🎄 Holidays! XMAS CD: Brian Setzer Orchestra, "Boogie Woogie Christm

[Rudy]

This is an album I've been waiting a few years for! Even before the big success of "Jump Jive and Wail", I've always thought Setzer could pull off one heck of a good Christmas album. This one exceeds my expectations! I'd have expected a big-band-meets-rockabilly bash on all of the tracks, but influences abound here. Fans of big bands of the past will recognize many of the styles here, including Basie, Ellington, Al Hirt, Les Brown (via an imaginative big band rendition of the Nutcracker Suite), Lionel Hampton and yes, even Kay Starr. He teams up with Ann Margret for a duet on "Baby It's Cold Outside"...which is as "warm" inside as you'd expect it to get. Overall, it's anchored by Setzer's fiery guitar and the well-oiled Brian Setzer Orchestra.

For the completist, there are two other Setzer tracks out there that did not appear on this album. There is an instrumental version of "Jingle Bells" that predates this album by a couple of years--this track originally appeared on the "Merry Axemas" CD, which featured top rock guitarists doing instrumental versions of holiday songs. Also, there is a recording of the BSO with Lou Rawls singing "So They Say It's Christmas" (from the Jingle All The Way soundtrack). Note that the import version of this CD includes the instrumental "Jingle Bells" as a bonus track--you're better off finding the Merry Axemas CD instead.



(Click to order from Amazon)

Tracks:

1. Jingle Bells
2. Boogie Woogie Santa Claus
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Blue Christmas
5. Santa Claus Is Back In Town
6. Baby Its Cold Outside (Duet With Ann Margret)
7. The Nutcracker Suite
8. (Everybodys Waitin For) The Man With The Bag
9. Sleigh Ride
10. So They Say Its Christmas
11. O Holy Night
12. The Amens

The BSO is making a few concert appearances over the holidays. Setzer and the band will be appearing on NBC's Today Show on Christmas morning. They will also be on the TNT cable network on Monday, 12/23, at 11:00pm EST.

 

[bob knack]

I have the other Setzer records. My main concern is...he doesn't let his big band do enough. It's Stray Cats with a big band back-up. I'd like to hear a little more brass, ala Bill Chase. I'll probably buy this one, too, though.

Les Brown did the Nutcracker Suite. Is Brian's like Les'? And Ann-Margret, who I still have a major crush on, did "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Al Hirt on the "Beauty and the Beard" session. I hope Brian stays with the big outfit, there aren't too many out there!

Best of Holidays to you all on this marvelous web site!

Keep up the great work.

 

[reechie]

The Setzer orchestra also did some Christmas tunes for the soundtrack album to Jingle All The Way, including the same arrangement of "Jingle Bells" that's on the new CD (a different, slightly better version IMHO). Includes a couple of tunes backing up Darlene Love as well.

 

[Rudy]

If he can keep selling multi-platinum albums, chances are he'll keep the big band active. I think that's partially what killed Harry Connick Jr.'s run of popularity--a big band is just way too expensive to take on the road unless you have the record sales to support it. We did catch Connick when he was touring more heavily, and he put on an entertaining show.

Setzer's live gigs are a lot of fun, although knowing the Stray Cats' own material quite well, I don't exactly get the vibe it's a "Stray Cats with Brass" outing. Then again, anything Setzer has recorded has his guitar and vocal as the centerpiece, so it's hard to take that away. And I give him a lot of credit for making big band 'swing' a lot of fun to listen to--there's a certain swagger you get out of a big band that you can't get out of a trio. I'm a big admirer of big bands like Maynard Ferguson's Roulette-era bands, or Stan Kenton, even Don Ellis to an extent. But it's a different kind of thrill to listen to those. With other big bands, I doubt you'll see a 70-year-old couple dancing swing in the aisles like we saw during Setzer's performance of "Mack The Knife."

His recent Trio recording (billed as the '68 Comeback Special), Ignition, is excellent. It's hardcore rockabilly, a lot darker than what I felt were more teen- and nostalgia-oriented lyrics with his pre-big band recordings. "Hell Bent" has an awesome guitar stretch in the middle of it. It's not exactly "psychobilly" (like Detroit's own Dangerville), but it's also not about grabbin' your girl and going out and rockin' this town inside out.

