Bullseye Blues Christmas, various artists (Bullseye)

Two appearances by the grandfather of rockin' Christmas, Charles Brown, highlight this 1995 compilation of blues holiday tunes. He solos on Hammond B3 organ while singing a medley of his two best-known Yule tunes, "Merry Christmas Baby" and "Please Come Home For Christmas," then duets with Johnny Otis on Charles' "Christmas Comes But Once a Year." Later, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson does a full band version of "Merry Christmas Baby," an uptempo one at that. The Memphis Horns help out on Little Jimmy King's "Happy Christmas Blues" and Larry Davis' "Help the Poor." Smokin' Joe Kubek with Bnois King do "Poor Man's X-mas" and Lowell Fulson performs his own "Lonesome Christmas." (I'm not sure of the history of this song; it's been out for years, but this sounds like a recent re-recording of it. Bob Bailey confirms my suspicion that Fulson has recorded it numerous times.) The Preston Shannon Band does "X-mas Blues" and Michelle "Evil Gal" Wilson takes on Pearl Bailey's "Five Pound Box of Money" in an arrangement that's faithful to the original. Outside the regular Christmas theme are Champion Jack Dupree's "Freedom" and The Persuasions doing the Brecht-Weill "Oh Heavenly Salvation," the latter more appropriate since Sept. 11, 2001.