I’ve always been on the fence when it comes to Michael Buble. Talented? Yes. Showman? Absolutely. But I often lean more toward Sinatra or Connick.
Until I found this wintery gem. Mr. Buble’s adorable quotient cannot be ignored.
Music
Yule Tune: In The Bleak Midwinter (Gloucester Cathedral Choir)
In 1872, an American magazine, Scribner’s Monthly, requested a Christmas poem — and Christina Rossetti, a British poet, put ink to paper and wrote “In The Bleak Midwinter.” Music was added in 1906, and a hymn was born. That hymn has since become one of the most beautiful, as well as one of my all-time favorite, Christmas carols. Enjoy.
Yule Tune: O Tannenbaum (Nat King Cole)
In honor of tonight’s lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, what better carol than this Nat King Cole classic tribute to winter’s greenery. After all, this is a gardening blog.
Yule Tune: It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (Andy Williams)
Some performers will forever be associated with Christmas, and Andy Williams is one such performer. Enjoy this brief clip from a Christmas show from long ago.
Yule Tune: Angels We Have Heard On High (Chanticleer)
In the previous post, “Caroling, Caroling Through The Month,” I mentioned the idea of posting a Christmas music video each day until Christmas arrives. After searching through the YouTube vaults, I think I’ve found an appropriate one to get the sounds of the season up and running.
This is Chanticleer singing “Angels We Have Heard On High.” A few years ago, Joe and I — along with our friends Cathey and Robert — were fortunate enough to see this all-male group perform their holiday concert at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
While this video may not show them performing, it does come with its own fireplace — a nice touch as the WordPress snow gently falls.
Caroling, Caroling Through The Month
Now that Thanksgiving is over, I no longer have to feel guilty about listening to Christmas carols. I’m not referring to the holiday music played all day and all night by local radio stations. That’s a bit much — and I would rather be boiled in my own pudding, a stake of holly through my heart.
No, I like my own collection of Christmas music — music that I can listen to when I want and as often as I want — even if it’s in June or July. Sometimes, you just need some old fashioned, familiar merriment. Besides, it’s a great way to think cool thoughts during a heatwave.
While many aspects of the holiday season — like the coal-deserving behavior of many shoppers on Black Friday and the corporate leaders who opened their doors to do business on Thanksgiving, ala Scrooge & Marley — have left me feeling like a not-right-jolly-old-elf, Christmas carols remain at the top of my holiday list.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Man 