned to “scrubbing the rich folks’ floors.” She signed with Alligator in 1974 and remained with the label for 35 years and nine albums, until her death in 2009. She became one of the label’s most popular artists, and toured the world as a blues icon, headlining festivals and clubs, delivering rip-roaring, raw blues to adoring audiences and winning a GRAMMY and multiple Blues Music Awards.
Kenny Neal
Kenny Neal is the world’s leading purveyor of the blues of the Louisiana bayou country. The son of harmonica legend Raful Neal, Kenny grew up surrounded by the blues, and mastered guitar, lap steel, harmonica and bass. His sound was inspired not only by his father, but by Louisiana legends Slim Harpo, Lightnin’ Slim, Lazy Lester and Lonesome Sundown. He gigged as a bassman with Buddy Guy while still a teenager, and started his first band in his early 20s. Since then, he’s cut 16 albums (five for Alligator). With his dynamic stage presence, ultra-confident, multi-instrumental musicianship and rough-edged vocals, he’s become one of today’s most charismatic bluesmen.
Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials
Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, more than any other band now on the label, personify Alligator’s original raw and raucous “Genuine Houserockin’ Music” spirit. Slide guitar master Ed and his bass-playing half-brother James “Pookie” Young grew up on Chicago’s tough West Side. They learned the old school sound and style from their beloved uncle, Chicago slide guitarist J.B. Hutto, who had started recording in the 1950s. Guitarist Michael Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton, blues pilgrims from Detroit, joined Ed and Pookie almost 35 years ago. They’ve been together ever since, delivering joyful boogies and serious slide-driven Chicago blues to audiences around the world. They’ve cut nine albums for Alligator, full of gloriously unadulterated Chicago blues.
Katie Webster
Known as “The Swamp Boogie Queen” and “The Two-Fisted Mama”, Katie was famed for her unmatched boogie woogie and blues piano playing, sassy, soul-drenched vocals and flamboyant stage presence. As a teenager, Katie was the in-demand pianist in Louisiana’s bayou country, appearing on hundreds of singles. Otis Redding scooped her up for his road band, and her grief over his death sent her into retirement. She began performing again the early 1980s, while in her mid-40s. Katie signed with Alligator in 1988, cutting three successful albums full of her thrilling piano playing and her trademark blend of rocking blues, old school R&B, gospel and primal rock ‘n’ roll. She kept rocking the house until her death in 1999 at the age of 63.
William Clarke
One of the most inventive and powerful harp players of his generation, Los Angeles’ William Clarke created a wealth of masterful recordings during his too-short life. He worked as a machinist while paying his dues in the tough blues clubs of Watts. There he was mentored by the great George “Harmonica” Smith, who inspired Clarke’s massive sound and roaring power. After a series of albums on small labels, he came to Alligator for the last four albums of his career, becoming more musically exploratory with each one. He died in 1996 at the age of 45.
Tinsley Ellis
One of Alligator’s most-recorded artists, Tinsley blew out of Atlanta in the late 1980s and became a blues-rock guitar hero with his Alligator debut, Georgia Blue. He blends Southern Rock and hard-edged blues with tough vocals and a raft of original songs honed in front of his intensely devoted fans. He’s a bonafide road warrior, playing over a hundred shows a year. Tinsley is a master at choosing the perfect notes to wring the maximum emotion out of a solo. Rolling Stone says he plays “feral blues guitar...his eloquence dazzles...he achieves pyrotechnics that rival Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.”
Charles Brown
Over his 55-year, 30-album career, Charles Brown and his suave, subtle, sophisticated voice and piano epitomized urbane West Coast blues. In the 1940s and early 50s, while Charles was still in his early 20s, he emigrated from Texas to California. There he recorded the original versions of songs that have become among the best-known in the blues world—Drifting Blues, Merry Christmas, Baby, Trouble Blues, Black Night, and Get Yourself Another Fool. He topped the R&B charts over and over, and became a star in the Black community. As rock ‘n’ roll took over the radio, Charles settled in Cincinnati, holding down a lounge gig for years. In the 1980s, he began playing in New York City and recorded an album called One More For The Road for the tiny Blue Side label. The label failed, and the owners licensed the master to Alligator, who re-released it in 1989. Along with the album came a tape of Boogie Woogie Santa Claus, written by Charles’ ex-wife Mabel Scott. After the release of One More For The Road, Charles was “adopted” by Bonnie Raitt, who took him on tour and revitalized his career. He toured right up to his death in 1999.
Son Seals
When Son joined the Alligator family, he was 31, a recent immigrant to Chicago from Arkansas, and an unknown artist who didn’t even have enough gigs to keep a full-time band. Alligator president Bruce Iglauer first experienced his unvarnished emotional power and attack at the Expressway Lounge on the South Side, and knew immediately that Son was something special. He was Alligator’s third signing. Over the next few years, Son emerged as one of the premier Chicago bluesmen of his generation. He recorded eight Alligator albums. Rolling Stone hailed him as “a major blues talent.” Guitar World said, “Seals carves guitar licks like a chain saw through solid oak and sings like a grainy-voiced avenging angel."