I think of all his big band recordings, the first one he did has the most room for soloists, look at "Good Rockin' Daddy", for instance. I didn't mind the second one so much, but Phil Ramone wasn't exactly the right producer--the mix is tiresome at best. Dirty Boogie clicked, I felt like he'd found his niche. Vavoom is fun on a few tracks, but it's almost back to the Phil Ramone syndrome again. "Americano" swings dangerously hard, but I don't care for "Pennsylvania 6-5000" or "In The Mood".

I was just thinking last night that I seem to be a fan of the trio format. Stray Cats (and the '68 Comeback Special) are both trios. The Police were a trio. ZZ Top? Yeah, baby! I don't even mind a few Rush songs every now and then. How about the Lonnie Smith Trio (when John Abercrombie was part of the trio), or heck, even those great old Nat King Cole Trio sides on Capitol.

 

[Rudy]

The Setzer orchestra also did some Christmas tunes for the soundtrack album to Jingle All The Way, including the same arrangement of "Jingle Bells" that's on the new CD (a different, slightly better version IMHO). Includes a couple of tunes backing up Darlene Love as well.

I was checking out his discography last night--there seem to be a lot of tracks I don't have yet that are scattered on various recordings, including the above. (This was the soundtrack that the Lou Rawls track was from.)

 

[bob knack]

I think I'd like Setzer better if he were more like Kenton, Maynard, Buddy, Woody etc. (without becoming a nostalgia act). He's already a bit like Don Ellis but without those strange tempos.

I've never been to a live Setzer concert. He always sells out here, so that's goods news, I guess.

Those seventy-year-olds could dance to "Mack" because it was more like Bobby Darin's. They didn't dance to "This House Is A-Rockin" because they wanted to be seventy-one some day.

I'll go back and listen again, but I still say I'd like to hear more horns somewhere. Just my opinion. He rocks, but doesn't swing. Some of it reminds me of Buddy and Maynard's Disco records.

I agree with you on Pennsylvania 6-5000. That song's been done enough. I thought maybe with Vavoom, he ran out of ideas.

p.s. May Santa bring you a (trio) three-way for Christmas.

 

[Rudy]

Since I've been quite involved with this music in the past 24 hours, I decided to make this a featured Christmas album for the next few days!

First of all, I found out earlier this fall that three different major retailers would be shipped different copies of this CD. Each retailer's version would feature a a different bonus track. Someone wanting all three would have to buy all the different versions to get the tracks...including those of us who already bought the CD last year.

Japan to the rescue. The songs were released as an EP with the single "Luck Be A Lady". This EP features four holiday songs not on the original Setzer CD, three of which are the bonus tracks mentioned above.

In the sake of completeness, the "Jingle All The Way" soundtrack has one Lou Rawls track and two Darlene Love tracks featuring Setzer's orchestra. Finally, pulling the instrumental version of "Jingle Bells" from the multi-artist Merry Axemas CD, I've made a "complete" CD with all the tracks.

Now...the best way to hear these and get in the Xmas spirit is to get to a Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Extravaganza! This tour hit Detroit last night. Opening the show was a local rockabilly band, the Twistin' Tarantulas. They sounded much better than the last time I saw them...and Pistol Pete is still a maniac on the doghouse bass.

Setzer had the entire big band with him, along with two very nice looking backing singers. (As he put it at one point, "How would you like a pair of these in your stocking? ) The concert wasn't all holiday music, but about half of it was, intermixed with some of his recent favorites like "Dirty Boogie", "Pennsylvanis 6-5000" and "Gettin' In The Mood", and even the reworked "Stray Cat Strut" with the "Pink Panther" break in the middle. While the big band took a break, they broke down into a trio format, with long-time drummer Bernie Dressel and newer bassist Johnny "Spazz" Hatton. In addition to a few holiday songs ("Run, Rudolph, Run", and "Blue Christmas" with the sax section), he surprised all of us by breaking out "Sexy & 17", along with a song from the new trio CD, Nitro Burnin' Funny Daddy, called "When The Bells Don't Chime". To end the trio portion, the trio ripped into "Rock This Town" and, for the final chorus, the curtain came up and the big band joined in. Setzer announced they'd been nominated for their fifth Grammy award, which led to a reading of the "Nutcracker Suite". The show opened and closed with "Jingle Bells", the later version being an audience sing-along, complete with snowfall in the audience.

