Southern rock's not one of my top favorite genres, which is probably why country from about the 1990s onward doesn't do anything for me. (Oh, you've never heard my rant about one of these being very much like the other, have you?) Marshall Tucker was one of the more radio-friendly of those bands back in its heyday 30 or so years ago, so it's not surprising this 2005 holiday effort by them covers a fairly wide swath of pop music history -- perhaps a bit too wide. Of the original tunes, "Snowfall in Georgia" uses flute to evoke the band's biggest hit, "Heard It In a Love Song." "Christmas in Carolina" is described in the liner notes as a tribute to beach music, but it's a bit more on the mild side of soulful than real beach tunes might be. "My Christmas in Custody" is a bluesy novelty and "Leave the Christmas Lights On" could easily be a ballad on country radio. The rest of the album is from the Christmas canon, "White Christmas" starting out just short of lounge music but breaking into Western swing halfway through, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a straight pop ballad with a female vocal, "Let It Snow" and "Silent Night" are blues-based renditions, and the boys wrap things up with a spoken "Twas the Night Before Christmas." As I've said about most of the '70s rock legends who have stepped up with latter-day Christmas albums, this is more adult contemporary than rock 'n roll.
Carolina Christmas, The Marshall Tucker Band (Shout! Factory)
Southern rock's not one of my top favorite genres, which is probably why country from about the 1990s onward doesn't do anything for me. (Oh, you've never heard my rant about one of these being very much like the other, have you?) Marshall Tucker was one of the more radio-friendly of those bands back in its heyday 30 or so years ago, so it's not surprising this 2005 holiday effort by them covers a fairly wide swath of pop music history -- perhaps a bit too wide. Of the original tunes, "Snowfall in Georgia" uses flute to evoke the band's biggest hit, "Heard It In a Love Song." "Christmas in Carolina" is described in the liner notes as a tribute to beach music, but it's a bit more on the mild side of soulful than real beach tunes might be. "My Christmas in Custody" is a bluesy novelty and "Leave the Christmas Lights On" could easily be a ballad on country radio. The rest of the album is from the Christmas canon, "White Christmas" starting out just short of lounge music but breaking into Western swing halfway through, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a straight pop ballad with a female vocal, "Let It Snow" and "Silent Night" are blues-based renditions, and the boys wrap things up with a spoken "Twas the Night Before Christmas." As I've said about most of the '70s rock legends who have stepped up with latter-day Christmas albums, this is more adult contemporary than rock 'n roll.
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