Lonnie Brooks
With his dynamic live shows and warm stage presence, Lonnie Brooks became one of Chicago blues’ most popular artists. He came to the Windy City from Louisiana after cutting a series of Gulf Coast rock ‘n’ roll and swamp pop hit singles under the name “Guitar Junior.” He became a stalwart on the West Side blues scene, made singles for local labels and packed clubs with his high-energy show, big, soul-drenched voice and bad-ass guitar playing. His thrilling session for Alligator’s 1978 Living Chicago Blues series earned him a home at the label. The album introduced his signature blend of swampy Louisiana blues and Chicago blues into a sound that critics and fans called “Voodoo Blues.” We released seven albums filled with Lonnie’s memorable, original songs.
Little Charlie & The Nightcats
The late Little Charlie Baty on guitar and Rick Estrin on harmonica and vocals were the front men of this swinging, jumping four-piece band. They broke out of the Bay Area with their Alligator debut, All The Way Crazy, in 1987 and toured worldwide for almost 20 years, winning fans with their brilliant musicianship and wild live shows. Charlie became a guitar legend, creating a crazed blend of hard blues and swinging jazz. When Charlie retired from touring, Rick took over the band, now Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, who are still on Alligator. Between the two versions of the band, they’ve cut 14 Alligator albums, with a new one coming in 2024.
Elvin Bishop
Ever since Rock & Roll and Blues Hall Of Famer Elvin Bishop first hit the scene with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band back in 1965 (the first band to bring Chicago blues to the rock audience), he’s blazed his own musical trail. Towards the end of the 1960s, after recording three albums with Butterfield, Elvin headed for San Francisco. He formed his own band and became a regular at the famed Fillmore Auditorium and other rock venues, playing shows with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, B.B. King and many others. Whether he was playing raw Windy City blues, penning the evergreen radio hit Fooled Around And Fell In Love, or touring the world delivering his original, good-time, countrified, rocking blues, Bishop has always inspired his fans with his rowdy guitar playing and witty, slice-of-life songs. Rolling Stone calls Bishop “a legendary guitarist” whose playing is “impeccable and spirited...a distinguished American player.” Elvin returned to his blues roots in 1988, signing with Alligator and releasing nine blues-filled albums.
Saffire–The Uppity Blues Women
This acoustic trio from Fredericksburg, Virginia were one of the blues’ unlikeliest success stories. The late pianist/guitarist/vocalist Ann Rabson had been playing for 30 years when she began giving guitar lessons to award-winning schoolteacher and activist Gaye Adegbalola. Gaye developed into a strong guitarist and harmonica player and a standout vocalist in the sassy Bessie Smith tradition. With the addition of Andra Faye on vocals, bass, guitar and mandolin, plus a heap of original songs ranging from traditional blues to hilarious takes on middle-aged sexuality to forceful social/political statements, they became one of Alligator’s most popular bands. They cut eight Alligator albums between 1990 and 2009.
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
One of the most influential blues musicians ever, Louisiana-born, Texas-raised Gatemouth Brown supercharged the single-string picking style of T-Bone Walker. With his virtuoso signature guitar style and wry vocals, he cut hugely popular singles for the black audience in the late 1940s and 1950s, often backed by swinging big bands. He became an icon for generations of Texas-style guitarists, including Albert Collins. After a stint in Nashville in the 1960s, he revitalized his career touring Europe in the 1970s. (Alligator released Pressure Cooker, a collection of some of his best European recordings, in 1986). Gate and his manager came to Alligator in 1989 and placed two outstanding albums with us, Standing My Ground and No Looking Back. He continued to perform right up to his death in 2005.
Charlie Musselwhite
Mississippi-born, Memphis-raised, GRAMMY-winning music legend Charlie Musselwhite, over the course of his six-decade career, has released nearly 40 albums. He is renowned worldwide as a master harmonica player. His every-note-matters harmonica playing overflows with hard-earned authenticity and lasting emotional intensity. His story reads like a classic blues song: born in Mississippi, raised in Memphis where he was schooled by Furry Lewis, Will Shade and Gus Cannon, and then on to the South Side of Chicago, where he was mentored by Big Walter Horton and Big Joe Williams. A groundbreaking recording artist since the 1960s, Musselwhite has never stopped creating trailblazing music, mixing in elements of jazz, gospel, Tex-Mex, Cuban and other world music, while remaining firmly rooted in the blues. He has been a featured guest on recordings by Tom Waits, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama, INXS, Cyndi Lauper and many others. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall Of Fame in 2010, has been nominated for twelve GRAMMYS, won numerous Living Blues Awards and Blues Music Awards.
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