The audience at his shows is always a mixed bag. There were quite a few kids there. There were the true hardcore rockabilly fans--I haven't seen this many pompadours, sideburns and bowling shirts in years. Then there were the middle-aged crowd that grew up listening to the Stray Cats and have followed Setzer's music through the years. And speaking of years, Setzer looks older than he did 20 years ago, still sings with almost the same range, but each time I see him, his guitar technique gets even better. It's not uncommon to hear him throw in a few jazz changes in his solos these days. (Like he did with "8 Track" from the Ignition album.) Just watching him up on stage, though, there are few performers out there who are just so totally "on" for a good hour and 45 minutes. Wish I had half his energy these days.

This is a neat show, a lot of fun...and the tour only hits a handful of cities this December. Don't miss out if you're interested! I'm looking forward to (hopefully) a tour with the trio this coming year, to promote Setzer's new trio CD.

 

[Tim Neely]

I discovered quite by accident that there is a FOURTH "store exclusive" version of Boogie Woogie Christmas as I was searching the bins in my everlasting search for interesting Christmas CDs.

It probably wasn't publicized too heavily because it seems to be very rare, but Wal-Mart has a BSO custom version with "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve," the fourth holiday song on the Japanese EP. Why do I think it's rare? Because in half a dozen Wal-Marts I have visited in the past three weeks, I have seen exactly ONE copy among thousands of Christmas CDs.

All four versions, plus the original, have different catalog numbers!

Surfdog 44011: original with 12 tracks, 2002
Surfdog 44024: reissue with 13 tracks, for Target, 2003
Surfdog 44025: reissue with 13 tracks, for Best Buy, 2003
Surfdog 44026: reissue with 13 tracks, for Wal-Mart, 2003
Surfdog 44027: reissue with 13 tracks, for Kmart, 2003

 

[Murray]

All four versions, plus the original, have different catalog numbers!

Surfdog 44011: original with 12 tracks, 2002
Surfdog 44024: reissue with 13 tracks, for Target, 2003
Surfdog 44025: reissue with 13 tracks, for Best Buy, 2003
Surfdog 44026: reissue with 13 tracks, for Wal-Mart, 2003
Surfdog 44027: reissue with 13 tracks, for Kmart, 2003

Does the record company really expect that fans will buy four copies of this album in order to get all the tracks (five copies if they already have the original CD from last year)? Marketing tactics like that really tick me off!

Murray
...who has the 12 track CD, and won't be buying another...

 

[Rudy]

Yeah, I don't know what was up with this tactic, quite frankly. Surfdog is a smaller label, but not knowing who distributed it, I don't know who would have been responsible for such a diverse set of releases. I just took the easy way out and bought the Japanese EP, which can be had for under $20. (Mine was under $20 including shipping....thanks to AuctionSniper. ) In addition to the four bonus tracks (and thanks, Tim for solving that last piece of my jigsaw puzzle with the Walmart clue), the recent single "Luck Be A Lady" is a nice tune worth having if you don't buy Setzer's Nitro Burnin' Funny Daddy CD.

Tim--did you grab that EP yet?

 

[Tim Neely]

Tim--did you grab that EP yet?

Nope... Thought about it, though.

Being the die-hard Christmas music junkie/collector that I am, I actually bought all four new versions of the BSO CD. I bought other Christmas CDs at each store anyway... and at the time I picked them up, they were $9.99 at Best Buy, $11.99 at Target, $12.99 at Kmart and $13.74 or something like that at Wal-Mart. Inevitably, sometime down the road when there's a Complete Boogie Woogie Christmas reissue CD, I'll probably get that one, too.

 

[Rudy]

I'm having a hard time remembering the entire set list at the concert, but there very well may be a few extra tracks that weren't yet released. I recall them doing one or two songs that weren't on the CD or EP.